From a Toy to a Car小玩具，大汽车

小乔

汽车是我们生活中不可缺少的“好帮手”，它载着我们上学放学、走亲访友、游山玩水……你知道吗？世界上第一辆汽车竟是辆玩具车，它诞生在中国。是谁发明了这辆汽车？它是什么样的？汽车工业经历了哪些发展，又要往何处去？让我们坐上“时光机”，去看看汽车的“前世今生”吧。

It was about 1672. A Belgian（比利时的） man was visiting the Chinese Emperor Kangxi（康熙皇帝）. The man was Ferdinand Verbiest（南怀仁），  he later became Kangxis science teacher. At that time， Kangxi was only 18 years old. Ferdinand made a toy for him.

The toy was powered by steam（蒸汽）. It had wheels. It was about 65 centimeters long. It might be the first model car. Of course， the car is too small for a person. But many people think that it was the beginning of trains， cars， and steam-powered boats（蒸汽船）.

In 1885， Karl Benz（卡尔·本茨） invented a car. It was powered by gasoline（汽油）. It was the first modern car. Before 1956， we had to buy cars from other countries. But in 1956， we were able to make our own cars.

Today， cars are everywhere. We even have cars that are powered by electricity（電）. To protect our environment， electric cars might be very popular in the future. Most of them are designed and made in China！

汽车的发展在很大程度上由其动力来源决定。你能根据文章内容把下图补充完整吗？最后，不妨来大胆畅想一下，未来的汽车会是什么样的？

Ferdinand Verbiest made the first model car. It was a gift for Kangxi. It was powered by .

Karl Benz created the first modern car. It was powered by .

Whats the future of cars？ Imagine and design your own car.

Cars are everywhere. We havecars. They are eco-friendly.