Intermediate Level The Wright Brothers - Listening - reading - Pronunciation exercise.  Over 100 years ago, people only dreamedabout flying. The Wright brothers, Wilbur andOrville, were dreamers who changed the world.Wilbur Wright was born in 1867 andOrville was born in 1871. In 1878, theyreceived a paper flying toy from their father.They played with kites and started to thinkabout the possibility of flight.When they were older, they started a bicyclebusiness. They used the bicycle shop to design their airplanes. They studiedthree aspects of flying: lift, control, and power. In 1899, they constructedtheir first flying machine—a kite made of wood, wire, and cloth. It had nopilot. Because of wind, it was difficult to control. They continued to studyaerodynamics.1 Finally Wilbur designed a small machine with a gasolineengine. Wilbur tried to fly the machine, but it crashed. They fixed it andflew it for the first time on December 17, 1903, with Orville as the pilot. Theairplane remained in the air for twelve seconds. It traveled a distance of 120feet. This historic flight changed the world. However, only four newspapersin the U.S. reported this historic moment.The Wright brothers offered their invention to the U.S. government,but the government rejected2 their offer at first. The government didn’tbelieve that these men invented a flying machine. Finally, PresidentTheodore Roosevelt investigated their claims and offered the inventors acontract to build airplanes for the U.S. Army.December 17, 2003, marked 100 years of flight. There was a six-daycele bration at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the location of the first flight.A crowd of 35,000 people gathered to see a replica3 of the first plane fly.The cost to re-create the plane was $1.2 million. However, it rained hardthat day and the plane failed to get off the ground.You can now see the Wright brothers’ original airplane in the Air andSpace Museum in Washington, D.C.