1 . When she was 14 years old, Amy’s life was turned upside down by a family trouble.
Amy lived in a small village in India. Her mother fell ill and her father had to spend his time caring for her. As a result, she had to do most of the housework — including washing clothes. What’s worse, her family couldn’t afford an electric washing machine. Instead, she had to do the washing all by hand in the local river, and then carefully carry everything back to her home — a task that took several hours.
Interested in engineering, Amy wanted to make a washing machine which could be used without electricity. She started studying electric washers to learn how they worked. Amy then designed a machine with bicycle pedals (踏板) and chain. To get those, she went to a local shop. Workers there not only gave her the parts, they also helped her make the machine!
Here’s how the machine works: Amy used a cylinder (圆筒) to hold the clothes and put it in a cube (立方体). Next, she connected the bicycle pedals and the chain to the cylinder. As Amy pushed the pedals with her legs, the cylinder cleaned the clothes just like a regular washing machine.
Amy’s invention worked! She had created her own human-powered washing machine — and now a task that used to take several hours took only 30 minutes. Amy’s washing machine was chosen as India’s best invention! And the story of this young woman’s creative invention spread around the world.
“Amy’s invention saves time and money for the world’s poor,” said Jeanine Thomas of the Borden Project, “she made a difference.”
1. What problem did Amy try to solve?| A．Her mother suffered from illness. |
| B．Her family was too poor to afford her education. |
| C．It was a long way to get water from the river. |
| D．It took too much time and effort to wash clothes. |
| A．designing→studying→getting materials→making the machine |
| B．designing→getting materials→studying→making the machine |
| C．studying→getting materials→designing→making the machine |
| D．studying→designing→getting materials→making the machine |
| A．By turning the cylinder around with hands. |
| B．By pulling the chain with machines. |
| C．By pushing the pedals with legs. |
| D．By turning on the machine with electricity. |
| A．Amy changed the way a washing machine works. |
| B．Amy won a big prize and improved her family’s life. |
| C．Amy improved many poor people’s lives with her creativity. |
| D．Amy encouraged many young inventors among the poor. |
