A
Lots of people buy books and products from Amazon, an online seller. They order and pay over the Internet and the books are shipped through the mail or a delivery service like FedEx.
One day, people could get their Amazon deliveries from an “unmanned aerial vehicle” — a tiny flying vehicle that looks like a toy helicopter. And instead of waiting days to get the parcel, it could be at the buyer’s home in half an hour or less. The company is working on a fleet of tiny vehicles they call “Prime Air”. The vehicles are also known as “octocopters”. On their website, Amazon says, “one day, Prime Air vehicles will be as normal as seeing mail trucks on the road today.”
The U.S.’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is working on safety regulations for unmanned flying vehicles like the Prime Air copters(飞机). Those regulations will make sure the copters are able to fly safely where they need to go. Once the FAA has put its rules in place, which could be as early as 2015, Amazon will be ready with its fleet of tiny flyers. The process could take as many as five years.
The new delivery service would likely be available only in the United States at first. The copters the company is testing now can handle packages up to five pounds (2.3 kg) and they have a range of 10 miles (16 kilometres).
Other companies are also looking at using unmanned flying vehicles to deliver their products. For instance, Domino’s Pizza in the UK released a video showing a “DomiCopter,” delivering a pizza. That video may have been a publicity stunt(噱头). In any case, just like Prime Air’s octocopters, the DomiCopters don’t have clearance to take off just yet.
21. For what purpose does Amazon want to use the Prime Air?
A. To remind people to order online.
B. To check the delivery service.
C. To shorten the delivery period.
D. To predict the sales volumes.
22. What does Paragraph Four mainly tell us about the new delivery method?
A. Its safety.
B. Its appearance.
C. Its moving speed.
D. Its delivery ability.
23. What can be concluded from the last paragraph?
A. The delivery service in the world is making great progress.
B. The new vehicles would be put into immediate production.
C. The designer will promote his new product to other c ountries.
D. The similar delivery vehicles in other places worked out to be well.
