Comprehension 理解
1 State briefly how a hovercraft works.
2 Name two ways in which the hovercraft may transform sea and land transport.
Vocabulary 词汇
Refer to the text to see how the following words have been used, then write sentences of your own using these words: a former (1.2); ringed with (1.5); ranged (1.6); a solution to the problem (11.7-8); caused a sensation (1.12);riding smoothly (11.13-14); span (1.17).
Summary 摘要
A Drawing your information from the first two paragraphs (lines 1-14), write a list of points in note form describing how the hovercraft was developed.
B Using this list of points, reconstruct the author's account in not more than 90 words. Your answer should be in one paragraph.
Composition 作文
Write a composition of about 300 words on the following subject: Modern means of transport.
You may use some or all of the ideas given below if you wish:
1 The main emphasis in all forms of transport is speed and comfort. The world has become a smaller place.
2 Air travel: the jet aeroplane; the helicopter; future possibilities in the rocket.
3 Sea: ocean liners; the hydrofoil; the hovercraft.
4 Land: electric trains; automatic control (e.g. Japan); the car; the building of motorway networks.
5 Of all modern means of transport, the car is creating most problems as it is causing serious congestion in cities. No satisfactory solution to this problem has yet been found.
Key structures关键句型
A Note the use of being in this sentence:
Many strange new means of transport have been developed in our century, the strangest of them being perhaps the hovercraft. (11.1-2)
Complete these sentences using the same construction:
1 Many international exhibitions have been held, the most recent one ____.
2 New York is full of skyscrapers, the tallest one ____.
B Supply the correct form of the verbs in parentheses in the following. Do not refer to the passage until you have finished the exercise:
In 1953, a former electronics engineer in his fifties, Christopher Cockerell, who ____(turn) to boat-building on the Norfolk Broads, ____(suggest) an idea on which he ____(work) for many years to the British Government and industrial circles. It ____(be) the idea of ____(support) a craft on a ‘pad’, or cushion, of low-pressure air, ____(ring) with a curtain of higher pressure air. Ever since, people____(have) difficulty in ____(decide) whether the craft ____(should range) among ships, planes, or land vehicles. (11.2-6)
C Supply among or between in the following sentences:
1 People have had difficulty in deciding whether the craft should be ranged ____ships, planes, or land vehicles. (11.5-6)
2 It is something in ____a boat and an aircraft. (11.6-7)
3 Diplomatic relations ____the two countries have been broken.
4 Strictly ____you and me, this whole business is beginning to get me down.
D Note the phrase a good deal of in this sentence:
‘Wave resistance ... wastes a good deal of a surface ship's power.’ (1.8)
Write sentences using the following phrases: a great deal of; a great many; a good many; a good few.
E Note the form of the verbs in italics:
His answer was to lift the vessel out of the water by making it ride on a cushion of air. (11.8-9)
Complete the following sentences:
1 I made him ____
2 The teacher made the class____
3 He trained the team by making them____
F Compare these two sentences:
Instead of saying: It is quite likely that the railway of the future will be the ‘hovertrain’.
We can say: The railway of the future may (or might) well be the ‘hovertrain’. (1.18)
Write two sentences using may (or might) well in this way.
Special difficulties 难点
A Study the following pairs of words and then write sentences of your own to bring out the difference.
1 engineer (1.2) ---- mechanic
It is every engineer's dream to design a machine that will use water as fuel.
Can I have a word with the mechanic who serviced my car?
2 solution (1.7) ---- solvent
The ozone layer is depleting and there's no easy solution to this problem.
Water is the commonest solvent.
B Explain the meaning of the verbs in italics:
1 He had turned to boat-building on the Norfolk Broads. (11.2-3)
2 Please turn off the tap.
3 Aunt Matilda turned up unexpectedly last night.
4 The soldiers marched to the other side of the park, turned about, and marched back.
C Note the use of the verb ride in this sentence:
It crossed the Channel, riding smoothly over the waves. (11.13-14)
Write sentences using the following expressions:
ride a horse; go for a ride (in a car, on a bicycle); give someone a ride.
Multiple choice questions多项选择题
Choose the correct answers to the following questions.
Comprehension 理解
1 The hovercraft depends on ____to keep off the ground.
a．electronics
b．rings
c．air pressure
d．a curtain
2 Christopher Cockerell had been working on this idea ____.
a．for the British Government
b．in industrial circles
c．on his own
d．in the boat-building industry
3 The extraodinary thing about the hovercraft is that it can travel at speed ____.
a．over land and water
b．exactly like a helicopter
c．because it resist waves
d．on air pressure
4 The exciting thing about the hovercraft principle is that it ____.
a．can be used as a ‘flying fruit-bowl’
b．is good for communications
c．has been applied to cross the Atlantic
d．has implications for other modes of transport
Structure 句型
5 _____, people have had difficulty ... (1.5)
a．As a result
b．Because of this
c．Up till then
d．From that time
6 Ever since, people have ____difficulty in deciding ... (11.5-6)
a．obtained
b．possessed
c．experienced
d．enjoyed
7 That's the ____ he made it ride on a cushion of air. (1.9)
a．direction
b．how
c．way
d．idea
8 Its action depends on the surface ____. (1.l1)
a．it rides over
b．riding over it
c．it rides
d．which it rides
Vocabulary 词汇
9 Cockerell was trying to find the ____ the problem. (1.7)
a．solvent for
b．explanation of
c．result of
d．answer to
10 This is done by a great number of air jets ____the craft. (1.10)
a．under
b．at the depth of
c．deeper than
d．at the basis of
11 The hovercraft travelled first over the water, then ____the beach. (1.12-13)
a．hit
b．climbed up
c．crashed into
d．met
12 Since that time ____types of hovercraft have appeared. (1.15)
a．many
b．unusual
c．different
d．developed