17．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（無意識的），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"．
29According to the passage，Elias Howe wasC．
A．the first person we know of who solved problems in his sleep
B．much more hard-working than other inventors
C．the first person to design a sewing machine that really worked
D．the only person at the time who knew the value of dreams
30．The problem Howe was trying to solve wasD．
A．what kind of thread to use
B．how to design a needle which would not break
C．where to put the needle
D．how to prevent the thread from getting caught around the needle
31．Thomas Edison is spoken of becauseB．
A．he also tried to invent a sewing machine
B．he got some of his ideas from dreams
C．he was one of Howe's best friends
D．he also had difficulty in falling asleep
32．Dreams are sometimes called"secret messages to ourselves"becauseA．
A．strange images are used to communicate ideas
B．images which have no meaning are used
C．we can never understand the real meaning
D．only specially trained people can understand them．
分析 文章介紹了縫紉機(jī)是如何誕生的．一直困擾著發(fā)明家的一個問題在夢中找到了答案．許多科學(xué)家像愛迪生、愛因斯坦等，都有過在夢中發(fā)現(xiàn)問題答案的經(jīng)歷．這主要是因為大腦的一部分在無意識狀態(tài)下仍然在工作．
解答 29． C 細(xì)節(jié)題．根據(jù)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是第一個設(shè)計出能正常工作的縫紉機(jī)的人，故選C．
30．D 細(xì)節(jié)題．根據(jù)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面臨的問題是，如何避免讓線纏繞到針上．故選D．
31．B 細(xì)節(jié)題．根據(jù)"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不是唯一的一個通過此種方式得到答案的人，愛迪生也是在夢中得到答案的，故選B．
32．A 細(xì)節(jié)題．根據(jù)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，大腦的一部分在無意識狀態(tài)下工作，發(fā)送信息到其它部分，這部分大腦使用的是一種特殊的圖象，故選A．
點評 本文是一個人物故事類閱讀，題目涉及多道細(xì)節(jié)理解題，做題時結(jié)合原文和題目有針對性的找出相關(guān)語句進(jìn)行仔細(xì)分析，結(jié)合選項選出正確答案．推理判斷題也是要在抓住關(guān)鍵句子的基礎(chǔ)上合理的分析才能得出正確答案，切忌胡亂猜測，一定要做到有理有據(jù)．
