Yesterday, Peter had a wonderful trip with his parents on the Ferris wheel (摩天轮) in Bao'an Coastal Cultural Park. He was so amazed at the new city landmark that he wanted to know more about the Ferris wheel. So he looked it up in an encyclopedia online.
In 1892, so mc leaders from Chicago planned a fair. They wanted it to be the greatest fair ever. It would show the newest ideas in science, business and art. They also wanted to build something amazing at the fair. The Eiffel Tower had been built three years before in France. The Chicago leaders wanted something even more impressive. So they asked people to send in designs.
G. W. Ferris was a young engineer. He heard about the fair. He wanted to attract visitors to the fair, so he decided to design a big wheel made of steel (钢). The wheel was 250 feet across. Large cars hung from the end of each spoke (车轮辐). Each car carried 60 people in a big circle through the air.
On May 1, 1893, the fair opened. People from around the world came to see the latest inventions. They felt the heat of new electric stoves. They stood in the cool wind of small fans. They even saw a machine that washed the dishes.
Ferris's wheel was the main attraction at the Chicago Fair. People stood in line to ride on it. They wanted to see the fairgrounds from the wheel's highest point. As the wheel turned upward, some people were afraid. Others were thrilled at what they saw below. Fountains shone in the sunlight. Flags waved in the wind. A train snaked through the grounds. At night, coloured lights li t up the sky.
Today we call these smaller wheels "Ferris wheels".
