2. The SeaFalcon is different from the real aircraft in that _____.

[A] the device of air cushion is deployed in the SeaFalcon to provide the power for lift

[B] the SeaFalcon is far cheaper and smaller than an aircraft

[C] the SeaFalcon can only fly a few meters above the water

[D] the SeaFalcon adopts a kind of engine that is essentially different from an aircraft

2. “海鹰”和真正的飞机的不同之处在于 _____。

[A] “海鹰”采用了气垫装置来提供起飞的动力

[B] “海鹰”要比飞机便宜得多，也小得多

[C] “海鹰”只能在水面以上几米的高度飞行

[D] “海鹰”使用了一种与飞机不同的引擎

答案：A　难度系数：☆☆

分析：细节题。根据第二段：This means the air beneath its wings is compressed, giving it additional lift. In effect, it is floating on a cushion of air. 即“海鹰”和飞机的不同之处在于用气垫来提供升力，选项A的说法符合这个意思。选项B，“海鹰”的价格在文章中没有提到。选项C显然也不是最重要的区别。选项D，文章中没提到这一点。因此，答案为A。

3. The prototypes made by the Soviet armed forces in the 1960s was a false start probably because _____.

[A] the principle of the ground-effect vehicles was not deployed in earnest

[B] the prototypes led to scientists believing that such vehicle would never work

[C] the prototype was not an ideal vehicle to shift heavy kit in the Black Sea

[D] the prototype was made more like a jet rather than a ship

3. 苏联军队在20世纪60年代制造的模型是个错误的开始，因为 _____。

[A] 没有真正地运用气垫车的原理

[B] 模型使科学家们相信，这样的交通工具不能用

[C] 模型不是黑海地区运输重物的理想工具

[D] 模型更像是飞机而不是船

答案：A　难度系数：☆☆☆

分析：根据第三段：Their prototypes did fly, but were never deployed in earnest—and their jet engines consumed huge amounts of fuel. 即该模型之所以错误，是因为它们的喷气式引擎需要消耗大量的燃料，而没有采用气垫原理。因此，答案为A。

4. The design made by Mr. Puls and Hanno Fischer proved to be a successful case because of the following reason that _____.

[A] the power needed for level flight was much smaller than a ground-effect vehicle

[B] the vehicles designed by them were already well accepted by the commercial circle

[C] learned from the Soviet lesson and did not adopt the jet engine in the design, but used hydrofoil instead

[D] it has already won immense support from South-eastern Asian countries which were eager for such vehicles

4. Puls和Hanno Fischer的设计是个成功案例，因为 _____。

[A] 用来支持水平飞行的动力比气垫车要小得多

[B] 他们设计的车已经得到了商业界的广泛接受

[C] 吸取了苏联的教训，在设计中没有采用喷气式引擎，而是使用了水翼

[D] 它已经赢得了东南亚国家的广泛支持，这些国家迫切需要这种交通工具

答案：C　难度系数：☆☆☆

分析：细节题。选项A在文中没有相关的内容。选项B明显错误，原文没有提到是否得到了商业界的接受，只是有几个东南亚国家比较感兴趣而已。选项C对应于文章第四段：The Soviet design used heavy jet engines to deliver the power needed for take-off. But the SeaFalcon uses a hydrofoil to lift itself out of the water, and Airfish 8 uses what Mr. Fischer calls a hoverwing—a system of pipes that takes air which has passed through the propeller and blasts it out under the craft during take-off. 因而是正确的。选项D有较强的干扰性，文章第五段最后一句话指出：South-east Asia, with its plethora of islands and high rate of economic growth is just the sort of place where ground-effect vehicles should do well. 但这并不是说明这种交通工具已经赢得了广泛支持，因此该选项错误。

5. Which one of the following statements is TRUE of the hovercraft?

[A] It was generally believed that to be able to go on land as well as sea was a great advantage of a hovercraft.

[B] The hovercraft was in fact a ground-effect vehicle rather than an aircraft.

[C] The special characteristics of the hovercraft were the actual reason attributing to its disappearance.

[D] The hovercraft proved to be a failure mainly because of its power system.

5. 下列关于气垫车的陈述，以下哪项陈述是正确的？

[A] 人们普遍认为，能够在陆地和海上运行是气垫船的一个巨大优势。

[B] 气垫船实际上是一种气垫运输工具而不是飞机。

[C] 气垫船的特性是其消失的真正原因。

[D] 气垫船失败的主要原因在于其动力系统。

答案：A　难度系数：☆☆☆☆

分析：根据最后一段，选项A是正确的，其对应的信息为：That meant it could go on land as well as sea—which was thought at the time to be a winning combination. B，气垫船实际上是飞机，因此该选项错误。选项C和D的错误在于，文章并没有谈到气垫船消失的原因。因此，选项A为正确答案。





参考译文


沿着德国北部的Warnow河散步，如果幸运的话，你就能看到“海鹰”，这是一种圆圆的白色机器，有两个螺旋桨、两个机翼和一个不像鸟类尾巴的机尾。它看起来像飞机，也确实是飞机。除此之外，它并不是飞机，而是一艘船，至少国际海事组织是这样认为的，该组织负责规定此类事物。这种界定是至关重要的，因为船受到的约束要比飞机少得多。

“海鹰”实际上是一种气垫车，只会在水面上飞行且只能高出水面两米。这就意味着其机翼下是压缩空气，从而提供了额外的升力。实际上，它是在气垫上漂浮的，比开动同等大小的飞机省钱得多，不过飞机的速度要比同样大小的船快得多，为80至100节。其设计者Dieter Puls因此希望可以提供一种方法，在那些陆地和海洋面积相仿的地区快速地运送人和重量轻的货物。

制造气垫车的理念要追溯到上个世纪20年代，德国物理学家Carl Wieselsberger描述了气垫的原理。接着是一段沉寂期，后来又是一个错误的开始。上世纪60年代，苏联军队认为气垫车可以用来在黑海之类的地区运输沉重的工具。他们制造的模型也确实可以飞行，但是却没有进行真正的部署，此外，他们的喷气式引擎需要消耗大量的燃料。

但这却说明这个创意是可行的。两位德国工程师Dieter Puls和Hanno Fischer接手了这项工作，他们使用现代复合材料制造机身，用螺旋推进器而不是喷气机作为推动力。苏联的模型耗燃料如此之多的一个原因是，用来提升气垫车的动力要比维持其水平飞行的动力更大。苏联的模型使用了沉重的喷气引擎来提供起飞需要的动力，但是“海鹰”使用了水翼来将自己拉出海面，“飞鱼8”使用的是一种被Fischer先生称作盘旋翼的管道系统，该系统吸取通过推进器的空气，在起飞时将其从机身下方喷出。

下一个步骤就是真正来制造这种气垫船了，这好像马上就会成为现实。Puls先生说，他已经和一家印尼的公司签订了合同，首期制造10架，而他和Fischer先生都在和新加坡公司Wigetworks商谈，可望于明年投入生产。东南亚因为岛屿众多，且经济增长速度很快，正是气垫车发挥作用的好地方。

但还是需要谨慎一些，因为有另外一种气垫车运行良好，但是最后却失败了。气垫船和Puls及Fischer先生设计的气垫车的不同之处在于，前者依靠自有的气垫而不是自然的气垫来行驶。这意味着它既可以在陆地上行使，也可以在海上行驶，这在当时被认为是成功的组合。令人遗憾的是，结果却不是这样。气垫船几乎已经消失了。而在当时的管理者的眼里，它们是飞机。