Orville Wright was born on August 19, 1871 in Dayton, Ohio, USA and died on January 30, 1948. Together with his brother, Wilbur, he was the first airplane builder. The brothers created the first controlled, powered and heavier-than-air human flight. His parents were Milton Wright and Susan Catherine Koerner and besides the two famous brothers they had five children. One day after a trip his father brought as a gift a small helicopter. The kids loved it and as they played daily with it after a while it broke. The brothers managed to create a new one. Wright even let go his plans of attending Yale. He spent his time helping his ill mother and reading in his father's library. In 1884 the family decided to move to Dayton and they remained there until the 1870's. A printing press was built by the two and Wilbur was an editor. In 1892 they started being fascinated by the aeronautical events of that time. Then they started to create an airplane and Wilbur was considered the head of the team. They were the inventors of "three axis-control", which permitted the pilot to _ the aircraft's balance. In 1900 they had their first attempts to make a functional glider -- of course it didn't have a pilot. After three years they thought of introducing an engine to the glider. At first, their patent application was refused in 1903, but after one year it was accepted. Orville's first flight lasted 12 seconds and had 36.5 meters. He was responsible with the public shows near Washington in the United States. On September 9, 1908 his flight was 62 minutes and 15 seconds long and the success was huge. This passage tells us about _ . A) the plane's history B) Milton and his children C) Orville Wright's life D) the development of science
C
It was August 10, 2011. Diana Nyad was dozens of miles into her dream to complete a 103-mile swim from Cuba to Key West. Because of the currents in the Florida Straits, Nyad would have to last 60 hours-if everything went perfectly. For two years, this dream of swimming from Cuba to Florida had been part of her every waking hour. She was about to turn 60. "I wanted to be filled with commitment to the best of myself so that 1 wasn't looking back later saying, 'What have I done with my life?''' says Nyad. Those extreme physical struggles are not new to her. In 1974, 25-year-old Nyad became the first person to swim across Lake Ontario against the current. A year later, Nyad's 28-mile swim around the island of Manhattan made the front page of the New York Times. "Physically, I'm stronger. I weigh a lot more," Nyad said after a training swim in Key West in June. "There are also mental advantages to being older," says Steven Munatones, an expert in swimming. Feeling a sharp pain in her right shoulder, she changed the angle of stroke , telling herself to go gently until her hand caught the water. In the 17thhour, she swam over to the boat, and the crew located a pain reliever. Nyad took it. She lay on her back, rolled onto her belly and continued swimming, and then she'd turn on her back again, gasping, unable to fill her lungs. "I'm trying to make it. I'm barely going forward. I feel so sick. This has been my dream forever, but I can hardly make it another hour," Nyad told David Marchant, the boat's navigator . Between the 23rd and 27th hours, Nyad had gone just five miles. "OK, Diana, I'm going to touch you, and it's going to be over," Stoll said. Nyad agreed. And with that, 29 hours and 43 minutes after she'd leaped into the water, the swim came to an end. "She just wouldn't quit. It was more amazing to see her not make it the way she fought than if everything had gone exactly right and she'd made it the whole way," says Mark Sollinger, who piloted Nyad's lead boat. At a press .conference in Key West... Which of the following is the best title for the passage? A) A Highly Skilled Swimmer B) The Unsinkable Diana Nyad C) A Regrettable Experience D) The Inspiring Adventure
B
(Q).
Americans love their cars. There are more than eight cars for every 10 Americans, but most of the time, they sit idle , parked in a driveway or on the street. Now, several companies on the U. S. West Coast are helping people rent their personal car to someone else when they don't need it. Eric Loebel is one of those people. For a small price, he wants to let his Oregon neighbors "borrow" his car. It's a dark blue, model year 2000 Volvo car. The sales and marketing consultant says he doesn't use it much. "My wife and I are huge bike commuters and almost don't need a car," he says. Loebel is one of the first car owners in Portland to list his wheels for rent through a so-called "peer-to-peer car sharing" service called Getaround. Com. "Cars are so expensive to own," he says "This can definitely offset some of the cost." The website lets car owners decide for themselves how much to charge borrowers to rent by the hour, day or week. Person-to-person rentals began in Germany a decade ago, and there are a handful of similar companies in Europe and Australia. The concept caught on quickly in California over the past year according to John Atcheson, vice president of Getaround, one of four carsharing startups in the San Francisco area. "We have had amazing cars leaping into our system," Atcheson says. "Not just 1995 pickup trucks but we have had late model Mercedes, Audis, any type of car you can imagine. We actually have a Tesla Roadster--a $150,000 sports car." Another service called JustShareIt plans to stand out by going beyond cars. Its founder says the company will offer person-to-person rentals of power boats, jet skis and snowmobeles( ) too. What's the main idea of the passage? A) There are too many cars in America. B) Most cars are rarely used in America. C) Commuting by bike is popular in America. D) Americans try renting their cars to strangers.
(A).
D