Is      necessary to complete the design before National Day?

A.this          B.that        C.it       D.he

An inventor seeks to create a new product that serves a specific need and fulfills a role that other products do not. Sometimes an inventor comes up with a wholly new idea, but more often inventions are simply improvements on an older design. With a little imagination and creativity (创造力), an old idea can suddenly become something new.
However, creating a new invention means much more than having a brilliant idea. A good designer follows the design process: identifying the challenge, researching and brainstorming ideas(集思广益), designing a solution, testing and evaluating the ideas, and finally building the product. Designers also use science, math, technology, and engineering to design a tool that satisfies the need they identified.
Anyone can be an inventor —even kids! For example, Chester Greenwood was just fifteen years old when he invented a product that changed his life. In fact, his idea was so good that his invention supported him for the rest of his life. You may not know his name, but you probably know his invention —earmuffs (保暖耳罩)!
The inspiration for his earmuff design came to Chester when he was ice-skating. His ears were cold, and he decided to find a way to keep them warm. With the help of his grandmother, he made a new product to protect his ears and at the age of eighteen, Chester patented his earmuff design.
Many other famous inventors started young as well. Margaret Knight —the inventor of the flat-bottomed brown paper bag —is said to have created a safety device for textile looms(织布机) when she was just twelve years old. Another example is Thomas Edison, one of the greatest inventors in history, who applied for his first patent when he was just twenty-one years old. Over the course of his life, Thomas Edison patented a total of 1,093 inventions!
【小题1】In most cases, an invention ________ according to the first paragraph.

请选用所给的单词填空，注意有一个是多余的。每个单词只能用一次。

Art museums are places where people can learn about various cultures．The increasingly popular "design museums" that are opening today, however, perform quite a different  1  .Unlike most art museums, the design museum shows objects that are easily found by the general public．These museums sometimes even place things like fridges and washing machines in the _2  of the hall．

People have argued that design museums are often made use of as advertisements for new industrial technology．But their role is not simply a matter of sales—It is the   3   of excellently invented products．The difference between the window of a department store and the showcase in a design museum is that the first tries to sell you something, while the second tells you the success of a sale．

One advantage of design museums is that they are places where people feel   4   with the exhibits．Unlike the average art museum visitors, design museum visitors seldom feel   5   or puzzled．This is partly because design museums clearly show how and why mass-produced products work, and how design has   6   the quality of our lives．Art museum exhibits, on the other hand, would most probably fill visitors with a feeling that there is something beyond their __7__．

In recent years, several new design museums have opened their doors．Each of these museums has tried to   8   the public's growing interest in the field with new ideas．London's Design Museum, for example, shows a collection of mass-produced objects from Zippo lighters to electric typewriters to a group of Italian fish-tins．The choices open to design museums seem far less  _9  than those to art museums．

Any mistake made in the printing of a stamp raises its value to stamp collectors. A mistake on one inexpensive postage stamp has made the stamp worth a million and a half times its original value.

The mistake was made more than a hundred years ago in the British colony of Mauritius, a small island in the Indian Ocean. In 1847 an order for stamps was sent to a London printer — Mauritius was to become the fourth country in the world to issue stamps.

Before the order was filled and delivered, a ball was planned at Mauritius’ Government House, and stamps were needed to send out the invitations. A local printer was instructed to copy the design for the stamps. He accidentally inscribed the words “Post Office” instead of “Post Paid” on the several hundred stamps that he printed.

Today there are only twenty-six of these misprinted stamps left fourteen One Penny Orange-Reds and twelve Two Penny Blues. Because of the Two Penny Blue’s rareness and age, collectors have paid as much as ＄16 800 for it.

Over a century ago, Mauritius _______.

A. was an independent country

B. belonged to India

C. was one of the British colonies

D. was a small island in the Pacific Ocean

The mistake on the stamps was made _______.

A. in Mauritius      B. at Mauritius Government House

C. in a post office   D. in London

Stamp collectors have paid 16 800 for _______.

A. fourteen One Penny Orange-Reds

B. twelve Two Penny Blues

C. one One Penny Orange-Red

D. one Two Penny Blue

Only three local students won Chinese Blog（博客） Competition. And 15 of the 18 awards want to students from China.   

170 students’ task: to get a fully-designed blog up and running, complete with many posting based on a theme of choice―all written in Chinese.   

Themes ranged from local opinions－such as the usage of Singlish, education and whether Singapore can be a cultural centre－to food blogs.   

The entries were judged on Language proficiency（ 熟练程度）and the quality of writing, as well as the design and level of exchanging ideas with readers.   

Academics from the National University of Singapore and the SIM University IT experts, and a journalist from Chinese newspaper Lianhe Zaobao in Singapore made up the judges.   

In the end, only three Singaporean students made it to the award list―the rest of the awards were swept up by students from China.   

“No surprise.” said Mr. Chow Yaw Long, 37 , teachers in charge from Ianova Junior Collage, which organized the event. “Although the topics were local subjects, the foreign students were generally better in terms of the content of the posts and their grasp of the Chinese language.”  

One of the three local students winning the first prize in the Best Language Award was blogger Christina Gao 19, from the Saint Andrew’s Junior Collage, who spared no effort in researching for and writing her blog. Each entry took her between five and seven days to produce, complete with pictures and even podcasts （播客）  

Her advice for bloggers is: Be responsible  

“Some bloggers out there only seek to blame the authorities and other bloggers.” Said Miss Gao. “I think they lack responsibilities and there is no value to their posts.”  

56. The competition was organized by  

A. the National University of Singapore                   B. Chinese newspaper Lianhe Zaobao  

C. Innova Junior College                                     D. the Saint Andrew’s Junior College  

57. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?  

A. Chinese students won most of the awards.   

B. Not all the themes were about local subjects  

C. The blogs could be written in Chinese or Singlish.   

D. The judges were from university in Singapore and China.   

58. What Miss Gao said suggests that  

A. she likes to blame the authorities                         B. she has a sense of responsibility  

C. she thinks highly of the others’ blogs                   D. she loves to read valuable posts  

59. The passage in mainly about  

A. how Chinese students won the awards in the competition  

B. why bloggers should take responsibility for their blogs  

C. how Miss Gao won the first prize in the competition  

D. what the result of the competition was