Who Was Neil Armstrong - 尼尔·阿姆斯特朗 THE FIRST AIRPLANE

（单词翻译）

THE WRIGHT BROTHERS, ORVILLE AND WILBUR, GREW UP IN DAYTON, OHIO, NEAR WHERE NEIL ARMSTRONG WAS BORN. LIKE NEIL, THEY WERE INTERESTED IN ANYTHING THAT FLEW FROM THE TIME THEY WERE KIDS. THEY MADE PAPER TOYS THAT THEY CALLED BATS¹, WHICH COULD GLIDE² ON AIR CURRENTS³.
BUT IN 1903, WHEN WILBUR WAS THIRTY-SIX AND ORVILLE WAS THIRTY-TWO, THEY DID SOMETHING AMAZING, SOMETHING THAT PEOPLE HAD DREAMED OF DOING FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS. THEY BUILT THE FIRST REAL AIRPLANE—ONE WITH AN ENGINE—THAT ACTUALLY FLEW INSTEAD OF GLIDING⁴ ON THE WIND.
THEIR ONE-SEATER PLANE WAS MADE OF WOOD AND CLOTH⁵. IT WAS EIGHT FEET HIGH AND HAD WINGS THAT WENT FORTY FEET ACROSS. ORVILLE MADE THE FIRST SUCCESSFUL FLIGHT ON DECEMBER 17, 1903, IN KITTY HAWK⁶, NORTH CAROLINA. (THE WEATHER WAS MUCH BETTER THERE THAN IN OHIO!)
HOW LONG WAS THE FLIGHT? ONLY TWELVE SECONDS.
AND HOW FAR DID THE PLANE TRAVEL? ONLY 120 FEET. AND IT WAS ONLY TWENTY FEET OFF THE GROUND. BUT IT WAS THE BEGINNING OF A WHOLE NEW AGE!