Read the text and match the titles to the paragraphs. One title is extra. 1. THE GREAT ARTIST AND INVENTOR
2. THE DREAM TO FLY
3. A DISASTROUS RESULT
4. YEARS OF LEANING
5. THE FIRST SUCSESSFUL FLIGHT
6. FIRST PASSENGERS IN THE AIR
The Invention of the Airplane
A. The inventors of the first airplane were Orville and Wilbur Wright. On December 17, 1903, the Wright brothers made the first successful experiment in which a machine carrying a man rose by its own power and flew naturally and at even speed, then landed without damage. Before the first airplane was invented by the Wright Brothers, inventors made numerous attempts to make things like birds and fly. These early inventions included kites, hot air balloons, airships, gliders, and other devices.
B. The Chinese invented the kite that could fly in the air. That made people think about flying. Kites were used by the Chinese in religious ceremonies. Some kites were used to test weather conditions. For many centuries, humans had tried to fly just like birds and had studied the flight of birds. Wings made of feathers or light wood were attached to arms to test their ability to fly. The results were often disastrous as the muscles of the human arms are not like birds’ and cannot move with the strength of a bird.
C. Leonardo da Vinci made the first real studies of flight in the 1480’s. He had over 100 drawings that illustrated his theories on bird and mechanical flight. The drawings illustrated the wings and tails of birds, ideas for man carrying machines, and devices for testing wings. It was only a design that Leonardo da Vinci created to show how man could fly. The modern helicopter is based on this concept.
D. The brothers, Joseph Michel and Jacques Etienne Montgolfier, were inventors of the first hot air balloon. They used the smoke from a fire to blow hot air into a silk bag. The silk bag was attached to a basket. The hot air then rose and allowed the balloon to be lighter-than-air. In 1783, the first passengers in the colorful balloon were a sheep, rooster and duck. It climbed to a height of about 6,000 feet and travelled more than one mile. After this first success, the brothers began to send men up in hot air balloons.
E. Orville and Wilbur Wright were very persistent (настойчивый) in their desire for flight. First, they spent many years learning about all the early developments of flight. The early engine that they used generated almost 12 horsepower. The “Flyer” lifted from level ground to the north of Big Kill Devil Hill, at 10:35 a. m., on December 17, 1903. Orville piloted the plane which weighed six hundred and five pounds (275 kilograms). Humankind was now able to fly!
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