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TEXT 3B

A Great Citizen of the World

Every day many people visited Thomas A.Edison's laboratories in Orange, New Jersey. Some of them were young inventors who went to study, but many more of them were tourists. They came from all parts of the US and from other countries as well.

One day a very important citizen from England visited Edison's factories, taking with him his young son,eight years old. They spent many hours in great workshops, looking at hundreds of useful inventions.

Before leaving the laboratories the man went to the office of the main building. Giving his card to the person in charge, he asked: "May 1 speak to Mr.Edison, please?". The man looked at the card and then answered: "Wait a minute, I'll see". Soon he returned and said: "Come this way, please. Mr.Edison will see you."

The father and his son went into the great inventor's workroom. "Mr.Edison", said the Englishman, "I brought my young son here to see what the world's greatest citizen has done. I want this day to help him all his life. Will you please shake hands with him and say something that he will remember?"

Mr. Edison took the boy's hand. He laid his other hand on the child's shoulder and looked into his eyes. "My boy", he said, "don't watch the clock."

In 1928 Mr. Edison was eighty-one years old, but he still worked sixteen hours a day.