James Watt was born in 1736 in Scotland. Because of his poor health condition, he was unable to attend school     1    . Thus, he received his earliest     2     at home from his mother and in his father’s workshop. At the workshop, Watt     3     a keen interest in tools, instruments and model-making. He later attended grammar school, where he studied Greek, Latin, maths and other     4    . After his mother died, the 18-year-old Watt     5     to London, where he received training as an instrument maker.

Watt’s work with the steam engine (蒸汽机) began in 1769, when he was     6     to repair a Newcomen (纽科门) steam engine. Designed in the early 18th century, the engine was     7     inefficient. But it was better than any other steam engines     8     at that time. James decided to improve its efficiency. He     9     the engine with a separate condenser (冷凝器) to reduce the loss of energy. In 1769, Watt received his first patent for his separate condenser. His improvements to the steam engine were a significant     10     in the Industrial Revolution (工业革命).