书城外语英语PARTY——笑对人生
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第2章 挑战(2)

A 101yearold man is believed to be the world,s oldest skydiver after he accepted a dare from friends and jumped out of an airplane at nearly 10,000 feet.

一位101岁的老人被认为是世界上年龄最大的跳伞者,他接受了朋友的挑战,从将近一万英尺的高空跳下。

Frank Moody, from Holloways Beach on Australia,s northeastern coast, beat the record set by a 94yearold Norwegian in 1999, said Amanda Pilkington, from Skydive Cairns, which organized the jump.

来自澳大利亚东北海岸霍烙韦海滩的法兰克·穆迪打破了一位94岁的挪威人在1999年创下的记录,凯恩斯跳伞俱乐部(Skydive Cairns)的阿曼达·皮尔金顿说,她组织了这次跳伞活动。

On the morning of June 16, Moody jumped in tandem with an experienced skydiver from more than 9,900 feet, she said.

她说,6月16日早晨,穆迪和一位有经验的跳伞运动员合作,从9,900 多英尺的高空跳下。

“He,s an absolute legend. It was a bit of a drunken dare by some of his mates at the local Holloways Beach football club. He said: Sure, I,ll go jump out of an airplane,” Pilkington quoted him as saying, adding she nearly fell off her chair when she first heard Moody go for the record.

“他绝对是一位传奇人物。那只是他的一些同伴在霍烙韦海滩当地的足球俱乐部喝醉酒后向他提出了一个挑战。他说:当然,我会从飞机上跳下去。”皮尔金顿引用了他的话,她还说,最初她听说穆迪要挑战记录时,差点从椅子上摔下来。

“We decided to attempt to beat the record as well as giving Frank an awesome experience and one that he,ll remember for the rest of his life. He,s very switchedon and very witty and charming. It,s an absolute pleasure to have done this for him,” she said.

她说:“我们决定尝试着去打破记录,同时也给法兰克一次惊心动魄的体验,让他终身难忘。他喜欢赶时髦,机智诙谐且富有魅力,对于他来说,做这件事绝对是一种乐趣。”

Pilkington said the club would send video of the jump and other details to the Guinness Book of Records head office in London and expects confirmation of the record shortly.

皮尔金顿说,俱乐部将把这次跳伞的录像带和其他详细资料寄往《吉尼斯世界记录大全》的伦敦总部,并期望这一记录尽快得到认可。

Moody went down to the football club with his son John after the jump to have a Guinness beer to celebrate and collect on bets place by his friends.

跳伞之后,穆迪和他的儿子约翰一起回到足球俱乐部,喝“吉尼斯”牌黑啤酒庆祝,并收取他朋友们交出的赌注。

“He,s been given his footage and photographs so he,s got proof and evidence that he,s done it,” Pilkington said.

皮尔金顿说:“他拿到了录像带和照片,所以他有证据证明他做到了。”

Fossett Makes History

福塞特再创世界记录

Flying from horizon to horizon, Steve Fossett completed the first nonstop, flight,roundtheworld without refueling on Mar 3, 2005, landing gracefully in Kansas at 2:49 pm ET.

这是一次从地平线开始,到地平线结束的飞行——2005年3月3日,美国富翁史蒂夫·福塞特在没有燃油补给的情况下,完成了世界上首次不间断环球飞行,并于美国东部时间下午2点49分风度翩翩地降落在堪萨斯州。

A cheering crowd gathered to usher the Global Flyer and its 60yearold pilot into the record books, something that has become almost routine for Fossett in recent years. The aviator now holds three recordbreaking circumnavigations of the globe, the two others by balloon and sailboat.

兴高采烈的人群聚集在“环球飞行者”号和这位60岁高龄的驾驶员身边,见证这一壮举载入世界记录。近年来,对福塞特来说,这几乎已是见惯不惊了。如今这位飞行家已经创造并保持了三项环球航行的世界记录,另外两项分别是驾驶热气球和帆船环球旅行。

“It,s something I,ve wanted to do for a long time,” Fossett said as he stepped out of the plane, his legs wobbly after nearly three days in the cockpit. “It has been a major ambition of mine.”

福塞特一下飞机就说:“这是我长期以来一直想做的事。这是我的一大抱负。”由于将近三天时间一直呆在驾驶舱里,他的腿有点发抖,站立不稳。

The sometimes tense journey across three oceans and dozens of countries began in Salina, Kansas, on Feb.28 evening. The 25,000mile (40,234 kilometer) voyage took 67 hours and two minutes. It was financed by Fossett,s longtime friend and investor, Richard Branson, who heads Virgin Atlantic Airways.

2月28日晚上,这次时而紧张的旅行从堪萨斯州的萨利纳开始,穿越三大洋和十几个国家,用时67小时零2分,完成了2.5万英里(4.0234万公里)的路程。福塞特的老朋友、维珍大西洋航空公司董事长理查德·布兰森出资赞助了此次环球旅行。

As GlobalFlyer approached the airport, Fossett deployed small parachutes to slow the craft down.

“环球飞行者”号抵达机场时,福塞特用了小降落伞来延缓飞机降落的速度。

After touching down smoothly, Fossett taxied the plane toward a hangar and Branson waved a blackandwhite checkered flag as the jet came to a stop. Fossett,s flight team opened a bottle of champagne onto the runway.

飞机平稳着陆后,福塞特将飞机缓慢滑行到飞机棚里。当飞机就要停下来时,布兰森挥舞着一面黑白方格的旗子向福塞特致意,而筹备福塞特之行的“飞之队”在跑道上打开一瓶香槟。

GlobalFlyer was built by Scaled Composites, the same firm that designed and launched the world,s first civilian manned spacecraft, SpaceShipOne, last year.

“环球飞行者”号是Scaled联合公司去年生产的,这家公司还设计开发了世界上第一艘民用载人飞船“太空飞船一号”。

Burt Rutan, aerospace engineer and head of Scaled Composites, said the plane, and the pilot, performed admirably.

航空工程师、Scaled联合公司总裁伯特·鲁坦说,飞机和飞行员的表现都极为出色,令人赞叹。

Despite the successful homecoming, the GlobalFlyer encountered dark moments during its flight.

尽管“环球飞行者”号成功归航,但它在飞行途中也遭遇过黑暗的时刻。

At one point, controllers thought the plane would run out of fuel far short of its target. Fossett and the GlobalFlyer team considered abandoning the trip when they were over Hawaii on Mar 2 because the experimental plane came up about 2,600 pounds of fuel short after taking off. The jet burns 102 pounds of fuel per hour. The team speculated that fuel was vented from four tanks shortly after takeoff.

(地面)控制者们曾一度认为飞机可能会在到达目的地之前出现燃料短缺问题。3月2日,飞机飞至夏威夷上空时,福塞特和“飞之队”甚至考虑过放弃这次航行,因为这架实验飞机在起飞后突然出现了大约2600磅的燃油短缺,而这架飞机每小时要燃烧102磅燃料。据“飞之队”推测,飞机起飞后不久,四个油箱就发生了燃料泄露。

Fossett decided to press on because of favorable tail winds.

由于当时的顺风天气比较有利,福塞特决定克服困难加紧赶路。

“If I have engine trouble, there will be no trouble with gliding,” Fossett had said earlier in the day before landing.

福塞特在着陆前一天就说:“如果我遇到引擎故障,我也可以靠滑翔继续。”

When more data arrived from the aircraft, projections showed the fuel would propel the aircraft throughout its entire 25,000mile trip.

当“飞之队”获得来自飞机的更多数据后,他们发现事实上所余燃料可以支持飞机完成2.5万英里的航行。