Early one morning, more than a hundred years ago, an American inventor called Elias Howe f

Early one morning, more than a hundred years ago, an American inventor called Elias Howe finally fell asleep. He had been working all night on the design of a sewing machine but he had run into a very difficult problem: It seemed impossible to get the thread to run smoothly around the needle.
Though he was tired, Howe slept badly. He turned and turned. Then he had a dream. He dreamt that he had been caught by terrible savages whose king wanted to kill him and 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 kept 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 noticed something. There was a hole in the tip of each spear. The inventor awoke from the dream, realizing that he had just found 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 made Howe design and build the first really practiced sewing machine.
Elias Howe was not the only one in finding the answer to his problem in this way.
Thomas Edison, the inventor of the electric light, said his best ideas came into him in dreams. So did the great physicist Albert Einstein. Charlotte Bronte also drew in her dreams in writing Jane Eyre.
To know the value of dreams, you have to understand what happens when you are asleep. Even then, a part of your mind is still working. This unconscious(无意识的), but still active part understands your experiences and goes to work on the problems you have had during the day. It stores all sorts of information that you may have forgotten or never have really noticed. It is only when you fall asleep that this part of the brain can send messages to the part you use when you are awake. However, the unconscious part acts in a special way. It uses strange images which the conscious part may not understand at first. This is why dreams are sometimes called “secret messages to ourselves”.
【小题1】According to the passage, Elias Howe was .A．the first person we know of who solved problems in his sleepB．much more hard-working than other inventorsC．the first person to design a sewing machine that really workedD．the only person at the time who knew the value of dreams【小题2】The problem Howe was trying to solve was .A．what kind of thread to useB．how to design a needle which would not breakC．where to put the needleD．how to prevent the thread from getting caught around the needle【小题3】Thomas Edison is spoken of because .A．he also tried to invent a sewing machineB．he got some of his ideas from dreamsC．he was one of Howe’s best friendsD．he also had difficulty in falling asleep【小题4】Dreams are sometimes called “secret messages to ourselves” because .A．strange images are used to communicate ideasB．images which have no meaning are usedC．we can never understand the real meaningD．only specially trained people can understand themC

(答案→)C 解析：文章介绍了缝纫机是如何诞生的。一直困扰着发明家的一个问题在梦中找到了答案。许多科学家像爱迪生、爱因斯坦等，都有过在梦中发现问题答案的经历。这主要是因为大脑的一部分在无意识状态下仍然在工作。【小题1】根据第二段最后一句“This was the simple idea that finally made Howe design and build the first really practiced sewing machine.”可知，Howe是第一个设计出能正常工作的缝纫机的人，故选C。【小题2】根据第一段的“but he had run into a very difficult problem: It seemed impossible to get the thread to run smoothly around the needle”和第二段的“Howe ran into the same problem as before. The thread kept getting caught around the needle”可知，Howe面临的问题是，如何避免让线缠绕到针上。故选D。【小题3】根据“Elias Howe was not the only one in finding the answer to his problem in this way. Thomas Edison, the inventor of the electric light, said his best ideas came into him in dreams”可知，Howe不是唯一的一个通过此种方式得到答案的人，爱迪生也是在梦中得到答案的，故选B。【小题4】根据最后一段“this part of the brain can send messages to the part you use when you are awake...It uses strange images which the conscious part may not understand at first. This is why dreams are sometimes called “secret messages to ourselves”.”可知，大脑的一部分在无意识状态下工作，发送信息到其它部分，这部分大脑使用的是一种特殊的图像，故选A。

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