ページ1:

Wilbur and Orville Wright: The First Airplane
Wilbur and Orville Wright are the American inventors who made a small engine-powered flying
machine. They proved that flight without the aid of gas-filled balloons was possible.
Wilbur Wright was born in 1867 near Melville, Indiana. His brother Orville was born four
in Dayton, Ohio.
years
later
As they grew up, the Wright brothers experimented with mechanical things. Later, the Wright
brothers began to design their own flying machine. They used ideas they had developed from earlier
experiments with a toy helicopter, kites, the printing machine and bicycles.
Soon, they needed a place to test their ideas about flight. The best place with the best wind
conditions seemed to be a piece of sandy land in North Carolina along the coast of the Atlantic
Ocean. It was called Kill Devil Hill, near the town of Kitty Hawk.
The Wright brothers did many tests with gliders at Kitty Hawk. With these tests, they learned how to
solve many problems.
By the autumn of 1903, Wilbur and Orville had designed and built an airplane powered by a
gasoline engine. The plane had wings 12 meters across. It weighed about 340 kilograms, including
the pilot.
On December 17th, 1903, they made the world's first flight in a machine that was heavier than air
and powered by an engine. Orville flew the plane 36 meters. He was in the air for 12 seconds. The
two brothers made three more flights that day.
Four other men watched the Wright brothers' first flights. One of the men took pictures. Few
newspapers, however, noted the event.
It was almost five years before the Wright brothers became famous. In 1908, Wilbur went to France.
He
gave demonstration flights at heights of 90 meters. A French company agreed to begin making
the Wright brothers' flying machine.
Orville made successful flights in the United States at the time Wilbur was in France. The United
States War Department agreed to buy a Wright brothers' plane. Wilbur and Orville suddenly became
world heroes. But the brothers were not seeking fame. They returned to Dayton where they
continued to improve their airplanes. They taught many others how to fly.
Wilbur Wright died of typhoid fever in 1912. Orville Wright continued designing and inventing until
he died many years later, in 1948.
Today, the Wright brothers' first airplane is in the Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
Visitors to the museum can look at the Wright brothers' small plane. Then they can walk to another
area and see space vehicles and a rock collected from the moon. The world has changed a lot since
Wilbur and Orville Wright began the modern age of flight over one hundred years ago.
inventors 発明家 experimented 実験した
printing machine
bicycles
gliders
powered 動力を備えた
gasoline engine ガソリンエンジン
weighed 重さがあった
demonstration flights T
typhoid fever 腸チフス (昔の病)
agreed 同意した
vehicles 乗り物
Made with Goodnotes

ページ2:

1.Where was Wilbur Wright born?
a. Dayton, Ohio
b. Melville, Indiana
c. Kitty Hawk, North Carolina
d. Washington, D.C.
2.In which year did the Wright brothers make their first powered flight?
a. 1867
b. 1903
c. 1908
d. 1912
3.How long was Orville's first flight on December 17th, 1903?
a. 36 seconds
b. 90 seconds
c. 12 seconds
d. 17 seconds
4.The passage says, "The plane had wings 12 meters across." What does across
mean here?
a. Weight
b. Height
c. Width/span
d. Distance traveled
5. Which word in the passage is closest in meaning to famous suddenly?
a. Heroes
b. Successful
c. Agreed
d. Suddenly became world heroes
Made with Goodnotes