Question

In the 1920s, the airlines were just beginning. It was unusual for people to travel by air because it was expensive and dangerous. In those days, there were no flight attendants (服务生) to look after the passengers. Young men, or “stewards” helped the passengers onto the airplane and carried the passengers’ bags but they did not provide food and drinks. But then in 1930, a woman called Ellen Church invented the “stewardess”.

Ellen Church was born in 1904 on a farm in Iowa. She was a different child. She didn’t want to work on a farm or marry a farmer. She wanted a more adventurous (冒险的) life. Ellen studied to be a nurse at the University of Minnesota and then got a job in a hospital. For the next few years she stayed at the hospital and at the same time took flying lessons and got her pilot’s license.

Ellen was 25 years old when she first got in touch with BAT (Boeing Air Transport). She loved flying but she understood that airlines were a man’s world. Though women like Emelia Earheart were becoming famous, she realized it was impossible for a woman to have a career as a pilot. But she had another idea. Most people were afraid of flying because flying was still not a very safe way to travel. There were often delays (延误), many crashes and the bad weather made many passengers sick. Ellen thought nurses could take care of passengers during flights and BAT agreed.

The young woman from Iowa and seven other nurses became the first air stewardesses.

At first pilots were unhappy because they did not want stewardesses on airplanes, but passengers loved the stewardesses. In 1940 there were around 1000 of them working for different airlines. The early “stewardesses” had to be under twenty-five-year-old, single and slim. When a woman joined an airline, she had to promise not to get married or have children. It was a hard job and not well paid. They worked long hours and was paid $1 an hour.

In the 1970s, stewardesses were unhappy in their job and airlines had to make some changes. Since the 1970s, “stewardesses” have been called flight attendants. They are well paid and work fewer hours than in the past.

1.From the first paragraph, we know that ______________.

A. the word “stewardesses” was started from Ellen Church

B. Ellen Church was the first woman who flew a plane

C. food and drinks were offered on the plane then

D. traveling by air was very popular because of the flight attendants

2.Boeing Air Transport offered Ellen the job because of _______________.

A. her flying experience B. her university education

C. her nursing experience D. her life attitudes (态度)

3.The passage mainly talks about _______________.

A. the background of early flying pilots

B. the experience of flying passengers

C. the history of early flight attendants

D. the development of airplanes

1.A 2.C 3.C 【解析】本篇文章难度适中，主要讲述空姐的发展史。以前飞机上没有空姐。艾伦是一个护士，她以在飞机上可以照顾生病的乘客为由，在飞机上当了空姐。 1.推理判断题。根据But then in 1930, a woman called Ellen Church invented the “stewardess”可知，一个叫艾伦的女士发明了空姐。故选A。 ...

Answer 1