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The Airbus A380: Making It Big in Aviation 航空界的巨无霸

課文朗讀

課文中英文講解

繁體中文譯本

“Don’t be shy. Don’t hesitate. Make it really big!” Such was the advice given to aircraft manufacturers by airline companies a few decades ago. The airlines wanted planes that could carry more passengers at one time, thus lowering operational cost as well as ticket prices. However, for the manufacturers, building a passenger plane that could carry more than six hundred passengers was a risky business venture. The costs could run into the billions, and if anything went wrong, bankruptcy was a very real possibility.

「别害羞，别犹豫，建造超级的巨无霸!」这是几十年前航空公司给飞机制造商的建议。航空公司希望飞机一次可以多载一些乘客，进而降低运作成本及票价。然而，对制造商而言，造一架可载超过六百名乘客的客机可是个风险很高的冒险事业。成本可能会高达数十亿元，若有什么差池，很可能会造成破产。

It was a real gamble then when the European company Airbus decided to have a go at building the world’s largest passenger plane. It took over ten years of hard work to plan, build, and test, but the company succeeded. On April 27, 2005, the Airbus A380 took to the air for the first time, and two months later, it made its first public appearance at the 46^th annual Paris Air Show.

当欧洲的空中巴士公司决定试着建造世界最大的客机时，那可真是个赌注了。花了十多年的努力来计划、建造及测试，空中巴士公司成功了。2005年4月27日那一天，空中巴士A380首航，两个月之后便在第四十六届巴黎航空展中首次公开亮相。

On that day, the A380 stole the show. Crowds gathered to snap pictures of the gargantuan plane as it gracefully took off, slowly turned in the sky, and then landed. Even representatives fromrival aircraft manufacturer Boeing were impressed, and one Boeing executive reluctantly admitted that “It’s a great aircraft.”

那天，A380可是出尽了风头。当这架大飞机优雅地起飞、在空中慢慢地旋转然后降落时，群众抢着来拍这架飞机。就连对手波音公司的代表都惊叹不已，其中一位波音的高级主管还不情愿地承认「这架飞机真棒」。

To date, Airbus has already sold close to one hundred and fifty A380s. If they can sell a hundred more, they’ll break even. And then the biggest business gamble in recent aviation history will have paid off.

到目前为止，空中巴士已经卖了近一百五十架A380，若他们能再多卖一百架，收支就可以打平了。这样近代航空史上最大的企业赌注将会获得成功。

Vocabulary

aviation [͵evɪˋeʃən] n. 航空，飞行

bankruptcy [ˋbæŋkrəptsɪ] n. 破产，倒闭

rival [ˋraɪv!] adj. 竞争的

executive [ɪgˋzɛkjʊtɪv] n. 行政官；高级官员

reluctantly [rɪˋlʌktəntlɪ] adv. 不情愿地；勉强地

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run into: 达到, 合计 to cost or reach a certain amount

have a go at something: 尝试, 试试看 make an attempt at something

steal the show: 抢风头(尤指出其不意) to get all the attention and praise at an event or performance

snap [snæp] v. 用快照拍摄

gargantuan [gɑrˋgæntʃʊən] adj. 庞大的，巨大的

to date 迄今; 至今; 到目前为止

break even: 不赔不赚 for income to equal expenses

pay off: 【口】(尤指冒风险的政策、做法等)带来好结果, 成功 to yield profits; to result in benefits

Reading Questions

1. Why did airlines advice aircraft manufacturers to build bigger airliners?

A. So they could make their passengers more comfortable.

B. Because they wanted to buy fewer planes

C. Because they wanted to show their big planes off at the Paris Air Show.

D. So they could lower costs for both themselves and passengers.

2. What is the main idea of this article?

A. All aircraft manufacturers will be building bigger planes in the future.

B. Airbus really took a chance when they decided to build the A380.

C. Representatives from Boeing thought that A380 was a great plane.

D. Airbus will probably sell many A380s in the near future.

3. Which of the following ideas was NOT discusses in the article?

A. The date that the Airbus A380 took to the air for the first time.

B. How many A380s have been sold so far.

C. The risks that Airbus took in building the A380.

D. How fast and high the new Airbus A380 can fly.

take a chance 冒險 to try something where failure or bad fortune is likely

課文中英文講解

A new age in air travel is opening up as the largest passenger plane ever made, the humungous Airbus A380, takes to the skies. This aircraft, wider, longer, and taller than the 747, can carry up to 840 people. But what’s most astounding about the plane is ___1___ it was built. It was a worldwide effort with parts being manufactured all over the globe. Panels used to make the wings, ___2___, were made in the U.S. Floor beams of ultra-light carbon fiber came from Japan, and the landing gears were built in Canada.

当史上最大的客机A380升空后，航空旅游的新纪元便已开启。这架飞机比747更宽、更长也更高，可以搭载高达840名的旅客，但这架飞机更令人惊奇的是它制造方式。这是个世界性的工程，因为零件是在全球各地制造的。例如，要做机翼的面板产于美国，超轻型碳纤维的地板梁来自日本，而起落架则在加拿大制造。

The logistics ___3___ to bring all the parts to the main assembly plant in Toulouse, France, were amazing. Some parts were shipped by sea, and ___4___ through the air by the Beluga, another large-sized Airbus plane. Barges and trucks then carried the ___5___ pieces to the assembly plant. Sometimes, the huge pieces could ___6___ fit under bridges, and they almost scraped the walls of houses when passing through small French towns. Then, the plane was assembled like a giant jigsaw puzzle, but to exact specifications – down to the millimeter. The result was a gigantic passenger plane that has enough space to luxuriously ___7___ of today’s travelers.

要把所有零件运制法国土鲁斯的组装厂所需的后勤工作是很可观的。有些零件是经由海运，而其它则是经由白鲸号(另一种空中巴士的大型飞机)空运，大型平底船和卡车便把这些超大型的零件运到组装厂去。有时候，这些巨大的零件在行经法国一些小镇时，几乎无法从桥下通过且几乎擦撞房子的外墙。然后，这架飞机像拼图似地组装起来，但其规格可精确小至公厘计。结果就是一架有足够空间满足今日旅客各种奢华需求地超大型客机。

It’s likely that we’ll all have a chance to fly on this mammoth plane in the near future. When you ___8__, remember the thousands of people whose hard work made this incredible plane a reality.

我们都有可能在不久的将来坐上这架巨无霸飞机。当你搭上这架飞机时，记住这是上千人努力工作才能使这种无与伦比的飞行器美梦真。

－By Will Thelin

Vocabulary

assembly [əˋsɛmblɪ] n.（机械的）装配

scrape [skrep] v. 擦伤；刮破

specification [͵spɛsəfəˋkeʃən] n. 规格

gigantic [dʒaɪˋgæntɪk] adj. 巨大的，庞大的

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open up 开启

humungous [hjuˋmʌŋgəs] adj. 巨大的；极为重要的

up to 多达

astounding [əˋstaʊndɪŋ] adj. 令人惊奇的，令人震惊的

panel [ˋpæn!] n. 嵌板，镶板；壁板

beam [bim] n.（船等的）横梁

logistics [loˋdʒɪstɪks] n. 后勤; 物流

jigsaw [ˋdʒɪg͵sɔ] puzzle 拼图玩具

luxuriously [lʌgˋʒʊrɪəslɪ] adv. 奢侈地；豪华地

mammoth [ˋmæməθ] adj. 巨大的，庞大的

Worlds Biggest Airliner - Part 1 - Building the Airbus A380

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