This Day in History August 8

Orville and Wilbur Wright had their heads in the clouds, literally. They were the two Americans that are credited with making the world's first successful airplane. They had worked for years and tried out many different designs before they got it right. On this date in 1908, the Wright Brothers made their first public flight. The brothers had made successful flights before this, but they wanted to show their invention to the world after patenting it. The public flight took place on a racetrack near Le Mans, France. The flight lasted one minute and 45 seconds. Although it was short, everyone watching was amazed at how well Wilbur Wright controlled the plane.

歷史上的今天 8月8日…

奧維爾和維爾伯．萊特還真的非常有凌雲壯志。這兩位美國人 的功勞就是發明全球首架成功飛行的飛機。他們在成功之前已經努力多年，並測試了許多不同種的飛機設計。在1908年的今天，萊特兄弟進行首次的公開飛行 （圖，網路照片）。在此之前，兩兄弟已經數度順利升空，但他們在取得專利後想向世人展現他們的發明。這場公開飛行在法國利曼附近的一條賽道上進行，飛行的 時間持續了1分鐘又45秒之久。雖然時間不算長，但所有觀眾都對維爾伯．萊特能如此巧妙控制飛機感到相當讚嘆。

單字片語

◎have one’s head in the clouds
（某人）做白日夢；耽於空想
◎literally
adv.照字面意思地；實在地
◎try out...
試驗／試用……（非身上所穿之物）
◎invention
n.發明物（可數）；發明（不可數）
◎patent
vt.取得……的專利& n.專利權
例：Alexander Graham Bell was the first to patent the telephone.（貝爾是第一個取得電話專利的人。）
◎racetrack
n.（賽車、賽跑、賽馬等用的）賽道
◎be amazed at...
對……感到驚訝