full transcript
From the Ted Talk by Alex Gendler: Why are airplanes slower than they used to be?
Unscramble the Blue Letters
What about ways to make a plane faster without burning lots of fuel? asidntjug the wing sweep, or the aglne at which wings protrude from the fuselage, to bring the wings closer in can make an aircraft faster by rndeciug airyonedamc drag. But this means the wings must be longer to achieve the same wingspan, and that means more materials and more weight, which in turn mnaes burning more fuel. So while airplanes could be designed to be more aerodynamic, this would make them more eevpixnse. And generally, airlines have found that customer demand for faster flights is not sufficient to cover these costs.
Open Cloze
What about ways to make a plane faster without burning lots of fuel? _________ the wing sweep, or the _____ at which wings protrude from the fuselage, to bring the wings closer in can make an aircraft faster by ________ ___________ drag. But this means the wings must be longer to achieve the same wingspan, and that means more materials and more weight, which in turn _____ burning more fuel. So while airplanes could be designed to be more aerodynamic, this would make them more _________. And generally, airlines have found that customer demand for faster flights is not sufficient to cover these costs.
Solution
- adjusting
- expensive
- aerodynamic
- means
- reducing
- angle
Original Text
What about ways to make a plane faster without burning lots of fuel? Adjusting the wing sweep, or the angle at which wings protrude from the fuselage, to bring the wings closer in can make an aircraft faster by reducing aerodynamic drag. But this means the wings must be longer to achieve the same wingspan, and that means more materials and more weight, which in turn means burning more fuel. So while airplanes could be designed to be more aerodynamic, this would make them more expensive. And generally, airlines have found that customer demand for faster flights is not sufficient to cover these costs.
Frequently Occurring Word Combinations
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Important Words
- achieve
- adjusting
- aerodynamic
- aircraft
- airlines
- airplanes
- angle
- bring
- burning
- closer
- costs
- cover
- customer
- demand
- designed
- drag
- expensive
- faster
- flights
- fuel
- fuselage
- generally
- longer
- lots
- materials
- means
- plane
- protrude
- reducing
- sufficient
- sweep
- turn
- ways
- weight
- wing
- wings
- wingspan