Question

【题目】As motorways become more and more blocked up with traffic, a new generation on flying cars will be needed to ferry people along skyways. That is the conclusion of engineers from the US space agency and aeronautical firms, who envision future commuters traveling by “skycar”.

These could look much like the concept skycar shown in the picture, designed by Boeing research and development. However, such vehicles could be some 25 years from appearing on the market. Efforts to build flying vehicles in the past have not been very successful. Such vehicles would not only be expensive and require the skills of a trained pilot to fly, but there are significant engineering challenges involved in developing them. “When you try to combine them you get the worst of both worlds: a very heavy, slow, expensive vehicle that’s hard to use,” said Mark Moore, head of the personal air vehicle(PAV) division of the vehicle systems program at Nasa’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, US. But Boeing is also considering how to police the airways and prevent total pandemonium(吵杂狂乱的喧闹)－if thousands of flying cars enter the skies.

“The neat, gee-whiz part is thinking about what the vehicle itself would look like,” said Dick Paul, a vice president with Phantom Works, Boeing’s research and development arm. “But we’re trying to think through all the consequences of what it would take to deploy(散开) a fleet of these.”

Past proposals to solve this problem have included artificial intelligence systems to prevent collisions between air traffic. Nasa is working on flying vehicles with the initial goal of transforming small plane travel. Small planes are generally costly, loud, and require months of training and lots of money to operate, making flying to work impractical for most people. But within five years, Nasa researchers hope to develop technology for a small plane that can fly out of regional airports, costs less than $100,000(55,725), is as quiet as a motorcycle and as simple to operate as a car.

Although it would not have any road-driving capabilities, it would bring this form of travel within the grasp of a wider section of people. The new technology would automate many of the pilot’s functions. This Small Aircraft Transportation System(Sats) would divert pressure away from the “hub-and-spoke(中心辐射型)” model of air travel. Hub-and-spoke refers to the typically US model of passengers being processed through large “hub” airports and then on to secondary flights to “spoke” airports near their final destinations.

【1】The best title for this text would be_______ .

A. Developing Skycars

B. The Traffic Jams in the Sky

C. How to Guide Flying Cars in the Sky

D. What Flying Cars Will Look Like

【2】The underlined word “envision” in Paragraph 1 most probably means “ “.

A.imagine B. expect C. think D. announce

【3】When engineers develop the skycars, they have to deal with the following difficulties except____ .

A. how to fly out of regional airports

B. how to prevent the disorder of the airways

C. how to reduce expenses and the vehicle’s weight

D. how to fly the skycars to enter skies

【4】Now Nasa researchers’ aim is to .

A. make big flying cars

B. work out the plan---how to transform small plane travel

C. develop a new kind of small plane different from the traditional one

D. build a new kind of small plane with road-driving abilities

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】A

【2】A

【3】D

【4】C

【解析】

试题分析:本文是一篇关于飞行汽车制造的说明介绍。

【1】 主旨理解题。结合全文，作者首先提出新一代的飞行汽车在交通拥挤的高速公路上迫切需要，然后又介绍制造飞行汽车所遇到的严峻挑战，问题等，均是围绕研发发行汽车展开，故选A。

【2】词汇理解题。从文中第一段That is the conclusion of engineers from the US space agency and aeronautical firms, who envision future commuters traveling by “skycar”.那是美国国家航空航天局和一些航空公司的工程师们得出的结论,他们想象未来人类将会乘坐“飞车”旅行。由future一词结合上下文语境，可推知envision此处是相当于imagine。故选A。

【3】细节分析题。排除法。选项A，从文中倒数第二段But within five years, Nasa researchers hope to develop technology for a small plane that can fly out of regional airports, costs less than $100,000(55,725), is as quiet as a motorcycle and as simple to operate as a car. 但在五年内,美国国家航空航天局研究人员希望为小飞机开发一项技术以便它可以飞出区域机场，成本不到100000美元(55725),让小飞机和摩托车一样安静，和汽车一样操作简单。故A正确；选项B，从文章第二段But Boeing is also considering how to police the airways and prevent total pandemonium(吵杂狂乱的喧闹)－if thousands of flying cars enter the skies. 但波音公司也在考虑如何管辖空中航线和防止吵杂狂乱的喧闹—如果成千上万的飞行汽车进入天空时。故B正确；选项C，从文中第二段a very heavy, slow, expensive vehicle that’s hard to use, 非常重,缓慢、昂贵的汽车,很难使用,故可知也要解决如何减少成本和其重量，故C正确。而选项D，如何使飞天汽车进入天空。文中并未提到要解决这一困难。故选D。

【4】细节分析题。从文中倒数第二段But within five years, Nasa researchers hope to develop technology for a small plane that can fly out of regional airports, costs less than $100,000(55,725), is as quiet as a motorcycle and as simple to operate as a car. 但在五年内,美国国家航空航天局研究人员希望为小飞机开发一项技术以便它可以飞出区域机场，成本不到100000美元(55725),让小飞机和摩托车一样安静，和汽车一样操作简单。这便是Nasa现在的研究目的，即研发与传统不同的飞天汽车。故选C。