Wilbur and Orville Wright are the American inventors who made a small engine-powered flying machine. They proved that flight without the aid of gas-filled balloons was possible.Wilbur Wright was born in 1867 near Melville, Indiana. His brother Orville was born four years later in Dayton, Ohio.As they grew up, the Wright brothers experimented with mechanical things. Later, the Wright brothers began to design their own flying machine. They used ideas they had developed from earlier experiments with a toy helicopter, kites, the printing machine and bicycles.Images of the 1903 Wright Flyer in the “Wright Brothers & The Invention of the Aerial Age” gallery at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, September 7, 2022. (Smithsonian photo by Jim Preston)Soon, they needed a place to test their ideas about flight. The best place with the best wind conditions seemed to be a piece of sandy land in North Carolina along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. It was called Kill Devil Hill, near the town of Kitty Hawk.The Wright brothers did many tests with gliders at Kitty Hawk. With these tests, they learned how to solve many problems.By the autumn of 1903, Wilbur and Orville had designed and built an airplane powered by a gasoline engine. The plane had wings 12 meters across. It weighed about 340 kilograms, including the pilot.On December 17th, 1903, they made the world's first flight in a machine that was heavier than air and powered by an engine. Orville flew the plane 36 meters. He was in the air for 12 seconds. The two brothers made three more flights that day.Four other men watched the Wright brothers' first flights. One of the men took pictures. Few newspapers, however, noted the event.It was almost five years before the Wright brothers became famous. In 1908, Wilbur went to France. He gave demonstration flights at heights of 90 meters. A French company agreed to begin making the Wright brothers' flying machine.Orville made successful flights in the United States at the time Wilbur was in France. The United States War Department agreed to buy a Wright brothers' plane. Wilbur and Orville suddenly became world heroes. But the brothers were not seeking fame. They returned to Dayton where they continued to improve their airplanes. They taught many others how to fly.Wilbur Wright died of typhoid fever in 1912. Orville Wright continued designing and inventing until he died many years later, in 1948.Today, the Wright brothers' first airplane is in the Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Visitors to the museum can look at the Wright brothers' small plane. Then they can walk to another area and see space vehicles and a rock collected from the moon. The world has changed a lot since Wilbur and Orville Wright began the modern age of flight over one hundred years ago.Questions:
1.What is the main achievement of the Wright brothers according to the passage?*
A. They invented the first gas-filled balloon.
B. They built the first engine-powered, heavier-than-air aircraft.
C. They improved the safety of bicycle riding.
D. They created the first rocket for space travel.
2.Why did the Wright brothers choose Kitty Hawk as their testing site?
A. It was close to their hometown in Ohio.
B. It offered ideal wind conditions for flight experiments.
C. It had large factories for building engines.
D. It was recommended by the U.S. War Department.
3.According to the passage, what happened nearly five years after their first flight?
A. Their first airplane was destroyed in a storm.
B. They received worldwide fame after demonstrations in France and the U.S.
C. They sold their patents to a British company.
D. They stopped all aviation experiments and focused on bicycles.
1. B 2. B 3. B
威尔伯·莱特和奥维尔·莱特是美国发明家，他们制造了一架小型发动机驱动的飞行器。他们证明了不借助充气球体也能实现飞行。
威尔伯·莱特于1867年出生在印第安纳州梅尔维尔附近。他的弟弟奥维尔四年后出生在俄亥俄州的代顿。
在成长过程中，莱特兄弟对机械装置很感兴趣，并不断进行实验。后来，他们开始设计自己的飞行器，灵感来自早前对玩具直升机、风筝、印刷机以及自行车的实验。
1903年“莱特飞行者号”的照片，摄于2022年9月7日，位于华盛顿特区史密森尼航空航天博物馆的“莱特兄弟与航空时代的诞生”展厅。（史密森尼照片，作者：吉姆·普雷斯顿）
很快，他们需要找一个地方来验证关于飞行的想法。最佳地点是北卡罗来纳州大西洋沿岸的一片沙地，那里风况理想，名为“杀魔山”，靠近基蒂霍克镇。
莱特兄弟在基蒂霍克进行了大量滑翔机测试，从中学会解决许多飞行中的问题。
到1903年秋天，他们设计并制造出一架由汽油发动机驱动的动力飞机。机翼宽12米，连飞行员在内重约340公斤。
1903年12月17日，他们完成了世界上第一次由发动机驱动、重于空气的人造飞行器的试飞。奥维尔驾驶飞机飞行了36米，持续了12秒。当天，两兄弟又进行了三次飞行。
有四位目击者见证了这一创举，其中一人拍下了照片。然而，当时几乎没有报纸报道此事。
近五年后，莱特兄弟才闻名世界。1908年，威尔伯前往法国，在90米的高度上进行飞行演示。一家法国公司同意生产他们的飞行器。与此同时，奥维尔在美国成功完成飞行表演，美国陆军部决定购买一架莱特兄弟的飞机。他们一夜之间成为世界英雄——但他们并不追求名声，而是回到代顿继续改进飞机，并教授他人飞行技术。
威尔伯·莱特于1912年死于伤寒，奥维尔则继续设计与发明多年，直到1948年去世。
如今，莱特兄弟的第一架飞机陈列在华盛顿特区的航空航天博物馆。参观者可以看到这架小飞机，然后走到另一个展区欣赏航天器以及一块来自月球的岩石。自一百多年前威尔伯与奥维尔开启现代飞行时代以来，世界已发生了翻天覆地的变化。
零基础，没报班，纯自学，复习1个月，一次通过社工考试初级和中级。
