On a sunny Saturday morning, Mia was in her backyard with a bright smile. Today was perfect for trying out her latest creation—the Flower Watering Robot. She was exited to see if it could really water the garden by itself. She turned the robot on and watched as it started moving among the flowers. It was working!

Just then, a group of kids from her school walked by and saw her invention. Zoe, the tallest among them, stepped forward and turned the robot off.

“What is this?”she asked.

“It’s my Flower Watering Robot. It helps water plants by itself,” Mia explained.

The kids laughed, “Who needs a robot to water plants?” Zoe picked up the robot and set it aside rudely before they all walked away.

Mia felt sad as she picked up her robot. “Maybe Zoe is right…who would really use this?” she wondered, feeling discouraged.

Suddenly, she heard a voice. “Hey, are you okay?” It was Mr. Jackson, her neighbor. He noticed the robot and asked, “What’s this interesting thing?”

Mia brightened up a bit. “It’s my Flower Watering Robot. I built it myself to help with gardening...”

Mr. Jackson was amazed. “That’s amazing! You’re so creative. Don’t let those kids get you down. Keep inventing, and you’ll make something wonderful!”

“And guess what? I run a local science fair (展览会),” he continued. “I think your robot is great. I can see it winning a prize!”

Mia’s eyes lit up. The local science fair was a big deal, and the idea of her invention being part of it was exciting...

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.