Work in
pairs. Scan the
words in bold.
Match the words with
their definitions from the box.
Thomas Alva
Edison was probably
the greatest inventor. His
first job was
selling newspapers on trains,
and later, at
the age of
16, he got
a job working in a telegraph
office. Not all of Edison’s inventions were
successful. In fact,
his first one
was a failure. Many
that followed, however,
were bright successes and
Edison became famous.
Most people regard him
as a genius.
Edison worked hard
all his life, often
working all night
in his laboratory,
and would not come
home for days
sometimes. When asked what
makes a genius
he said: “Genius
is 99% perspiration and
1% inspiration.” Although
most of the inventions
which made Edison
famous were made in
the first half
of his life,
Edison continued to
work and invent till
he was over
70, often working
16 hours a day!
During his long
and productive life,
Edison made 1,300 inventions.
One of the
most important inventions
is the light
bulb. Thomas Edison tried
two thousand different
materials in search of
a filament for
the light bulb.
When none worked satisfactorily, his
assistant complained, “All our
work is in
vain. We have
learned nothing.”
Edison replied
very confidently, “Oh,
we have come a
long way and
we have learned
a lot. We know that there are
two thousand elements
which we cannot use
to make a
good light bulb.
Edison diedon October
18, 1931, at
the age of 84.
Matching exercise
Match the items on the right to the items on the left.
| 1. having achieved fame, wealth, or social status | ||
| 2. lack of success | ||
| 3. an intelligent person | ||
| 4. fulfilling the demand | ||
| 5. the author of invention | ||
| 6. believing in himself | ||
| 7. motivation | ||
| 8. consider, respect | ||
| 9. fruitful | ||
| 10. a student |
