Passage One
A few centuries ago, people looked at the birds and wondered what it would be like to fly like them. There were stories of heroes who glued bird feathers on their arms and flew up into the sky. About 500 years ago, some people dreamed a different dream. Instead of flying up to the sky. they dreamed of falling from the sky!
In the 15th century, Italian inventors designed a cone-shaped (锥形） device that was supposed to bring a man down safely from a great height. The operator held on to a handle with straps strapped to his waist. This was the first known design for a parachute (降落伞） .
Even the great inventor Leonardo da Vinci sketched a type of parachute. His parachute design was in the shape of a pyramid (金字塔) . Other inventors also sketched their own designs for a parachute. Unfortunately, these were only designs on paper and no one tested them.
A Croatian inventor named Fausto Veranzio looked at Leonardo da Vinci' s parachute design and replaced the pyramid shape with one that looked like a sail from a ship. When Veranzio was 65 years old. he fell ill. Thinking he would not live longer, he decided to try out his parachute invention. He built his parachute using wood and cloth. Strapping his invention to his waist, he jumped off the tall bell lower in his city. He landed safely! He was supposedly the first man to successfully use a parachute. However, some people thought this story was not true. If that was the case, then the first person to successfully use a parachute would go to a Frenchman named Louis-Sebastien Lenormand in 1783.
The first known parachute was designed by ________.
由题干中“first known parachute” 可定位至第二段最后一句“This was the first known design for a parachute. ” ， 再根据本段第一句“. . . Italian inventors designed a cone-shaped (锥形) device that. . . ” 可知 the first known parachute 是意大利发明家设计的。 故选 B。
Leonardo da Vinci' s parachute was shaped like a ________.
由文章第三段前两句“Even the great inventor Leonardo da Vinci sketched a type of parachute. His parachute design was in the shape of pyramid (金字塔) . ” 可知， 本题应该选C。
Which of the following about Fausto Veranzio is true?
由第四段第一句“. . . replaced the pyramid shape with one that looked like a sail from a ship. ” 可知 Fausto Veranzio 改变了 Leonardo da Vinci 的降落伞的设计， 并没有抄袭(copy) ， 故 A 项错误。 由第四段第四句“He built his parachute using wood and cloth. ” 可知， B项错误。 根据第四段内容可知， Fausto Veranzio 第一次试验他自己发明的降落伞便成功了， 文中并未提到他进行了多次试验， 故 C 项错误。 由第四段第二、 三句可知， Fausto Veranzio 生病了， 他觉得自己活不久了， 所以决定试验一下他发明的降落伞， 由此可推知他应该病得很重， 故 D 正确。
As for the first man who successfully used a parachute, ________.
由文章最后三句可知， Fausto Veranzio 原本被认为是第一个成功使用降落伞的人， 但有人认为如果这是真的话， 那第一个使用降落伞的人也可能是法国人 Louis-Sebastien Lenormand， 所以可推断出， 究竟谁是第一个成功地使用降落伞的人还没有确定的答案。
The passage is mainly about ________.
文章主要讲述了降落伞的发明和使用过程， 所以本文的主旨就是降落伞的起源问题。