You may think that inventions are far away from your everyday life. But in fact, almost everyone can invent. It's just that they do not realize that their idea could be the start of an invention. Once inventors see their ideas have some practical value, they don't let them run away.

    For example, the inventors of the dishwasher, American Josephine Cochrane, loved to give dinner parties. But she found it took too long to wash her dishes by hand. She decided that a machine could do the job faster. So, in 1886, she began to make one for herself.

    Here are the steps to create inventions. The first and most important step is to find the problem. Start by looking at what is wrong with things you see now and ask people around if they remember ever saying, “I wish someone would invent something for...” Then you might notice situations(情况) or things in need of improvement. The next step is to think about possible solutions. An invention is a new way of solving a problem. So think of many and unusual ways. You can often come up with a solution to a problem by looking at it from a different side.

    The hardest part of inventing is coming up with a problem and finding a solution. Once you have an idea, you can always get help building your invention. This problem-solving technique can also work in your everyday lives. So, why not try it in your studies, in your relationship with others, or even in the way you look at the world?

    What are most 14-year-old boys doing? Going to school, playing sports with friends and doing their homework. But life is much more colorful for the TFBOYS members.

    TFBOYS is a singers' group started in 2013. Its full name is The Fighting Boys. It has three members, Wang Junkai, Wang Yuan and Yi Yangqianxi. Wang Junkai, the group leader, is 15 years old. The other two boys are both 14 years old. When most boys at their age are spending their whole day in the classroom, the three young singers present（展示）themselves to thousands of people. They had made three albums（唱片）and won two singing awards（奖）. Now the three boys are among the most popular singers in our country.

    Many students are interested in TFBOYS, because they are friendly and good at singing. They are still junior high school students. During the week they study at school with their classmates. On the weekends and holidays they have singing class, dancing class and other training. Most of their fans are teenagers. “We are of similar age,” some fans said, “TFBOYS feel like friends to us and we love their songs.”

    Tom Jenkins enjoyed fishing and spent most of his time by the river.

    He enjoyed being in the fresh air and being on his own. There was no one to trouble him and the time passed happily for him.

    Unluckily, he was not a very good fisherman. He either fished in the wrong place, used the wrong bait(鱼饵)or pulled in his line too quickly. Whatever the reason was, he never caught anything big enough to eat.

    However, he did not like to admit this to his wife. He thought she would complain if she knew he was wasting his time. She would try to stop him from going fishing. She might even make him take her shopping. It was very important to Tom, therefore, that she thought he was a good fisherman.

    For this reason, on the way home from the river he always visited the local fish shop and bought something. Then he told his wife he had caught it and they had a good fish for their dinner.

    One evening, after yet another day's unsuccessful fishing, Tom stopped at the fish shop as usual on his way home. "I'll have three perch(鲈鱼), please," he said to the shopkeeper. "And throw them to me, as usual, so I can tell my wife I caught them."

    The shopkeeper laughed and said, "I suggest you take a nice salmon(鱿鱼)instead."

    "Oh why?"

    "Your wife came in an hour ago and said, "When Tom comes in, make sure he 'catches' a salmon."

    When Paul was a boy growing up in Utah, he happened to live near a copper smelter, and the chemicals that poured out had made a wasteland out of what used to be a beautiful forest. One day a young visitor looked at this wasteland and called it an awful area. Paul knocked him down. From then on, something happened inside him.

    Years later, Paul was back in the area, and he went to the smelter office. He asked if they had any plans or if they would let him try to bring the trees back. The answer from that big industry was "No".

    Paul then went to college to study the science of plants. He told the teacher about his plans. Unfortunately his teacher says, "It will be a waste of your time to try to do it." Everyone knew that, he was told. Even if he was knowledgeable as he had expected, he wouldn't get his idea accepted.

    Paul later got married and had some kids. But this dream would not die. And then one night he did what he could with what he had. Under the cover of darkness, he went to secretly into the wasteland and started planting.

Every week, he made his secret journey into the wasteland and planted trees and grass. For fifteen years he did this against the common sense. Slowly rabbits appeared. Later the company actually hired Paul to do what he was already doing.

    Now the place is covered with fourteen thousand acres of trees and grass and bushes, and Paul has received almost every environmental award Utah has. It took him so many years until his hair turned white, but he managed to keep that impossible promise he made to himself as a child.

Found

    A key is in the classroom, Is it yours? My name is Mike. Please call me at 13686740533.

Lost

    I lost my pen in the library, My pen is red , I must find it . Please call me at 13016137777.

Tom

    When I was a child, my parents always told me that I never talk to strangers. This was part of a whole list of things I should never do: Never accept food or candy from strangers, never get in car with strangers, and so on.

    But if we didn't start conversation with strangers, we'd never make new friends. We would never get a job. ①We may miss the joy that comes from talking with strangers. And the more people you know, the more chances you can find.

    The following passage offers you some advice on how to ②break the ice.

    Don't just stare at your shoes. Go and say "Hi" to that new guy. It will be easier to break the ice if you know more about different cultures.

    British: Beautiful day, isn't it?

    The weather in Britain is changeable. So, it's one of the topics the British care most about. And there's a simple rule: Say "Yes" whether you agree with the person's idea on the weather or not. ③That's because the British start a conversation using the weather so that they can continue their talk.

    French: Where did you go on holiday?

    To talk with a French person, the safest way is to ask about his or her last holiday. French students enjoy a 10-to-15-dayholiday every two months. French employees(雇员 )get more than six weeks of holidays per year.

    American: So, where are you from?

    The US is so big and people move so often that location is always source(来源) of talk. You can try to find connection with the place they're from. For example, if someone is from Los Angeles, you could say, "Oh. I have friend who studied there."