1 . French officials are preparing to offer flying taxi services to people attending the Paris Summer Olympics in 2024. If the taxis are actually used in the French capital, it could mark the first major real world show of the flying technology.
Some air taxi developers attended the recent Paris Air Show to show off their products and seek industry support. One of the companies in attendance was Germany’s Volocopter, which plans to offer a flying taxi service during the Olympics.
But so far, no air taxi maker has received government permission to launch service in France. Volocopter hopes to be the first. But the company still needs to run its aircraft through rigorous weather tests and provide thousands of pages of documentation to the European Union Aviation Safety Agency.
Company chief Dirk Hoke said that in addition to worries about government approvals, air taxi companies have also faced difficulties linked to economic slowdowns affecting the world. Robin Riedel, who co-leads the Center for Future Mobility at the business advisory company McKinsey, said companies formed to support air taxi projects have lost about 30 percent of their value in recent years. In addition, many investors(投资人) have decided to put money into drones(无人机) instead of flying taxis.
Hoke has thought about a person he would like to be the first rider of his flying taxis-French President Emmanuel Macron. “That would be super amazing,”Hoke said, “That would be a strong sign to Europe to see the president flying.”
In the beginning, air taxi trips are likely to be short and costly. This is because current battery technology limits the distance and number of paying passengers the aircraft can carry. The long-term success of air taxis will also be dependent on effective systems to manage all the air traffic using the skies. Experts say such systems will need new technology to provide safety for all flyers. As the industry progresses, the number of air taxis is expected to reach into the millions.
1. What does the underlined word “rigorous” in paragraph 3 mean?A.Strict. | B.Simple. | C.Creative. | D.Similar. |
A.To secure the president’s investment. |
B.To welcome the Paris Summer Olympics. |
C.To increase public trust in air taxis. |
D.To get government approval more quickly. |
A.Crowded roads. | B.Limitations of batteries. |
C.Investors’ requirements. | D.The government’s decisions. |
A.The rapid development of drones. |
B.An industry report to ensure safety. |
C.The strong support from French officials. |
D.A good system for managing all air traffic. |
1. What does the man want to do?
A.Work hard. | B.Go to Ireland. | C.Pay for the woman’s vacation |
A.It cost a lot. | B.It wasn’t fun enough. | C.It made her disappointed |
3 . A city in Netherlands is planning to construct a pretty bike path made of recycled wood.
The first of its kind in the world, the path near the city of Emmen will be surfaced not with the usual asphalt(沥青) but with wood chips packed together with organic resin(有机树脂).
The idea behind the path is to cut the use of conventional, less eco-friendly materials such as concrete, which is very difficult to recycle.And the creation of the wood chips will require no direct cutting down of trees; the company leading the experiment, Grontmij, plans to use waste products from sawmills(锯木厂).
The idea of creating a permanent road from a material that is celebrated for its biodegradability(生物降解性)might seem ridiculous. But the engineers working on the path insist that the wood and resin surfacing will stay in good condition for a long time, with a working life at least as long as concrete or asphalt. Rudi van Hedel, project manager of bio-based economy at Grontmij, explained that the light weight of the material also makes it far easier to move.
However, van Hedal said, “At present, the material costs of the path are higher than those of traditional paths made of asphalt or concrete, but the construction costs are comparable or perhaps slightly cheaper. We expect that as production ability increases, the costs will go down. In the future, we hope to use bio-fibres(生物纤维)that are cheaper than the wood fibres we’re currently experimenting with, and we expect that biodegradable materials will be able to compete with asphalt and concrete.”
1. What can we learn about the path?A.It uses some asphalt. | B.It aims to protect trees. |
C.It is a pioneering project. | D.It is being built by a sawmill. |
A.Its material is heavy in weight. | B.It can stay in service for long. |
C.Its length may break a record. | D.It is environmentally friendly. |
A.Their production process is complex. | B.They are not as hard as asphalt. |
C.They are not always available. | D.Their costs are relatively high. |
A.A diary. | B.A novel. | C.A magazine. | D.A guidebook. |
There are many benefits of public transportation. For example, public transportation makes it easier for people to get where they want and need to go. It also helps people save money, as the cost of maintaining a working vehicle is often much more than the cost associated with public transportation. The frequency of traffic jams and accidents may also be reduced when a person uses public transportation.
One of the main benefits of public transportation is the fact that it makes it easier for people to get around. Without public transportation, many people — especially those without cars — would be limited in where they could go and what they could do. With public transportation, however, people can get to school and work, get to the grocery store and to doctors’ offices, and visit relatives, even if they do not own vehicles. Public transportation serves people of all ages and from all walks of life, ranging from families, including their children, to business people on their way to the office, to the elderly.
Often, people complain about the cost of public transportation when the rates are raised. When compared to the cost of buying a car, many people find that choosing to ride public transportation is a much cheaper option.
When public transportation is available, many people choose to use it instead of driving to work and school. This is true even of many people who own cars, as they may prefer to ride to work on a bus or train rather than deal with traffic jams and parking frustrations each day. When people make this choice, the result is less traffic on the roadways, which means fewer traffic jams and less pollution. In fact, the choice many people make to ride public transportation may even translate into fewer car accidents and vehicle-related deaths and injuries. Additionally, the use of public transportation also means less gas is consumed each year.
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