Reading 

3. Match texts A-D with questions 1-6 below. Some questions match with more than one text.

Which invention(s)...

1 was / were discovered during the scientist's free time? __________________________

2 was / were made when scientists were working on something else? ________________

3 was / were previously used for something different? ____________________________

4 resulted from something getting too hot? _____________________________________

5 is/are used for joining two things together? ___________________________________

6 took the longest to be developed? ___________________________________________

Invented by accident

A MICROWAVE OVEN

This useful kitchen device was invented by an electronics genius called Percy Spencer. Spencer had been in the Navy, where he had taught himself how to be an engineer. When he left, he got a job at Raytheon, an important company in the arms industry. In 1945, Spencer was experimenting with radar when something strange happened. He noticed that a bar of chocolate in his pocket had melted. Spencer worked out that it was the microwaves from the radar that had heated the chocolate. Spencer continued investigating the effects of microwaves on food and developed the microwave oven. The first machine was sold just a year after Spencer had made his discovery.

B VELCRO

Velcro was invented by a Swiss engineer called George de Mestral. In 1948, Mestral was out walking with his dog when he noticed that the dog was covered in small green balls. The balls were the seeds of a plant which was common in the area. Mestral wanted to know what made these balls stick to his dog, so he looked at one of them under his microscope. He saw that it had a lot of tiny hooks. Mestral realised that this technique could be used to make two strips of material stick together. He experimented with a variety of materials for years until the invention of nylon, which was perfect for his idea. The first Velcro was finally produced in 1955.

C PLAY-DOH

The children's toy Play-Doh actually started life as a cleaning product. It was made by an American company called Kutol Products and it was used to clean wallpaper. Sadly, the wallpaper cleaner did not sell very well, so Kutol Products began losing money. That is, until the company realised that its product was being used for a different purpose. Children tad started using it to make Christmas ornaments in the shape of people and animals. Kutol Products adapted their product almost overnight by taking out the cleaning ingredient and adding colours and a nice smell. They also gave it a new name. Play-Doh went on to become one of the best-selling children's toys ever.

D SUPERGLUE

In 1942, Dr Harry Coover of Eastman-Kodak Laboratories was trying to find a new material to use for making part of a gun. He was disappointed to see that his latest effort, a substance called cyanoacrylate, was a complete failure because it stuck to everything it touched. Coover threw it away and forgot about it. Six years later, he came across cyanoacrylate once more  hen his company was developing a new design for part of a plane. Again, the substance stuck to everything in sight. But this time, Coover realised that the substance might be useful, because it didn't need heat to make it stick. Coover carried on experimenting with cyanoacrylate in his lab, and it appeared in DIY stores as superglue sixteen years after he had first used it.