Men always wanted to fly.For hundreds of years they watched birds flying and wished that they could fly too.Birds fly very easily.They beat the air with their wings and climb up through the air.The air keeps them up.
Men knew how to make kites hundreds of years ago.Kites could stay in the air for many hours.“If birds and kites stay up in the air, perhaps we can,” they thought.
At first they made wings like birds.Then they jumped off high buildings and tried to fly.Many men did this but they failed to fly.They crashed to the ground.Some were killed and some were badly hurt.After many times they stopped trying to fly with wings.Then two brothers tried another way.They tried balloons.“Hot air is lighter than cold air,” they said.“That is why hot air goes upwards.If we fill a balloon with hot air it will go upwards.”
They built a balloon.It was made of thin cloth and paper.They lit a fire beneath it.Up into the air it went! It reached a height of 1, 800 meters.Then the air inside the balloon became cool and it slowly downed and gently rested on the ground.
A few months later the brother sent up another balloon.This time there was a basket hanging underneath it.In the basket there were three animals: a sheep, a duck and a hen.The balloon traveled through the air to a place two and half kilometers away.Then it came down safely to earth.Now it was time for men to fly! In October 1783 another of the brothers’ balloons went up.This time a man went with it.The balloon did not rise very far.It went, only to twenty-five meter.It was tied to the ground by a rope.A month later two men went up in a balloon full of hot air.This time there was no rope! A great crowd of people watched.The balloon rose to a height of 900 meters.The wind blew it along for nine kilometers.Then it came gently back to earth.Men had traveled through the air for the first time.
Other men filled the balloon with a gas called hydrogen.Hydrogen is much lighter than air.Balloon filled with it were able to travel long distances.But the men in the basket underneath could not steer them.They went where the wind took them.
Later balloons were made in the shape of a cigar.These were called airships.They had engines to drive them alone, and they could be steered a little.But they were still blown about by the wind.The hydrogen gas was dangerous, too.It caught fire very easily.There were many accidents and many people died.At last they stopped making airships.
(1)
When some men tried to fly with wings, ________.
[ ]
A.
a few of them succeeded
B.
none of them succeeded
C.
many of them succeeded
D.
all of them succeeded
(2)
The first balloon were filled with ________.
[ ]
A.
hot air
B.
hydrogen
C.
cold air
D.
feathers
(3)
Balloons were not a good way to travel because they ________.
[ ]
A.
went too high
B.
went too low
C.
had to be tied to the ground by a rope
D.
could not be steered
(4)
Hydrogen was not a good gas for airships because it ________.