1 .
Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.
A. unremarkable B.drawn C. practical D.sensation E.setbacks F.resolving G.applauding H.inevitably I.originality J. subsequent K.essentially |
How did the Wright brothers take flight?
Wilbur and Orville Wright didn’t care much for attention. But after publicly demonstrating their flying machine, the inventors of the airplane became overnight international 1 . Crowds gathered, watching them go airborne (升空) and 2 their genius and courage. Thousands followed their achievements, which repeatedly made front-page news. While it might sound nice to say the Wrights were born inventors and geniuses who had always been 3 to aeronautics (航空学), that’s not really the case. Beginning in their Midwestern youth, the brothers faced numerous 4 . Their achievements stemmed from their own initiative and 5 .
Before they made history, Wilbur and Orville were, in one sense, fairly 6 children. They didn’t meet the typical standards of success.Though Wilbur was well read and Orville took advanced courses, neither graduated from high school and both struggled to get by on their own early in life. At the start, the brothers didn’t intend to invent the airplane. They simply reviewed what others had published about aeronautic, hoping they could make some sort of contributions. And that was when they noticed, to their surprise, very little progress had been made in the field. Wilbur and Orville realized that flight experiments had hit three main roadblocks to progress. They lacked a way to control the aircraft, a good wing design and a propulsion (推动力) system to power the flight. From there, 7 these problems became the brothers’ goal. Through trial and error, on December 17, 1903, the brothers flew the first manageable aircraft into the air, which proved the Wright Flyer could make a sustained, controlled and powered heavier-than-air flight. The aerial age truly began.
Though the Wright brothers had made history, their airplane was 8 only a proof of concept. It could make straight-line flights, but the design didn’t yet have any 9 use for society. In the 10 years of hard work and devotion, the brothers refined their aircraft. In1908, Wilbur demonstrated their plane in France, successfully proving what he and Orville had done.