256. —Come
to supper, Peter.
—Oh, thanks. I (bring) a
bottle of wine.
Early one
morning, more than a hundred years ago, an American inventor called Elias Howe
finally fell asleep. He 257 (work)
all night on the design of a sewing machine but he 258
(run) into a very difficult problem: It seemed impossible to
get the thread to run smoothly around the needle.
Though he
was tired, Howe 259 (sleep)
badly. He turned and turned. Then he had a dream. He
dreamt that he 260 (catch)
by terrible savages whose king wanted to kill him and 261 (eat)
him unless he could build a perfect sewing machine.
When he
tried to do so, Howe ran into the same problem as before. The thread 262 (keep)
getting caught around the needle. The king flew into the cage and ordered his
soldiers to kill Howe. They came up towards him with their spears raised.
But suddenly
the inventor 263 (notice)
something. There 264 a hole in the tip of each spear. The inventor awoke from the
dream, realizing that he 265
just 265 (find)
the answer to the problem. Instead of trying to get the thread to run around
the needle, he should make it run through a small hole in the center of the
needle. This was the simple idea that finally 266
(make) Howe design and build the first really practical sewing
machine.