【正文】 he airplane. The debate centers on the definition of flight. Henrique Lins de Barros, a Brazilian physicist and SantosDumont expert, argues that the Wright brothers39。 flight did not fulfill the conditions that had been set up at the time to distinguish a true flight from a prolonged hop. SantosDumont39。s flight did meet the criteria: He took off unassisted, publicly flew a predetermined length and then landed safely. If we understand what the criteria were at the end of the 19th century, the Wright brothers simply did not fill any of the prerequisites, said Lins de Barros. Brazilians claim that the Wrights launched their Flyer in 1903 with a catapult or at an incline, disqualifying it from being a true airplane. Even SantosDumont experts like Lins de Barros concede* this is wrong. He says that the steady winds at Kitty Hawk were crucial for the Flyer39。s takeoff, disqualifying the flight because it probably could not lift off on its own. Peter Jakab, chairman of the aeronautics division at the US National Air and Space Museum in / Washington, says such claims are preposterous*. By the time SantosDumont got around to his maiden flight the Wright brothers had already flown numerous times, including one flight in which they flew 39 kilometers. Even in France the Wrights are considered to have flown before SantosDumont, says Claude Carlier, director of the French Center for the History of Aeronautics and Space. By rounding the Eiffel Tower in a motorized dirigible in .190 I, SantosDumont helped prove that air travel could be controlled. Exercise A Prelistening Question Alberto SantosDumont was a wealthy Brazilian aviation pioneer who came to Paris, France, at the age of 18 to live and study. He attempted his first balloon ascent in 1897 and had his first successful ascent in 1898. He began to construct dirigible airships powered with gasolinepowered engines in 1898 and built and flew fourteen of the small dirigibles. In 1901, he flew his hydrogenfilled airship from St. Cloud, around the Eiffel Tower, and back to St. Cloud. It was the first such flight and won him the Deutsch Prize and a prize from the Brazilian government. In 1902, he attempted to cross the Mediterranean in an airship but crashed into the sea. In 1909, he produced his Demoiselle or Grasshopper monoplane, the precursor to the modern light plane. Exercise B Sentence Dictation Directions: Listen to some sentences and write them down. You will hear each sentence three times.Exercise C Detailed Listening Directions: Listen to the passage and decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F). Discuss with your classmates why you think the statement is true or false.T 1. The Brazilians believe that it was Alberto SantosDumont who invented the airplane. (Ask anyone in Brazil who invented the airplane, and they will say Alberto SantosDumont ... ) T 2. In Paul Hoffman39。s day Alberto SantosDumont was the only person to own a flying machine.(As Paul Hoffman recounts in his biography Wings of Madness, the eccentric Brazilian was the only person in his day to own a flying machine.) T 3. According to Hoffman, Alberto SantosDumont used his dirigible as a means of transportation. (He would keep his dirigible tied to a gas lamp post in front of his Paris apartment at the Champs Elysees, and he would fly to Maxim39。s for dinner every night and he39。d fly to go shopping or to visit friends during the day.) F 4. On November 12, 1906, SantosDumont flew a kitelike device with boxy wings some 200 meters on the outskirts of Paris. (It was on November 12, 1906, when SantosDumont flew a kitelike contraption with boxy wings called the 14Bis some 220 meters on the outskirts of Paris.) T 5. Some Brazilians claim that the Wrights launched their Flyer in 1903 with assistance by a device. (Brazilians claim that the Wrights launched their Flyer in 1903 with a catapult or at an incline, disqualifying it from being a true airplane.) T 6. Some experts believe steady wind might have helped the Flyer39。s takeoff.(Even SantosDumont experts like Lins de Barros ... , Lins de Barros says that the steady winds at Kitty Hawk were crucial for the Flyer39。s takeoff, disqualifying the flight because it probably could not lift off on its own.) F 7. Officials from the US National Air Force say such claims are groundless. (Peter Jakab, chairman of the aeronautics division at the US National Air and Space Museum in Washington, says such claims are preposterous.) T 8. The Wrights had already made several successful flights before SantosDumont got around to his maiden flight. (By the time SantosDumont got around to his maiden flight the Wright brothers had already flown numerous times, including one flight in which they flew 39 kilometers.) Exercise D Afterlistening Discussion Directions: Listen to the passage again and discuss the following questions.1. By rounding the Eiffel Tower in a motorized dirigible in 1901, SantosDumont helped prove that air travel could be controlled. 2. (Open)