12.continue; fail; feel; he; know; little; much; physics; real; regret; somebody; until;fall |
When Robert Goddard was 17 years old, he climbed a cherry tree to cut its dead branches. He looked around (1)
and imagined going into space, maybe even to Mars. The year was 1899.
As a child, Goddard loved to read. He often visited the library to borrow books on (2)
sciences. He was a sick child and didn't leave high school (3)
he was 21. He later became a physics professor at a university. In his free time, he built rockets and took them to a field, but they didn't fly.
In 1920, Goddard wrote an article about rocket travel. When the New York Times saw his article, a reporter wrote that Goddard had (4)
knowledge about science than a high school student.
In 1926, Goddard built a ten-foot rocket, put it into an open car, and drove to a field on his aunt's nearby farm. The rocket traveled at 60 miles per hour to an altitude (高度) of 4 l feet. Then it (5)
into the field. The flight lasted 2. 5 seconds. The U. S. government didn't show much interest in Goddard's invention. (6)
his experiments, Goddard used his own money.
Over the years, his rockets grew to 18 feet and flew up to 9, 000 feet. (7)
made fun of him after he was successful. In fact, he became (8)
as the father of modern rocketry. He wrote, "The dream of yesterday is the hope of today, and the (9)
of tomorrow."
Goddard didn't live to see space flight. He died in 1945, but his work didn't stop. Scientists went on to build bigger and better rockets. In 1969, the American rocket Apollo II took the first men to the moon. At that time, the New York Times wrote about its 1920 article: "The Times (10)
the error."