Richard Browning has been attracted by flight ever since his father took him into the hills to fly gliders (滑翔机). He has certainly been an adventurer. Richard took it upon himself to develop his own jet suit and began to experiment with some of his friends. He made quick progress. In 2017, he felt confident enough to start a company called Gravity Industries that could make jet suits. It took 15 months to develop the very first one.

Five very small jet engines are built into the jet suit. These are powered by kerosene (煤油). Two engines are located on the pilot’s arms and one is placed on the back. Each engine weighs less than two kilos and can produce22 kilos of thrust(推力).

The pilot is able to control the direction and speed of the flight. He does this by small movements of the arms which require hours of practice. One wrong move and you could end up falling to the ground.

        Richard is not only in charge of his company; he is also the chief test pilot. He has spent hours and hours perfecting the correct moves to create a perfect flight. He was able to enter the Guinness Book of World Records in 2017 when he became the fastest man in a jet suit and flew at 51 kilometres per hour. Since then, he has presented his jet suit at 60 events in 20 different countries around the world. More recently, he flew alongside Brighton Pier on the south coast of England at 136 kilometres per hour!

The objective of Richard’s company has been to build a suit which members of the public can buy. The first went on sale in a department store in 2018 for f 340, 000. If you want to jet around your own hometown, it’s time to start saving—or to work for Richard Browning.

【小题1】What do we know about Richard?

A．He was absorbed in flight.	B．He is no stranger to misfortune.
C．He is slow in making up his mind.	D．He started his company with his father.

【小题2】What can be inferred about Richard’s jet suit?

A．It is easy to control.	B．It is quite lightweight.
C．It consists of two engines.	D．It leads the world in its field.

【小题3】What does Richard expect of the jet suit according to the last paragraph?

A．It’ll be much faster.	B．It’ll save more energy.
C．It’ll reach ordinary customers soon.	D．It’ll ease his hometown’s heavy traffic.

【小题4】What can we learn from Richard’s story?

A．Being good is different from being great.

B．He who makes no mistakes makes nothing.

C．One cannot succeed without time and practice.

D．Luck, talent and friendship help to achieve success.