万花筒2008-03-20:汽车飞上天：海陆空三栖全能！

A designer in Russia has created a vehicle that can travel on land, water, and even in the sky

What is it? Well, it's a flying pod, and it goes by the name of Evolution. It certainly looks a lot different from the first automobiles¹, and like all good evolution stories, it's way ahead of its predecessors².   

Inventor and chief designer Alexander Begak says it can travel on land, slide through water and snow, and even fly, thanks to a gliding³ parachute that acts as a portable wing.  

" It's great for fishing or hunting, especially the two-seater. Its flying speed can be very slow. It can be set at 15 kilometers per hour, so it'll practically stay still, that's good for hunting. "  

With its 30-horsepower motor, Evolution can reach speeds of 160 kilometers an hour in the air, and 80 on land. But Begak says a new machine he and his team are working on can go even faster than this on land, and reach speeds of 450 kilometers an hour in the air.  

As well as being an inventor and designer, Begak also sounds like he's putting his creative energy into a novel marketing⁴ campaign. He plans to give his first Evolution to Russia's outgoing President Vladimir Putin, hoping the gift will inspire him to back the country's evolving light aircraft industry.  

Michelle Carlile-Alkhouri, Reuters. 

WORDS IN THE NEWS     

1. -seater : comb in adj

-seater combines with numbers to form adjectives and nouns which indicate how many people something such as a car has seats for.

eg: a three-seater sofa

1 automobiles   

n.汽车( automobile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• When automobiles become popular,the use of the horse and buggy passed away. 汽车普及后，就不再使用马和马车了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Automobiles speed in an endless stream along the boulevard. 宽阔的林荫道上，汽车川流不息。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 predecessors   

n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Will new plan be any more acceptable than its predecessors? 新计划比原先的计划更能令人满意吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 gliding   

v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的

参考例句：

• Swans went gliding past. 天鹅滑行而过。
• The weather forecast has put a question mark against the chance of doing any gliding tomorrow. 天气预报对明天是否能举行滑翔表示怀疑。

4 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。