READING 1 The Wright Brothers

The WRIGHT BROTHERS

Read the following article. Pay special attention to the words in bold. 7.1

At one time, people only dreamed about flying. The Wright brothers, Wilbur and Orville, were dreamers who changed the world. They were the inventors of the first successful airplane.

From a young age, the brothers were fascinated1 with the idea of flying. When Wilbur was 11 and Orville was 7, their father gave them a flying toy.

When they were older, Wilbur and Orville opened a bicycle shop in Ohio, where they designed, sold, and repaired bicycles. They used their bike shop to design an airplane. The brothers didn’t go to college, but they studied a lot about aviation. They were interested in the way birds use their wings. They studied three necessary things for flying: lift, control, and power. Wilbur designed a small flyer with a gasoline engine. The brothers flew it for the first time on December 17, 1903. The airplane stayed in the air for 12 seconds. It traveled a distance of 120 feet. That day they made four short flights in their first “Wright Flyer.” Only a few U.S. newspapers reported this historic moment. A New York newspaper wrote, “They are in fact either fliers or liars.”

The Wright brothers continued to work on their airplane. For the next two years, they didn’t fly at all. They needed a patent2 for their invention and customers to buy it. They contacted the U.S. government, but the government wasn’t interested. The government didn’t believe them. The brothers went to Europe in 1908. There they made more than 200 flights. People were amazed. The brothers became famous. News of their success was on the front page of newspapers. When they came back to America in 1909, they were heroes. They sold the Wright Flyer to the U.S. Army in 1909.

Airplanes today use the same basic design elements of the Wright Flyer.

1 fascinated: very interested 2 patent: a government license that prevents others from selling the same item

Wilbur Wright stands and watches Orville Wright’s first flight in 1903 at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, USA.