AndrewRitchie,inventoroftheBro-查字典问答网
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  AndrewRitchie,inventoroftheBromptonfoldingbicycle,oncesaidthattheperfectportablebikewouldbe“likeamagiccarpet…Youcouldfolditupandputitintoyourpocketorhandbag”.Thenhepaused:“Butyou'llalwaysbelimi

  AndrewRitchie,inventoroftheBromptonfoldingbicycle,oncesaidthattheperfectportablebikewouldbe“likeamagiccarpet…Youcouldfolditupandputitintoyourpocketorhandbag”.Thenhepaused:“Butyou'llalwaysbelimitedbythesizeofthewheels.Andsofarnoonehasinventedafoldingwheel.”

  Itwasarare—indeedunique—occasionwhenIwasabletoputRitchieright.A19th-centuryinventor,WilliamHenryJamesGrout,didinfactdesignafoldingwheel.Hisbike,predictablynamedtheGroutPortable,hadaframethatsplitintotwoandalargerwheelthatcouldbeseparatedintofourpieces.AllthebitsfittedintoGrout'sWonderfulBag,aleathercase.

  Grout’saim:tosolvetheproblemsofcarryingabikeonatrain.Nowdoesn’tthatsoundfamiliar?Groutintendedtofindawayofmakingabikesmallenoughfortraintravel:hisbikewasahugebeast.Andimportantly,thedesignofearlybicyclesgavehimanadvantage:inGrout’sday,tyresweresolid,whichmadethebusinessofsplittingawheelintofourseparatepartsrelativelysimple.Youcouldn'tdothesamewithawheelfittedwithaone-pieceinflated(充气的)tyre.

  So,ina21st-centurycontext,istheideaofthefoldingwheeldead?Itisnot.ABritishdesignengineer,DuncanFitzsimons,hasdevelopedawheelthatcanbesquashedintosomethinglikeaslenderellipse(椭圆).Throughout,thetyreremainsinflated.

  WilltheyoungFitzsimons'sfoldingwheelmakeitintoproduction?Ihaven'tthefoggiestidea.Buthisinventivenessshowstwothings.First,peoplehavebeensayingformorethanacenturythatbikedesignhasreacheditslimit,exceptforgradualadvances.It'sassillyaconceptnowasitwas100yearsago:there'splentystilltogofor.Second,itisinthefieldoffoldingbikesthatweareseeingthemostinterestinginventions.Youcanbuyafoldingbikeforlessthan£1,000thatcanbeknockeddownsosmallthatitcanbecarriedonaplane—minuswheels,ofcourse—ashandbaggage.

  Foldingwheelswouldmakeallmannerofthingspossible.HaveweyetgotthemagiccarpetofAndrewRitchie’simagination?No.Butit'sprogress.

  1.WecaninferfromParagraph1thattheBromptonfoldingbike_________.

  A.wasportable B.hadafoldingwheel

1回答
2020-04-30 07:05
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郭曙强

  ACAC

2020-04-30 07:09:11

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