New Concept English III -20 (08/27/09)

Lesson 20 Pioneer pilots

Listen to the tape then answer the question below.

What was the name of the first plane to fly across the English Channel?

In 1908 Lord Northcliffe\' offered a prize\' of $1,000/ to the first man who would fly across the English Channel. Over a year passed before the first attempt was made. On July 19th\', 1909, in the early morning, Hubert Latham took off/ from the French coast in his plane/ the \'Antoinette IV.\' He had travelled only seven miles /across the Channel when his engine failed\' /and he was forced to land /on the sea. The \'Antoinette\' floated on the water/ until Latham was picked up by a ship.

Two days later, Louis Bleriot arrived near Calais with a plane /called \'No. XI\'. Bleriot had been making planes/ since 1905 and this was his latest model. A week before, he had completed a successful overland flight/ during which/ he covered twenty-six miles. Latham, however, did not give up easily. He, too, arrived near Calais/ on the same day /with a new \'Antoinette\'. It looked as if there would be an exciting race across the Channel. Both planes were going to take off /on July 25th, but Latham failed to get up early enough, After making a short test flight at 4,15 a.m., Bleriot set off /half an hour later. His great flight lasted thirty-seven minutes. When he landed near Dover, the first person to greet him was a local policeman. Latham made another attempt a week later and got within half a mile of Dover, but he was unlucky again. His engine failed and he landed on the sea for the second time.
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I am not very happy for the quality of this reading but it is too late now (pasting mid night already). So I posted it anyway. I wish I could make a little progress day by day.
Thanks for your listening.