Thomas Edison was born in 1847. He first went to school
at the age of eight and a half. But after only three months his
teacher called him "stupid" and he came home crying. From
that time his mother taught him at home and he read science
books by himself. He got a job sending telegraph messages.
Then he started inventing things. At the age of 12 he had a
job selling newspapers. He made money in a clever but simple
way. He checked the news stories first. When the news was
interesting he took a lot of papers; when it was boring he
took only few.
In 1877 he made a "phonograph" — the first ever sound
recorder. The following year he invented the light bulb. In
1882 New York was the first city in the world with electric
lights. In 1889 he made a "kinetoscope". He also made films
for his new machine. In 1903 he made the world's longest
film (It was ten minutes long!) After more than one thousand
inventions, Edison died at the age of eighty-four. In his honour
they switched off the lights all over America.
Quesiwns:
1. Thomas Edison was born in 1847, wasn't he?
2. Why did mother teach him at home?
3. What were his inventions?
4. When did Edison die?
5. What did Americans do in his honour?
Vocabulary:
to check — проверять
phonograph — фонограф
kinetoscope — кинескоп
to switch off — выключать
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