15. Reading. Great ideas

Read the facts about some inventions. Match the questions to the answers. There is one extra option.

 

 

 

 

There is a legend that a nameless Dutchman invented the first roller skates at the beginning of the \(18\)th century. It happened in the middle of the summer, when he was standing and looking at one of the canals in Holland. Every winter, people were ice skating along this canal, and he really liked it. But there was no ice in summer! Suddenly he had an idea. He took wooden wheels, much bigger ones than the modern roller wheels, and fixed them to his shoes. This device was the first roller skates.

A scientist named Percy Spencer was developing a project related to radars. Among other things, he was working with a magnetron, a device that makes microwaves. Once he was standing very close to the magnetron, with a candy bar in his pocket. The candy bar got warm and melted completely! After that, he continued his experiments on using microwaves for heating food. As a result, he invented the first microwave oven.

  

 

There is a legend about the invention of windscreen wipers, too. In \(1902\), Mary Anderson was travelling in a tram car on a winter day. The driver was struggling to see past the windows, because the snow was falling heavily. He had to stop the tram and go outside to clear the windscreen several times. After that trip, Mary Anderson invented windscreen wipers that the driver could use from inside the tram or car when it was raining or snowing.

 

Before the \(19\)th century, people had no aquariums, so they were using ponds to keep fish as pets. A scientist named Jeanne Villepreux-Power created the first aquarium in \(1832\). She was studying sea animals, so she wanted to keep some of them in her lab. Her aquarium walls were made of glass, because she needed to see what was happening inside.

 

1) Was it snowing when Mary Anderson was travelling in a tram car? —  

 

2) Where was Percy Spencer standing when a candy in his pocket melted? —