Imagine taking a flying taxi to the airport, or jumping over crowded city streets at rush hours, getting where you want to go far faster than you could in a car. Believe it or not, you might be able to do these things in an air taxi sooner than you think.

An air taxi is something like a helicopter (直升飞机) that can carry people from place to place. Air taxis don’t need a long runway (跑道) like planes do. They can go straight up and down.

In June, the government of America agreed to allow a company called Joby Aviation to start testing their new air taxi. This is the first time they’ve tested a taxi that has been built in a factory. Before that, all their taxis were made by hand.

By 2025, Joby hopes to start carrying passengers for money. They’ve worked together with Delta Air Lines to create a program to fly people from their homes to the airport. Joby’s air taxis will be flown by a pilot, and can carry four other passengers. They can go around 100 miles before the electric batteries need to be recharged (充电).

Compared with helicopters, Joby says their air taxis are both quieter and cheaper. The company expects to charge (要价) about $3 a mile at first. But over time, they hope to bring the price down to less than $1 a mile.

And as exciting as the idea of flying taxis is, some people have been anxious about them. The air taxis may be quieter than helicopters, but they’ll still be adding noise and traffic to our skies. Some people worry that only rich people will be able to afford to use them.

It seems likely that air taxis will be part of the future of travel. But there’s still a lot to do before air taxis become common.

上周五，你们学校举办了一年一度的科技节，全校学生都参与其中。假设你是李华，请根据以下表格内容给校报投稿，介绍你校科技节的情况，并谈谈自己的感受。

The Science Festival in Our School

Last Friday, our school held a science festival. All the students had a really good time in it.

I can’t wait to see the science festival next year.

科技改变生活，发明无处不在，如computers，cars，smart phones，e-books，robots，Internet…请结合自身经历，谈谈哪一项发明对你的影响最大以及它是如何改变你的生活的。

Technology changes our life and inventions are around us. In my daily life, ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________