Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word； for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.Introduction to English as a Second Language Teacher’s Book
One of the earliest-known inventions is the bow and arrow, which is still used throughout the world today, 15,000 years 【小题1】 it was first invented. Of course, these days, the bow and arrow 【小题2】 (use) mainly in sporting events, but in some places it is still a means of killing animals for food.
In western Asia, another extremely important invention was born—the ability to produce pots. As long as 6500 years ago, people were producing pottery, mostly plain and without designs, but the technique has changed little since.
Some people say that the wheel is the single most important invention. Early examples from about 5000 years ago have been found in the forests of Europe. Around 1500 years later, the Phoenicians used sand, limestone and sodium carbonate to produce 【小题3】 else which we would be lost without—glass.
How many things do you lock with a key every day? Doors, cupboards? The car? We really don't think much about them, 【小题4】 we? Well, the first example of a lock and key dates back to 2750 years ago, in Assyria. This is a lock on a large wooden door in the palace of Sargon II.
Another amazing invention, which we probably take for granted these days, is the skill of knitting 【小题5】 first appeared in the Roman Empire, some 1700 years ago. The 【小题6】 (early) examples are knitted socks!
Eye glasses developed from just one lens in a frame, like a simple magnifying glass, way back in the 13th century. In about 1290, the idea to put two lenses in a frame to sit on the nose was developed in Florence. And, believe it or not, the modern contact lens is 120 years old!
Time flies and we spend a lot of time 【小题7】 (check) how much time we have left! This would be impossible 【小题8】 clocks and watches, 【小题9】 are all around us: on walls, on our wrists, on our PCs, and even on our mobiles and iPods. The first pocket watch was invented by Thomas Tompion (1639-1714) in England 330 years ago, and his watch—face design, with two (and sometimes three) hands moving around a single dial, 【小题10】 (remain) largely unchanged in all that time.
