How the microwave oven was invented - Worksheet 2

C1 Advanced · Gapped Text · Cambridge Exam Booster for Advanced, Cambridge University Press

You are going to read a magazine article about microwave ovens. Six paragraphs have been removed from the article. Choose from the paragraphs A-G the one which fits each gap (1–6). There is one extra paragraph which you do not need to use.

How the microwave oven was invented

But Spencer didn't allow this to hold him back. He possessed an unusual instinctive curiosity that led him into employment at a textile mill in a nearby town. This was followed by work at a nearby paper mill. His role there was to assist with the installation of electricity to the plant, despite having had no formal training in electrical engineering.

In addition to this increasingly-universal appeal, Spencer's work continues to influence research into further uses for radar, especially those which monitor global weather conditions and trap speeding drivers: police radar guns detect the reflections of microwaves to calculate a driver's speed.

His natural curiosity immediately led him to wonder how exactly this had happened, so Spencer conducted another experiment, this time with an egg. He placed it close to the magnetron and within seconds, it had exploded, splattering cooked egg everywhere, including on his face. On a subsequent occasion, he repeated the experiment with popping corn and was soon sharing popcorn with his team.

Radar, which had been used extensively by the armed forces, detects enemy aircraft and allows planes to fly at night. It was during his efforts to develop this technology that the unusual side-effect came to light.

In the 1940s, however, little information was available about the effect microwaves might have on humans, so Spencer never took into account how safe it might be to work and cook with microwaves. Today, we know that the low doses of microwaves generally do little or no harm.

Developing a reputation there as someone who had an uncanny ability to come up with straightforward fixes to even the most complex of engineering problems, his employer had given him the task of improving radar technology that they were producing for the military. On one occasion, he decided to run some experiments using magnetrons, a high-powered component found inside radars.

As a consequence of these impracticalities, coupled with the public's mistrust of such a new technology, sales were, perhaps unsurprisingly, poor. The venture ended up losing the company a lot of money, becoming their greatest business failure to date.

But Spencer's experience and intelligence led him to the realisation that there were domestic applications for this discovery. He had grown up in a poor family in the backwoods of Maine, in the eastern United States and had minimal formal education. He had also had little or no direct exposure to emerging technologies of the time, such as cars and electrical power.

On joining the Navy at the age of 18, he gained a fascination for the radio and taught himself everything he could about the new technology, amongst other things. This was to stand Spencer in good stead after leaving the Navy. He gained employment at the American Appliance Company, which was later renamed the Raytheon Manufacturing Company. He rapidly gained renown as one of their most accomplished engineers.

As he did so, he happened to put his hands into his pockets, where he habitually kept his snack. That day, it happened to be a candy bar made from peanuts and caramel. To his surprise, he found that it had turned into a warm, melted mess in his pocket whilst he had been at work. Had it been a chocolate bar, this would not have been so remarkable, as chocolate becomes liquid at a relatively low temperature. Melting a peanut and caramel bar, however, requires substantially larger amounts of energy.

Recognising that it was microwaves produced by the magnetron that had heated it to such a degree, his employer immediately patented the invention. The launch of the first commercial microwave oven came just two years later. Costing around $5,000 (which equates to well over $50,000 these days), it weighed about 340 kg and was almost two metres tall.

Eventually, the company worked hard to bring down the price and to create models of a more convenient size, and sales of the microwave oven mushroomed. According to US government figures, in excess of 90% of American homes had microwaves by 1997. Although not all countries have been so quick in embracing this appliance, its acceptance is growing day by day and it has rapidly become the quickest method of heating up food and drink across the planet.

And all of this progress stems from Spencer's realisation that a melting candy bar in his pocket had far greater significance than a trip to the dry cleaners! In 1999, Percy Spencer was finally given his rightful place alongside great inventors such as Thomas Edison and the Wright Brothers in the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

The microwave is, these days, a common sight in many kitchens around the world and cherished for the speed at which it heats up food and drink. However, it is a little-known fact that its creation came about almost completely by accident, when a self-taught US engineer named Percy Spencer, who was working on improvements to military hardware, realised a snack he had in his pocket had melted. ___ But Spencer's experience and intelligence led him to the realisation that there were domestic applications for this discovery. He had grown up in a poor family in the backwoods of Maine, in the eastern United States and had minimal formal education. He had also had little or no direct exposure to emerging technologies of the time, such as cars and electrical power. ___ On joining the Navy at the age of 18, he gained a fascination for the radio and taught himself everything he could about the new technology, amongst other things. This was to stand Spencer in good stead after leaving the Navy. He gained employment at the American Appliance Company, which was later renamed the Raytheon Manufacturing Company. He rapidly gained renown as one of their most accomplished engineers. ___ As he did so, he happened to put his hands into his pockets, where he habitually kept his snack. That day, it happened to be a candy bar made from peanuts and caramel. To his surprise, he found that it had turned into a warm, melted mess in his pocket whilst he had been at work. Had it been a chocolate bar, this would not have been so remarkable, as chocolate becomes liquid at a relatively low temperature. Melting a peanut and caramel bar, however, requires substantially larger amounts of energy. ___ Recognising that it was microwaves produced by the magnetron that had heated it to such a degree, his employer immediately patented the invention. The launch of the first commercial microwave oven came just two years later. Costing around $5,000 (which equates to well over $50,000 these days), it weighed about 340 kg and was almost two metres tall. ___ Eventually, the company worked hard to bring down the price and to create models of a more convenient size, and sales of the microwave oven mushroomed. According to US government figures, in excess of 90% of American homes had microwaves by 1997. Although not all countries have been so quick in embracing this appliance, its acceptance is growing day by day and it has rapidly become the quickest method of heating up food and drink across the planet. ___ And all of this progress stems from Spencer's realisation that a melting candy bar in his pocket had far greater significance than a trip to the dry cleaners! In 1999, Percy Spencer was finally given his rightful place alongside great inventors such as Thomas Edison and the Wright Brothers in the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

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