Henry Ford grew up on an unelectrified farm, and as a young man he followed Edison's career as the inventor became a national role model. Ford took a job at the Edison Illuminating Company, working his way up to chief engineer.
In 1896 Ford was thirtythree and, though still working for Edison Co., he had created his first experimental automobile—the Ford Quadricycle2 during his offtime. At an Edison company party in New York, Ford had his first chance to meet his hero Edison and was able to explain his new automobile to the great inventor. Edison_was_impressed._Edison_is_said_to_have_slammed_his_fist_down_and_shouted，“Young man, that's the thing! You have it! Your car is selfcontained and carries its own power plant.”Edison himself had been working on the idea, but had only been considering electricity as the power source, so the idea of a gas engine was a somewhat new one.
The words comforted Ford greatly, who immediately set out building a second car which was to become the ModelT.6. The two men became friends and would go on camping trips together.When Edison later became limited to a wheelchair, Ford brought an extra one to his house so they could race.At the 50th anniversary of the invention of light bulb, Ford honoured Edison.When Edison spoke he ended his speech directed at Ford, “As to Henry Ford, words fail to express my feelings.I can only say that he is my friend.” Therefore it is no surprise that Ford wanted something to remember Edison by after he passed away in 1931.
Once, Ford asked Thomas Edison's son Charles to sit by the dying inventor's bedside and hold a test tube next to his father's mouth to catch his final breath. Ford was a man with many strange behaviours (as was Edison) including some interest in reanimation and spiritualism(复活通灵术)and some say that he was attempting to catch Edison's soul as it escaped his body in hopes of later bringing the inventor back to life.
The test tube itself didn't turn up until 1950 when it was listed in the Ford's possessions after Clara Ford's passing away, and then lost again until 1978 when it was discovered in an exhibit entitled“Henry Ford—A Personal History”in the Henry Ford Museum. It would then be discovered that the tube was labeled “Edison's Last Breath”.
There is a further mystery of this “last breath” test tube.It would seem as if Edison had quite a last breath indeed, as the Edison Estate holds a collection of 42 test tubes all supposedly containing Edison's last breath.
Regardless of the excitement over the last breath, the test tube is quite touching in its meaning.Although both men were known for all sorts of poor behaviour towards their loved ones and mistreatment of employees, between them at least, there was clearly a deep respect and admiration.
1.The purpose of the author writing this passage is to ________.
A.remind the readers of the importance of the two inventors
B.stress the importance of friendship
C.tell the readers some stories about the two inventors
D.show that love can lead to some poor behaviours
2.From the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2, we can learn that________.
A.Edison envied what Ford had achieved
B.Edison was annoyed that Ford did better than him
C.Edison was angry because Ford stole his idea
D.Edison was extremely amazed at Ford's new idea
3.“The ‘last breath’ test tube”can probably be regarded as________.
A.a symbol of a friendship and memory
B.a witness to a scientific breakthrough
C.a failure to bring Edison back to life
D.a sign of the two inventors' poor behaviour
4.It can be learned from the last paragraph that “________.”
A.Great minds think alike
B.Nobody is perfect
C.Two heads are better than one
D.A friend in need is a friend indeed
参考答案：
【文章大意】 很多人有自己的偶像，发明T型车的亨利·福特也不例外，他的偶像是发明了电灯的爱迪生，在他的博物馆里至今还保存着爱迪生后的呼吸试管。
1.C 写作意图题。本文讲述福特当时在爱迪生的公司做首席工程师，研制汽车，而爱迪生致力于新能源做汽车动力的研究，所以是告诉读者两个发明家的故事，故选C项。
2.D 细节推断题。根据第二段的“‘Young man，that's the thing! You have it! Your car is selfcontained and carries…’”“…electricity as the power source，so the idea of a gas engine was a somewhat new one.”可知，爱迪生对于福特的想法很是吃惊，故选D项。
3.A 细节推断题。根据倒数第二段的“It would seem as if Edison had quite a last breath indeed，as the Edison Estate holds a collection of 42 test tubes all supposedly containing Edison's last breath.”可知，这好像是爱迪生后的呼吸，以此表明两人的关系很是深厚，故选A项。
4.B 主旨大意题。根据后一段的“Although both men were known for all sorts of poor behaviour towards their loved ones and mistreatment of employees，between them at least，there was clearly a deep respect and admiration.”可知，虽然他们对待家人与员工有不好的地方，但他们之间有深深的尊重和欣赏，故没有人是完美的，选B项。
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