(09·湖南D篇)

Andrew Ritchie, inventor of the Brompton folding bicycle, once said that the perfect portable bike would be “like a magic carpet…You could fold it up and put it into your pocket or handbag”. Then he paused: “But you’ll always be limited by the size of the wheels. And so far no one has invented a folding wheel.”

It was a rare — indeed unique — occasion when I was able to put Ritchie right. A 19th-century inventor, William Henry James Grout, did in fact design a folding wheel. His bike, predictably named the Grout Portable, had a frame that split into two and a larger wheel that could be separated into four pieces. All the bits fitted into Grout’s Wonderful Bag, a leather case.

Grout’s aim: to solve the problems of carrying a bike on a train. Now doesn’t that sound familiar? Grout intended to find a way of making a bike small enough for train travel: his bike was a huge beast. And importantly, the design of early bicycles gave him an advantage: in Grout’s day, tyres were solid, which made the business of splitting a wheel into four separate parts relatively simple. You couldn’t do the same with a wheel fitted with a one-piece inflated (充气的) tyre.

So, in a 21st-century context, is the idea of the folding wheel dead? It is not. A British design engineer, Duncan Fitzsimons, has developed a wheel that can be squashed into something like a slender ellipse (椭圆). Throughout, the tyre remains inflated.

Will the young Fitzsimons’s folding wheel make it into production? I haven’t the foggiest idea. But his inventiveness shows two things. First, people have been saying for more than a century that bike design has reached its limit, except for gradual advances. It’s as silly a concept now as it was 100 years ago: there’s plenty still to go for. Second, it is in the field of folding bikes that we are seeing the most interesting inventions. You can buy a folding bike for less than £1,000 that can be knocked down so small that it can be carried on a plane — minus wheels, of course — as hand baggage.

Folding wheels would make all manner of things possible. Have we yet got the magic carpet of Andrew Ritchie’s imagination? No. But it’s progress.

69. We can infer from Paragraph 1 that the Brompton folding bike        .

A. was portable

B. had a folding wheel

C. could be put in a pocket

D. looked like a magic carpet

70. We can learn from the text that the wheels of the Grout Portable        .

A. were difficult to separate

B. could be split into 6 pieces

C. were fitted with solid tyres

D. were hard to carry on a train

71. We can learn from the text that Fitzsimons’s invention        .

A. kept the tyre as a whole piece

B. was made into production soon

C. left little room for improvement

D. changed our views on bag design

72. Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

A. Three folding bike inventors

B. The making of a folding bike

C. Progress in folding bike design

D. Ways of separating a bike wheel

Zipped into a bag, it looks like a large umbrella. Unfolded, it goes along the street like any other bicycle.

It's the "A-bike", the brainchild (脑力劳动的产物) of British inventor Sir Clive Sinclair, who made history in the 1970s by developing the world's first pocket calculator. He described his new invention as "the world's smallest, lightest foldable bicycle".

"My original thought was that if you could have a bicycle that was dramatically lighter and more firm than the ones that exist today, it would change the way in which bicycles are used,"said Sinclair.

The mini-bike, showed in Singapore last week and set to go on sale worldwide in 2005 at a price of nearly US$300, is built for riders as heavy as 112 kilograms and is height-adjustable(可调整高度的). It takes about 20 seconds to fold or unfold.

Its wheels are a quarter the size of those on a regular bicycle, but Sinclair promises a smooth ride for most cyclists. "You require no extra energy to ride the A-bike and it can go up to 15 miles per hour (24 kilometers per hour)," he said. Constructed mainly of plastic, the 5.5-kilogram bicycle folds into a package of less than 0.03 cubic meters (立方米).

Sinclair also invented the first pocket TV in 1984 and the futuristic C5 electric tricycle in 1985. He said he hoped the bicycle would attract common citizens, officials, campers or anyone needing transport for a short trip and he said the next step for the A-bike was to add an electric motor in a few years.

1.The most important character of this kind of bike is its ________ .

A.big size

B.light weight

C.beautiful appearance

D.foldable structure

2.The wheels of a regular bicycle is ________ the size of this kind of bike.

A.four times

B.three times

C.one-fourth

D.one-third

3.This kind of new bike is mainly made of ________ .

A.plastic

B.packages

C.bags

D.metal

4.The best title of the text is ________ .

A.World's smallest foldable bicycle arriving

B.A new bike, a large umbrella

C.A foldable bike, a large bag

D.A great inventor of a new bike

5.This kind of new bike hasn't been fixed with ________ .

A.a wheel

B.an electric motor

C.pedal

D.a hand

 

The Best Holiday

I was unbelievably proud of my nine-year-old daughter, Emily.  36  to buy a mountain bike, she’d been saving her pocket money all year, as well as doing small jobs to earn extra money.

By Thanksgiving , she had collected only $49. I said, “ You  37 have your pick from my bicycle  38  ”. “Thanks, Daddy. But your bikes are so old. ” She was right. All my girls’ bikes were 1950s models, not the kind a kid today would   39 choose.

As Christmas  40 near, Emily and I went bike shopping . As we left one store, she  41 a Salvation Army volunteer standing next to a big pot. “Can we give something, Daddy?” She asked. “Sorry, Em, I’m out of   42    . ”

Throughout December, Emily continued to work hard. Then one day, she made a  43 announcement. “You know all the money I’ve been saving?” she said hesitantly. “I’m going to give it to the poor people.” So one cold morning before Christmas, Emily handed her total savings of $58 to a volunteer who was really very  44   .

45  by Emily’s selflessness, I decided to contribute  46 of my old bicycles to a car dealer who was collecting used bikes for poor children.  47 I selected a shiny model from my collection, however, it seemed as if a second bike took on a glow. Should I contribute two? No, one would be enough. But I couldn’t  48  the feeling that I should give a second bike. When I later  49 the bikes, the car dealer said, “You’re making two kids very  50  , sir . Here are your tickets. For each bicycle contributed, we’re   51  away one chance to win a girl’s mountain bike. ”

Why wasn’t I surprised when that second ticket proved to be the 52   ? I like to think it was God’s way of  53  a little girl for a sacrifice  54  her year--while giving her dad a lesson in the  55  .

1.

A.Promised

B.Amazed

C.Determined

D.Organized

 

2.

A.need

B.should

C.must

D.can

 

3.

A.collection

B.contribution

C.shop

D.club

 

4.

A.seldom

B.likely

C.slightly

D.merely

 

5.

A.drew

B.became

C.went

D.pulled

 

6.

A.observed

B.sensed

C.watched

D.noticed

 

7.

A.work

B.charge

C.time

D.change

 

8.

A.disappointing

B.surprising

C.formal

D.public

 

9.

A.agreeable

B.hopeful

C.thankful

D.pitiful

 

10.

A.Moved

B.Shocked

C.Persuaded

D.Demanded

 

11.

A.one

B.some

C.two

D.any

 

12.

A.While

B.As

C.Because

D.Though

 

13.

A.express

B.describe

C.explain

D.shake

 

14.

A.returned

B.delivered

C.chose

D.shared

 

15.

A.sweet

B.healthy

C.happy

D.fair

 

16.

A.putting

B.giving

C.storing

D.signing

 

17.

A.present

B.harvest

C.winner

D.chance

 

18.

A.greeting

B.praising

C.sheltering

D.rewarding

 

19.

A.under

B.before

C.beyond

D.within

 

20.

A.process

B.project

C.struggle

D.communication

 

                              James’s New Bicycle

James shook his money box again. Nothing! He carefully __36__ the coins that lay on the bed.

$24.52 was all that he had. The bicycle he wanted was at least $90! __37__ on earth was he going to get the __38__ of the money?

He knew that his friends all had bicycles. It was __39__ to hang around with people when you were the only one without wheels. He thought about what he could do. There was no __40__ asking his parents, for he knew they had no money to __41__.

There was only one way to get the money, and that was to __42__ it. He would have to find a job. __43__ who would hire him and what could he do? He decided to ask Mr. Clay for advice, who usually had __44__ on most things.

“Well, you can start right here,” said Mr. Clay. “My windows need cleaning and my car needs washing.”

That was the __45__ of James’s odd-job business. For three months he worked every day after finishing his homework. He was amazed by the __46__ of jobs that people found for him to do. He took dogs and babies for walks, cleared out cupboards, and mended books. He lost count of the __47__ of cars he washed and windows he cleaned, but the __48__ increased and he knew that he would soon have __49__ for the bicycle he longed for.

The day __50__ came when James counted his money and found $94.32. He __51__ no time and went down to the shop to pick up the bicycle he wanted. He rode __52__ home, looking forward to showing his new bicycle to his friends. It had been hard __53__ for the money, but James knew that he valued his bicycle far more __54__ he had bought it with his own money. He had __55__ what he thought was impossible, and that was worth even than the bicycle.

36. A. cleaned

37. A. How

38. A. amount

39. A. brave

40. A. point

41. A. split

42. A. borrow

43. A. Or

44. A. decisions

45. A. beginning

46. A. similarity

47. A. brand

48. A. effort

49. A. all

50. A. finally

51. A. gave

52. A. patiently

53. A. applying

54. A. since

55. A. deserved

B. covered

B. Why

B. part

B. hard

B. reason

B. spend

B. earn

B. So

B. experience

B. introduction

B. quality

B. number

B. pressure

B. enough

B. instantly

B. left

B. proudly

B. asking

B. if

B. benefited

C. counted

C. Who

C. sum

C. smart

C. result

C. spare

C. raise

C. For

C. opinions

C. requirement

C. suitability

C. size

C. money

C. much

C. normally

C. took

C. silently

C. looking

C. than

C. achieved

D. checked

D. What

D. rest

D. unfair

D. right

D. save

D. collect

D. But

D. knowledge

D. opening

D. variety

D. type

D. trouble

D. some

D. regularly

D. wasted

D. tiredly

D. working

D. though

D. learned

 

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