Problem: Thomas Edison lit up the world with his invention of the electric light. Without him, the world might still be in the dark. However, the electric light was not his only invention. He also invented the motion picture camera and 1200 other things. About every two weeks he created something new. Thomas Edison was born in 1847. He attended school for only three months. His mother taught him at home, but Thomas was mostly self-educated. He started experimenting at a young age. When he was 12 years old, he got his first job. He became a newsboy on a train. He did experiments on the train in his spare time. Unluckily, his first work experience did not end well. They _ him when he accidentally set fire to the floor of the train. Then Edison worked for five years as a telegraph operator, but he continued to spend much of his time in experimenting his first patent in 1868 for a vote recorder run by electricity. Thomas Edison was totally deaf in one ear and hard of hearing in the other, but he thought of his deafness as a blessing in many ways. It kept conversations short, so that he could have more time for work. He always worked 16 out of every 24hours. Sometimes his wife had to remind him to sleep and eat. Thomas Edison died at the age of 84. He left a great many inventions that greatly improved the quality of life all over the world.
1. Was Edison well educated?
2. Did he go to school for long?
3. how long?
4. Who taught him after that?
5. was he married?
6. did he work a lot?
7. how much?
8. what is his most recgonized invention?
9. how many other things did he invent?
10. what was his first job?
11. where?
12. how did that end?
13. on purpose?
14. What was his next job?
15. How long did he work there?
16. when was his first patent?
17. for what?
18. Was he deaf?
19. in both ears?
20. was he saddened by it?
Answer: 1. No
2. No
3. Three months.
4. His mother
5. Yes
6. Yes
7. 16 out of 24 hours
8. Electric light
9. 1201 other things
10. A newsboy
11. On a train.
12. He set a fire on the train.
13. No
14. Telegraph Operator
15. 5 years
16. in 1868
17. a vote recorder
18. Yes
19. Totally deaf in one
20. No

Problem: One evening,June Griffith was on her way to pick up her son.Almost immediately,she realized that she had gone the wrong way.She'd driven onto railroad tracks and the underside of her car was caught. 

As Griffith tried to remove the car,its headlights attracted the attention of a passerby,Jordan Ricks,a college student.He ran over. 

Ricks,22,tried to appear calm as he instructed Gdmth to remove the car.Both of them could now see the wheel between the rails and the uneven track bed.Ricks put his hands under the front fender and gave it a push.It didn't move. 

He pushed it again with all his strength,Still,no movement. 

From about 50 feet away,a group of students from the nearby university watched the scene.Ricks signaled to them,and five of the guys came over. 

He directed them to different sides of the car,and they all put their hands under the flame. 

"One,two,three" Ricks yelled.They all pushed. 

"One,two,three!" he yelled again.The car didn't move. 

At that moment,they felt the ground begin to shake.Then four dings signaled an on coming train,apd the railroad gates dropped down.In the distance,an unclear line of light appeared,followed by the loud noise of a horn . 

The guys started yelling,"Get out of the car!Get out of the car!"But Griffith felt _ . 

When Griffith glanced in the mirror,she saw the train lights approaching.But she worried that the Arthritis in her feet would prevent her from escaping in time and that her car would bedamaged.One of the students,Tommy Stackhouse,20,saw her shocked face and knew he had to act.He reached for the car door and forced it open. 

The train was just a few hundred feet away.In the last few seconds,Stackhouse grasped Griffith's arm and pulled her from the car.His friend,Frank DiPietrapaul,18,grasped her other arm,and the pair pulled Griffith aside. 

They watched as the train,crashed into the car,cutting it into half its original size and sending metal pieces flying.Griffith sat crying as the police arrived and sorted through the ruins--and wrote her a ticket for no attention to driving.Eventually,the students went home. 

A few days later,a reporter asked the young men and Griffith to reunite at a local coffee shop.There a tearful Griffith hugged her rescuers."These boys are heroes,"she would later tell anyone who would listen."They saved my life." 

Ricks feels only grateful for the outcone."It was one of those moments," he says,"when we could have been gone together.It makes you think how precious life is."
1. What was it that made June Griffith realize something was wrong?
2. Who was it that ran over to help her initially?
3. How old was he?
4. What was it the group of men yelled at her ones it was realized a train was getting near?
5. What was it Griffith saw when she glanced in the mirror?
6. How many students came and helped when Rick Signaled them?
7. Who was it that reached for the door and forced it open?
8. How old was he?
9. What did the police write Griffith a ticket for?
10. Where did a reporter ask the young men and Griffith to reunite?
Answer:
1. she had gone the wrong way
2. Jordan Ricks
3. 22
4. "Get out of the car!Get out of the car!"
5. the train lights approaching
6. five
7. Tommy Stackhouse
8. 20
9. no attention to driving.
10. local coffee shop