题型:阅读理解 题类:常考题 难易度:普通
河南省安阳市2020届高三上学期英语第一次调研试卷
One of the most expensive parts of flying is the cost of gas, not to mention the environmental effect it brings. An Israeli startup called Eviation Aircraft hopes to solve the problems. They displayed the world's first all-electric passenger airplane this week at the Paris Air Show.
The lightweight planeplayfully called Alicewill be able to fly about 600 miles between charges. So it will focus on transportation between cities. It seats nine passengers and two crew members. A typical flight should cost a customer about $200.
"The fact that we' re building an electric plane from scratch instead of just refitting an existing plane with a battery means that we can design our aircraft to be more effective and efficient than present planes," said Eviation co-founder Omer Bar Yohay. He predicts that per seat, per mile, the cost would be equal to that of a taxi or train.
The demand for electrically powered aircraft is projected to reach hundreds of planes per year within the next decade. The change from gas to electric in power is expected to save millions of dollars in fuel costs, not to mention the environmental benefits including significant reduction of air pollution and noise levels.
When it comes to the new possibilities, Yosef Abramowitz, an energy industry expert, said, "In modern life, it is important to fight climate change and now we have a path to do so in flying." Abramowitz, a tireless advocate for solar power, added, "The batteries will hopefully be charged with solar energy too."
To help further save fuel costs, the designers have also invented a "taxibot" that drags planes from the passenger gate to the runway, so the planes needn't run their engines.
After appearing at the Paris Air Show, the Alice will travel to the U.S. for further tests. It is expected that the first commercial flights will take off in 2022.
"I think for the first time in a very, very long time, we can look at flight again and talk about the next revolution," Bar Yohay said.
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