I have invented robots which improve the work of cars. My love of making things began1I was a kid. I really became excited about inventing after I learned about Thomas Edison.

    One day in fourth grade, our2gave us a project in class. We had to write to a company and learn about the products. I thought and thought. 3I chose the Thomas A. Edison Company. Soon after, the company sent me a book about the life of Thomas Edison. How I enjoyed reading and re-reading about his 4! I like the recorded sound and the electric light most. The inventions were clearly printed on my brain.

    My dad noticed my interest in inventing and5me. He showed me how to turn my ideas into plans and then into new things. Once, I surprised my dad6a model plane I made. Later, we found a7model plane in a store. I learned that different inventors often invent similar things. It is not unusual for this to happen. I also learned that not all great ideas8. Failure is a common part of the inventing.

    As my father and I worked together, I began to realize that my dad was quite an inventor himself. He was always9a better way to do a simple job. His guiding hands, together with my10 in inventing, led me to become an engineer and an inventor. Of course, I also thank Thomas Edison. He is my hero.

    "Can I see my baby?" asked the happy new mother. Unluckily, she found her baby had been1without ears when it was in her arms.

    Time proved that the baby's2was perfect. He got on well with his classmates. But one day, he rushed home and said to his mother3tears in his eyes, "A boy, a big boy4me a freak(怪胎)."

    As the boy5, he developed a talent for art and music.

The boy's father had a meeting with the family doctor. "Could anything6done?" He asked the doctor.

    "I believe I could graft(移植) a pair of outer ears7you could get them," the doctor said.

    However, two years8, nobody wanted to offer the young man ears. Then one day the father said, "Son,9will offer his ears to you. But it's a secret. The operation was a great10.

    Time kept the secret, but the day did come. The young man stood with his father11his mother's body. Slowly, the father held out a hand and raised the thick, brown hair.12, the son found his mother had no outer ears.

    "Mother said she was glad that she13let her long hair cut," the father said gently," and nobody ever thought Mother14beautiful, did they?"

    Real15lies not in what is done and known, but in what is done but not known.

Are there any rules in your family?

A reporter, Tim {#blank#}1{#/blank#} four students about their family rules.

On school days, Jack can't play computer {#blank#}2{#/blank#} and has to go to bed before nine o'clock. He must take a shower before {#blank#}3{#/blank#} to bed. He 39. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} clean the house on the weekend.

Jim has to get up at six o'clock every morning. He must do his homework {#blank#}5{#/blank#} after school. He can't watch TV {#blank#}6{#/blank#} listen to music on weekdays, either. His mother is a teacher. She is {#blank#}7{#/blank#} with Jim very much.

Sally can't {#blank#}8{#/blank#} loudly (大声地) at home. She has to listen to English before going to bed. She has to play the {#blank#}9{#/blank#} on Sundays.

Mike must run in the morning. He can't eat junk food (垃圾食品). He has to help his mom do {#blank#}10{#/blank#} housework.

Today I turned eight. Today whatever I say goes. 

My grandma is cooler than most grandmas and laughs a lot,1 is the exact opposite. He's that old and serious. "Kids are impolite these days, and have no 2 ." he always says. "All they do is playing video games all the time." But I 3 play video games on weekends!

Anyway, the minute we park on the driveway, I get out and run straight to Grandma 4 Dad, who's still on the phone dealing with his business in the car as usual. "Happy birthday, honey!" Grandma holds me into her arms and says 5 that she's made my favorite chocolate cake.

And then I 6 Grandpa, who is asleep in a rocking chair, snoring （打鼾） like thunder. Can you believe it? On his only grandson's birthday! 

"7 , sleepyhead!" I call out. But more snores followed. An angry storm is coming up inside me.

"Oh, it's Parker's 8 !" Grandma calls out to Grandpa. He coughs. It seems to be ages for him to get to his feet and say, "boy, come here." But I don't 9 . 

"You and I," says Grandpa，rising slowly, "are going on a walk." 

"All right." I know what he's about to say: respect the elders, blah blah blah. But to my 10 , he says in a soft voice, "your parents are always very 11 , aren't they?"

"Hold my arms and help me into that chair. "For a second, I stood still. 12 when I see his legs shaking as he bends his knees, I rush over to hold his arms, I set him down nice and slow. "13 ," he says. He's breathing hard, like he's just climbed a mountain.

I sit down next to him. He covers my hand with his warm one. "Tell 14 all about the video game you like," he says. "Then I'll tell you some stories of my own. And we'll both listen to each other and ask good questions. Deal?"

I 15 in disbelief. And for some strange reason, it feels more like my birthday than ever.

There are some very good inventions which, for one reason or another, don't become popular. These inventions should be better known, even though I think that some of them are crazy. Let's have a look at some of these inventions and see if you agree that they should be more successful. 

The Australians had a great idea to stop people from drinking and driving. The idea was that if a driver wanted to start the car, she or he would have to blow into a bag first. If there was too much alcohol(酒精) in their breath, the car wouldn't start. It sounded like a great idea to me, but people said that they might need to drive the car in an emergency even if they had drunk too much alcohol. Another idea I liked was an invention by a scientist who thought his children watched too much TV. He linked the TV to an exercise bike so that the electricity to power the TV was generated(产出) by the bike. If the children wanted to watch a lot of TV, they had to pedal(踩踏板) very hard. I found another invention on the Internet which was intended (倾向于) to encourage good habits. Believe it or not, this invention was an ashtray(烟灰缸) which spoke to you when you lit a cigarette! The "voice" of the ashtray was activated (启动) by the heat from the cigarette and reminded you how dangerous it is to smoke. 

One of the strangest inventions I have come across is a bicycle which can cross rivers! The idea was that when you came to a river, you could inflate a huge plastic ball all around the bike. You would then get into the ball which would float on the river while you pedaled the bike inside the ball! Why not use a bridge instead? A friend of mine at school once bought a strange pair of football shoes. On the bottom of the shoes there was a rotating pad of studs (转动钉垫). The idea was that you would change direction more quickly if the studs rotated with you. The problem was that every time you stopped you changed direction whether you wanted to or not! I think he wore those shoes twice! One thing I would like is a baseball cap with a built-in radio so you can listen to sport all day with your hands free. While we are on the subject of sport, the Americans invented a kind of robot for sports fans. If you were watching your team on TV on your own, you could press a button and the robot would do "high fives" with you! Fantastic! I wonder if you have any good ideas for inventions like these.