1 . We were designing a wheelchair for a college engineering course. My classmates were certain that we needed to use steel and they felt only steel would be strong enough. I thought steel would be too heavy and aluminum would be a better option. But the student who strongly advocated steel worked at a bike shop. A few days later, when the big and heavy steel arm kept dropping down, I wished I had shown more determination to defend my position.
I enjoyed doing handiwork and my parents would come home and see artworks I had finished that day—painting, clay sculpting, sewing stuffed animals, etc. But when I studied engineering in college, these pursuits were deep-sixed. Not only was I stretched for time, but I didn’t think they were relevant to my academic work. I hesitated to highlight my female crafting (手工艺) interests in the male-dominated engineering environment where I already felt like an outsider.
When I went on to pursue a Ph.D. — early in the pandemic, I felt anxious and turned to crafting. One day I was making a set of dice as a gift for a friend. While putting the liquid resin (树脂) into the silicone mold (硅胶模具), I made a joke to my partner that I was “injection molding” — a standard engineering manufacturing process. I suddenly realized that although resin art is not injection molding in the technical sense, it shares the spirit and probably some skills.
Soon I saw connections between engineering and crafting that I had previously overlooked. When working on the wheelchair project, I used my sewing skills to create cushioned grips for the handles. I saw how crafting taught me to persevere when my product didn’t match my initial vision and to consider the failed creation a learning experience, just as an engineer must.
Since then, I’ve built crafting back into my free time. I’ve also stopped hiding it from my colleagues. I mentioned my dice-making experience at a robotics conference and explained in a team meeting how we could gain inspiration from art experiences. I was glad that the responses were positive — not rude or dismissive, as I used to fear.
1. What can we know about the author and her classmates?| A．They had a sort of love-hate relationship. |
| B．They worked part-time at a local bike shop. |
| C．They had disagreements when creating a wheelchair. |
| D．They knew nothing about the structure of wheelchairs. |
| A．Put aside. | B．Backed up. | C．Followed through | D．Dug out. |
| A．It helped show off her talent. | B．It was unfriendly to females. |
| C．It helped promote cooperation. | D．It was beyond all her expectations. |
| A．She should take up more hobbies. | B．Crafting needs great practical skills. |
| C．She should become more determined. | D．Crafting can help make her a better engineer. |
| A．Creative but sensitive. | B．Confident but stubborn. |
| C．Ambitious and strong-willed. | D．Emotional and straightforward. |
