Cars had wings，they could fly and that just might happen, beginning in 2012. The company Terrafugia, based in Woburn, Massachusetts, says it plans to deliver its car-plane, the Transition, to customers by the end of 2012.
“It’s the next ‘wow’vehicle，”said Terrafugia vice president Richard Gersh. “Anybody can buy a Ferrari, but as we say, Ferraris don’t fly.”
The car plane has wings that unfold for flying—a process the company says takes one minute—and fold back up for driving. A runway is still required to take off and land.
The Transition is being marketed more as a plane that drives than a car that flies, although it is both. The company has been working with FAA to meet aircraft regulations, and with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to meet vehicle safety regulations.
The company is aiming to sell the Transition to private pilots as a more convenient and cheaper way to fly. They say it saves you the trouble from trying to find another mode of transportation to get to and from airports: You drive the car to the airport and then you’re good to go. When you land, you fold up the wings and hit the road. There are no expensive parking fees because you don’t have to store it at an airport—you park it in the garage at home.
The car-plane is designed to fly primarily under 10,000 feet. It has a maximum takeoff weight of 1,430 pounds, including fuel and passengers. Terrafugia says the Transition reduces the potential for an accident by allowing pilots to drive under bad weather instead of flying into marginal(临界)conditions.
The Transition’s price tag: $194,000, But there may be additional charges for options like a radio, transponder or GPS. Another option is a full-plane parachute.
“If you get into a very awful situation, it is the necessary safety option,” Gersh said.
So far, the company has more than 70 orders with deposits. “We’re working very closely with them, but there are still some remaining steps,” Brown said.
71. We can learn from the first paragraph that .
A. car-planes will be popular in 2012
B. people might drive a car-plane in 2012
C. both Transition and Ferrari can take off and land
D. Richard Gersh is the vice president of Massachusetts
72. It takes the car-plane one minute to .
A. fold and unfold its wings B. unfold wings for flying
C. land in the airport D. meet flying safety regulations
73. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
A. The car-plane needs a runway to take off and land.
B. To meet aircraft regulations, the company has been working with FAA.
C. The car-plane may fly as high as normal planes.
D. People can park the car-plane in the garage at their home.
74. The underlined word “it” in the last but one paragraph refers to .
A. the radio B. the transponder
C. the GPS D. the full-plane parachute
75. What’s the best title for the passage?
A. Cars With Wings May Be Just Around The Corner.
B. Which to Choose: A Ferraris or a Car Plane?
C. A more Convenient and Cheaper Way to Fly.
D. Cars With Wings Can Fly as Fast as Planes.
科目：高中英语 来源：2011年浙江普通高等学校招生全国统一考试英语试卷 题型：阅读理解
One evening in February 2007 . a student named Paula Ceely brought her car to a stop on a remote in Wales . She got out to open a metal gate that blocked her path . That's when she heard the whistle sounded by the driver of a train.Her Renault Clio parked across a railway line. Second later,she watched the train drag her car almost a kilometre down the railway tracks.
Ceely's near miss made the news because she blamed it on her GPS device(导航仪).She had never driven the route before .It was dark and raining heavily . Ceely was relying on her GPS. But it made no mention of the crossing ."I put my complete trust in the device and it led me right into the path of a speeding train ,"she told the BBC.
W ho is to blame here ? Rick Stevenson ,who tells Ceely's story in his book When Machines Fail US, finger at the limitations of technology. We put our faith in digital devices, he says,
but our digital helpers are too often not up to the job. They are filled with small problems. And it’s not just GPS devices: Stevenson takes us on a tour of digital disasters involving everything from mobile phones to wireless key boards.
The problem with his argument in the book is that it’s not clear why he only focuses digital technology,while there may be a number of other possible causes. A map-maker might have left the crossing off a paper map. Maybe we should blame Ceely for not paying attention. perhaps the railway authorities are at fault for poor signaling system. Or maybe someone has studied the relative dangers and worked out that there really is something specific wrong with the CPS equipment. But Stevenson doesn’t say.
It’s a problem that runs through the book. In a section on cars, Stevenson gives an accout of the advanced techniques that criminals use to defeat computer-based locking systems for cars. He offers two independent sets of figures on car theft; both show a small rise in some parts of the country. He 
says that once once again not all new locks have proved reliable. Perhaps, but maybe it’s also due to the shortage of policemen on the streets. Or changing social circumstances. Or some combination of these factors .
The game between humans and their smart devices is complex. It is shaped by economics and psychology and the cultures we live in. Somewhere in the mix of those forces there may be way a wiser use of technology.
If there is such a way, it should involve more than just an awareness of the shortcomings of our machines. After all, we have lived with them for thousands of years. They have probably been fooling us for just as long .
【小题1】
What did 
Paula Ceely think was the cause of her accident?
| A．Shewasnotfamiliarwiththeroad. |
| B．Itwasdarkandrainingheavilythen. |
| C．The railway works failed to give the signal. |
| D．Her GPS device didn’t tell her about the crossing |
A．close bit | B．heavyloss | C．narrow escape | D．bigmistake |
| A．Moderntechnologyiswhatwe can’tlivewithout. |
| B．Digitaltechnologyoftenfalls shortofoutexpectation. |
| C．Digitaldevicesaremore reliablethantheyusedtobe. |
| D．GPSerrorisnottheonly causeforCelery’saccident. |
| A．one-sided | B．reasonable | C．puzzling | D．well-based |
| A．The major causes of traffic accidents and car thefts. |
| B．The relationship between humans and technology |
| C．Theshortcomingsofdigital devicesweuse. |
| D．Thehuman unawarenessoftechnicalproblems. |
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科目：高中英语 来源：2012-2013学年江西南昌二中高二下期第二次月考英语卷（带解析） 题型：阅读理解
The air bag is a piece of safety equipment in cars. It was first designed by John W. Hetrick in 1952. Like many inventions, he came up with the idea as a result of an event that had occurred in his life. He says:
“In the spring of 1952, my wife, my seven-year-old daughter, Joan, and I were out for a Sunday drive in our 1948 Chrysler Windsor. About three miles outside Newport we were watching for deer jumping across the road. Suddenly, there was a large rock in our path. I hit the brakes and we went into a ditch(壕沟).
“As I applied the brakes, both my wife and I threw our hands up to keep our daughter from hitting the car. There was soft mud in the ditch, so the car wasn’t damaged, and no one was hurt.”
“During the ride home I couldn’t stop thinking about the accident. I asked myself,‘Why couldn’t some object come out to stop you from striking the inside of the car?’As soon as I got home that night I drew some sketches(草图). Each evening for the following two weeks, I’d add or reduce something from the sketches.”
Hetrick applied an event he had observed while in the Navy to the design of the air bag. He was repairing a torpedo(鱼雷) which had a cloth covering. When the compressed（压缩的） air that was in the torpedo was let out, the covering was suddenly filled with air and was shot to the ceiling.
With this knowledge, he developed his design until he was able to obtain a patent on the invention on August 5, 1952. The idea was similar to the air bag designs of today. Compressed air is stored in a container and when a traffic accident occurs and the car slows down at a rapid enough rate, the air will be released into the air bag. The idea was ingenious, but Hetrick’s air bag never would have functioned properly. It was really a breakthrough, but it would require years and years of designing and testing by some top car designers before it could be used.
【小题1】The car accident Hetrick was involved in ________.
| A．damaged his car | B．happened in 1948 |
| C．was caused by a deer | D．caused no harm to his family |
| A．turned out to be dangerous | B．was helpful to his invention |
| C．involved designing torpedoes | D．inspired him to design an air bag |
| A．creative | B．ridiculous | C．crazy | D．complex |
| A．It came into use in the 1950s. | B．It performed perfectly in car accidents. |
| C．It prepared the way for air bags nowadays. | D．It took Hetrick about two months to develop it. |
| A．the great inventor Hetrick | B．The invention of air bags |
| C．a terrible car accident | D．road safety in the 1950s |
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科目：高中英语 来源：2014届江西南昌二中高二下期第二次月考英语卷（解析版） 题型：阅读理解
The air bag is a piece of safety equipment in cars. It was first designed by John W. Hetrick in 1952. Like many inventions, he came up with the idea as a result of an event that had occurred in his life. He says:
“In the spring of 1952, my wife, my seven-year-old daughter, Joan, and I were out for a Sunday drive in our 1948 Chrysler Windsor. About three miles outside Newport we were watching for deer jumping across the road. Suddenly, there was a large rock in our path. I hit the brakes and we went into a ditch(壕沟).
“As I applied the brakes, both my wife and I threw our hands up to keep our daughter from hitting the car. There was soft mud in the ditch, so the car wasn’t damaged, and no one was hurt.”
“During the ride home I couldn’t stop thinking about the accident. I asked myself,‘Why couldn’t some object come out to stop you from striking the inside of the car?’As soon as I got home that night I drew some sketches(草图). Each evening for the following two weeks, I’d add or reduce something from the sketches.”
Hetrick applied an event he had observed while in the Navy to the design of the air bag. He was repairing a torpedo(鱼雷) which had a cloth covering. When the compressed（压缩的） air that was in the torpedo was let out, the covering was suddenly filled with air and was shot to the ceiling.
With this knowledge, he developed his design until he was able to obtain a patent on the invention on August 5, 1952. The idea was similar to the air bag designs of today. Compressed air is stored in a container and when a traffic accident occurs and the car slows down at a rapid enough rate, the air will be released into the air bag. The idea was ingenious, but Hetrick’s air bag never would have functioned properly. It was really a breakthrough, but it would require years and years of designing and testing by some top car designers before it could be used.
1.The car accident Hetrick was involved in ________.
A．damaged his car B．happened in 1948
C．was caused by a deer D．caused no harm to his family
2.Hetrick’s experience in the Navy________.
A．turned out to be dangerous B．was helpful to his invention
C．involved designing torpedoes D．inspired him to design an air bag
3.The underlined word “ingenious” in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to _______.
A．creative B．ridiculous C．crazy D．complex
4.What do we know about the air bag Hetrick designed?
A．It came into use in the 1950s. B．It performed perfectly in car accidents.
C．It prepared the way for air bags nowadays. D．It took Hetrick about two months to develop it.
5.The text is mainly about ____.
A．the great inventor Hetrick B．The invention of air bags
C．a terrible car accident D．road safety in the 1950s
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科目：高中英语 来源：江西省2010届高三6月热身测试试卷（英语） 题型：其他题
第二卷（共35分） 非选择题 .
第四部分：写作（共两节，满分35分）
第一节：对话填空（共20小题：每小题1分，满分10分）
请认真阅读下面对话，并根据各题所给首字母的提示，在答题卡上标有题号的横线上，写出一个英语单词的完整、正确形式，使对话通顺。
J =" Jackie " L = Lisa
J: Warm day，isn’t it?
L: Yes, it's the (76) w winter we have ever had.
J: In my childhood, we often had snow in winter, but these years, I (77) s see it
L: What do you think caused the (78) c to change so much?
J: I think it is what we call green-house effect. Countries build factories to develop their economy, but they (79) p a lot of waste gas into the air without being (80) t .
L: And the cars also have (81) c to the changes in the temperature all around the world
J: I couldn't agree more. If the temperature (82) c to go up , the sea level would rise and some (83) c cities would disappear.
L: Sounds terrible. We must do something about it.
J: (84) L_____ , governments of many countries have realized that and are taking
(85) a to prevent the pollution.
L: I am happy to hear that
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科目：高中英语 来源：2011年浙江普通高等学校招生全国统一考试英语试题 题型：阅读理解
One evening in February 2007 . a student named Paula Ceely brought her car to a stop on a remote in Wales . She got out to open a metal gate that blocked her path . That's when she heard the whistle sounded by the driver of a train.Her Renault Clio parked across a railway line. Second later,she watched the train drag her car almost a kilometre down the railway tracks.
Ceely's near miss made the news because she blamed it on her GPS device(导航仪).She had never driven the route before .It was dark and raining heavily . Ceely was relying on her GPS. But it made no mention of the crossing ."I put my complete trust in the device and it led me right into the path of a speeding train ,"she told the BBC.
W ho is to blame here ? Rick Stevenson ,who tells Ceely's story in his book When Machines Fail US, finger at the limitations of technology. We put our faith in digital devices, he says,
but our digital helpers are too often not up to the job. They are filled with small problems. And it’s not just GPS devices: Stevenson takes us on a tour of digital disasters involving everything from mobile phones to wireless key boards.
The problem with his argument in the book is that it’s not clear why he only focuses digital technology,while there may be a number of other possible causes. A map-maker might have left the crossing off a paper map. Maybe we should blame Ceely for not paying attention. perhaps the railway authorities are at fault for poor signaling system. Or maybe someone has studied the relative dangers and worked out that there really is something specific wrong with the CPS equipment. But Stevenson doesn’t say.
It’s a problem that runs through the book. In a section on cars, Stevenson gives an accout of the advanced techniques that criminals use to defeat computer-based locking systems for cars. He offers two independent sets of figures on car theft; both show a small rise in some parts of the country. He says that once once again not all new locks have proved reliable. Perhaps, but maybe it’s also due to the shortage of policemen on the streets. Or changing social circumstances. Or some combination of these factors .
The game between humans and their smart devices is complex. It is shaped by economics and psychology and the cultures we live in. Somewhere in the mix of those forces there may be way a wiser use of technology.
If there is such a way, it should involve more than just an awareness of the shortcomings of our machines. After all, we have lived with them for thousands of years. They have probably been fooling us for just as long .
1.
What did Paula Ceely think was the cause of her accident?
A. She was not familiar with the road.
B. It was dark and raining heavily then.
C. The railway works failed to give the signal.
D. Her GPS device didn’t tell her about the crossing
2.
The phrase”near miss” (paragraph 2 ) can best be replaced by _______.
A. closebit B. heavy loss C.narrow escape D. big mistake
3.
Which of the following would Rick Stevenson most probably agree with? A. Modern technology is what we can’t live without.
B. Digital technology often falls short of out expectation.
C. Digital devices are more reliable than they used to be.
D. GPS error is not the only cause for Celery’s accident.
4.
In the writer’s opinion, Stevenson’s argument is________.
A. one-sided B. reasonable C.puzzling D.well-based
5.
What is the real concern of the writer of this article?
A.The major causes of traffic accidents and car thefts.
B.The relationship between humans and technology
C. The shortcomings of digital devices we use.
D. The human unawareness of technical problems.
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