On December 17, 1903, two men flew. They were brothers from Dayton, Ohio, and they owned a bicycle shop. They had attended school, but neither had graduated from high school. Their names were Wilbur and Orville Wright. Before they built the plane they studied all that was known about flying. They built a wind tunnel(风洞)and tested many wings. Then they drew plans and built carefully.
When they flew, it was from Kill Devil Hillat Kitty Hawk. That day, Orville won the toss(投)of a coin. He got to fly first. Wilbur ran beside him;the plane lifted a few feet above the sand and stayed in the air for 17 seconds. The brothers flew four flights that day. The longest lasted 59 seconds. The men from the lifeboat station had taken a picture.
The headlines in the morning newspaper in nearby Norfolk told of the flight, but most of the details in the story were wrong. The brothers were worried, but it didn't matter: no one paid attention. And other newspapers didn't carry the story.
Orville and Wilbur went home and set to improve(改进)their plane. In 1904 newspaper reporters came to see for themselves. The Wright brothers checked and tested everything again and again.
When the reporters arrived, the brothers were having mechanical problems with the plane. The reporters stayed two days. The Wright brothers wouldn't fly on those days;the plane wasn't ready. The reporters left. One writer did stay and see them fly. He wrote down the first long article about the Wright brothers' flight in a beekeepers' magazine!
In 1908, in Virginia, Orville showed Americans that people could fly. The crowd of watchers rushed forward shouting as loudly as they could and couldn't believe what they saw.
【小题1】What can we learn about the Wright brothers?A.They started to build a plane in 1903. | B.They studied very well in high school. |
C.They invented different kinds of wings. | D.They were the owners of a bicycle shop. |
A.He won after throwing a coin. | B.He was asked to do that by Wilbur. |
C.He could run faster than Wilbur did | D.He had more courage than Wilbur did |
A.was widely discussed | B.got most details wrong |
C.made the Wrights very happy | D.was carried by many other newspapers |
A.They needed to fix the plane. |
B.They didn't get enough support. |
C.They were expecting more reporters. |
D.They didn't think the weather was suitable enough. |