A person has to be sixteen to drive, seventeen to see certain movies, and eighteen to vote. People can get terrific discounts on all sorts of stuff－provided they’re over sixty-five. Everywhere we look there are age limits that define what people can and can’t do. But creativity has no boundaries, no limitations. Anyone can invent. And they do. Inventors are popping up at the youngest ages.
Sitting in the car waiting for her mom to return from shopping, Becky decided she might as well try to finish her math homework. But it was growing dark and getting hard to see the paper.
“I didn’t have a flashlight, and I didn’t want to open the car door because then the whole car would light up.” recalled Becky. “So I thought it would be neat to have my paper light up somehow, and that’s when the idea came to me.”
It isn’t every day that a ten-year-old invents a product eagerly sought by several businesses, but that’s exactly what Becky Schroeder did when she created a tool that enabled people to write in the dark. Her invention? The Glo-sheet.
That night Becky went home, trying to imagine different ways of making her paper glow in the dark. She remembered all sorts of glow-in-the-dark toys－like balls and Frisbees－and wondered how they were made. She was determined to find a solution. So they very next day, Beck’s dad took her on an outing to the hardware store. They returned with a pail (桶) of phosphorescent paint. She took the paint and stacks of paper into the darkest room in the house－the bathroom. There, she experimented.
“I’d turn on the light, turn it off, turn it on,” said Becky. “My parents remember me running out the room saying ‘It works, it works! I’m writing in the dark!’ ”
She used an acrylic board and coated it with a specific amount of phosphorescent paint. She took a complicated idea and made it work rather simply. When the coated clipboard is exposed to light, it glows. The glowing board then illuminates or lights up the paper that has been placed on top. Two years after her initial inspiration, in 1974, Becky became the youngest female ever to receive a U.S. patent.
She didn’t actively market her Glo-sheet. She didn’t need to. The New York Times wrote an article about an incredible invention－patented by a twelve-year-old, and the inquiries and orders streamed in.
1. From Paragraph 1 , we can draw a conclusion that _________.
A. it is illegal for one to drive under sixteen
B. people enjoy privileges when over sixty-five
C. one is never too old or too young to invent
D. people hate the limitations that define our behavior
2. What caused Becky to invent Glo-sheet?
A. She was trying to do homework when it got dark.
B. She was having trouble with math problems.
C. She was trying to earn some money.
D. She was working on a school project.
3. What is the meaning of the underlined words “phosphorescent paint” in paragraph 5?
A. paint that acts as a glue B. paint that covers a mark
C. paint that becomes hard D. paint that glows in the dark
4. What does it mean that Beck “didn’t actively market her Glo-sheet” according to paragraph 8?
A. She kept the original one for her own use.
B. Other people came to her for the Glo-sheet.
C. Becky’s father tried to sell the Glo-sheet.
D. She gave away patent to the government.
5. With which statement would Becky most likely agree?
A. Experience is needed to be a good inventor.
B. Only by inventing things can you know what people need.
C. Always try to sell patent rights to large companies.
D. You never know what you can do unless you try.