Wouldn’t it be cool if we could jump into a flying car and save a lot of time when, say, commuting to work? Well, it seems like this is exactly what Uber is planning for us.

Check out: Inside Uber’s Plan to Take Over the Skies With Flying Cars

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Listen

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Glossary

• elevate – raise or lift (something) to a higher position
• vertical – at right angles to a horizontal plane; in a direction, or having an alignment, such that the top is directly above the bottom
• congested – (of a road or place) so crowded with traffic or people as to hinder or prevent freedom of movement
• infantile – childish
• enroll – officially register as a member of an institution or a student on a course
• sophisticated – (of a machine, system, or technique) developed to a high degree of complexity
• level (adj) – having a flat, horizontal surface
• propulsion – the action of driving or pushing forwards
• rotor –  a rotary part of a machine
• compelling – evoking interest, attention, or admiration in a powerfully irresistible way
• conceive – form or devise (a plan or idea) in the mind
• garner – gather or collect (something, especially information or approval)

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Think about it

Answer the questions below.

• How old is the concept of flying cars?
• What will be Uber’s role in creating flying cars?
• What do aviation experts say about Uber’s plans and their timing?
• What problem might Uber encounter?
• Will Uber’s business model have to change, or will the company operate on the same basis?
• What kind of infrastructure already exists for this kind of transportation?

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Practice makes perfect

Put the words back where they belong.

chunk    –    method    –    catalyze    –    goliath    –    happen    –    pile 

Now, Uber plans to be the one to make the dream ________ , with a ________ of help. The San Francisco-based transportation ________ has no intention of designing or building these things, instead hoping to ________ the market, bringing together private and government parties to solve a ________ of technical, regulatory, and infrastructural problems, from battery density to aircraft certification to air traffic control. “If you can do all those things,” says Jeff Holden, Uber’s product chief, “you’ve got the potential for a new transportation ________.”

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Fill in the blank spaces with the missing words. Use ONE word per blank space.

Say someone really figures ________  how to make this plane, and the FAA says it’s OK ________ fly. And say the FAA and NASA finally implement the long-promised “NextGen” air traffic control system, to keep these things ________ smacking into one another.

Then Uber ________ to implement the service. Holden says the company might buy the aircraft and hire pilots to ________ them, or team ________ with a manufacturer who holds onto the titles while the ride sharing giant connects them ________ passengers and advises ________ routes. Either way, he says today’s model, where people ________ passengers in their own cars, won’t apply here. Owning a plane requires a ________ more capital.

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Fill in the blank spaces with the correct forms of the words in capital letters.

No doubt Uber will find willing passengers and pilots eager for a payday. The trickier part will be getting local ________ GOVERN on board, especially since the company boasts a less than sterling history of getting along with ________ REGULATE. And that’s not just with cars; in January, Uber dropped its temporary, ________ PROMOTION helicopter service in Utah for the Sundance Film Festival after officials said the flights violated county codes and posed a safety ________ HAZARDOUS.

“We’re coming into this in a ________ COLLABORATION form,” Holden says. He expects to spend the next few years convincing local lawmakers they should embrace flying cars as a way to cut down ________ CONGESTED.

It’s not a bad ________ ARGUE. “There is a ________ CLARITY market for on-demand aviation if you could make it ________ PRACTICE, and that’s driven a lot by service road congestion,” says R. John Hansman, who runs MIT’s International Center for Air Transportation. And if cities don’t go along at first, maybe they’ll get on board when ________ RESIDE start demanding the ever-so-cool service the folks across the river take to work.

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