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新视野大学英语读写教程第三册unit10-b The Ride of My Life

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Section(B)

The Ride of My Life


I climbed into the back-seat of the world's hottest jet fighter, the F-16. Clouds hung over our air base, but I knew that soon I would be above the clouds, where the sun was shining.


A mechanic strapped me into my harness, and plugged in the system that would allow me to breathe and talk at 35,000 feet. "When you start pulling G's," he reminded me, referring to gravity forces, "your G-suit will fill with air automatically." I certainly hoped so. If my suit failed on a high-G mission like this, I could be killed.


"In an emergency," he said, "just pull the handle between your legs. A rocket under the seat will pop you out of the aircraft, seat and all. Your parachute will open automatically." The mechanic couldn't resist a parting joke: "If you have to use the survival equipment and it doesn't work, bring it back; we'll replace it."


As I struggled to get comfortable, my pilot, Major Patrick Hamilton, came aboard and started programming the jet's computers. Then, through the microphone, he spoke into my ear: "If you're ready, let's get going." Our engine roared to life, the powerful jet turbines making enough noise to waken the dead. We were going up for a practice battle.


I expected the ride of my life, and with good reason. The F-16 is a $20 million piece of hardware that has enough horsepower to fly at twice the speed of sound. In tight turns and recovering from dives, it can pull nine G's, or nine times the force of gravity, causing a 200-pound man to weigh nearly a ton.


The jet roared down the cement surface, slamming me against the seat. In seconds, we reached 145 miles per hour. The plane blasted into the air like a bullet shot out of a rifle, and soon we were at 2,000 feet and climbing.


The F-16 can fly straight up. It can spin, dive, turn, climb, roll, and make loops with the grace of an eagle. Yet, loaded with practice bombs and 8,000 pounds of fuel, the mostly aluminum aircraft weighs some 15 tons. Controlling this precision machine and its many weapons is like playing a million-dollar video game that has dozens of buttons.


"The controls are so sensitive," Major Hamilton says, "they're almost an extension of the pilot's body." In fewer than five minutes, we'd reached an altitude of 35,000 feet. At near the speed of sound, we were flying ahead of our engine's roar. We felt little sense of speed or motion. Even the boom that happens when the jet breaks the sound barrier went unnoticed.


The ride was exciting yet peaceful, and the view beautiful: an ocean of blue above, a blanket of pure white below. Inside our clear chamber, we were warm and comfortable, but outside was a whole different world. The atmosphere was 30 degrees below zero centigrade and too thin to breathe.


Trailing behind us were white stripes created by heat from our exhaust hitting sub-zero air. Our target area was 250 miles to the north. For a few minutes, we would be flying straight, so Major Hamilton turned the controls over to me. "But don't try anything fancy," he warned. My goodness!


I thought of all the pilots who'd give a month's pay to take my place. I turned the plane to the right, but I did it too hard and we went into a steep turn. I corrected with a squeeze to the left. That's about as fancy as I got.


Flying the F-16 straight and level was easy enough. Flying in combat and managing the complex weapons system requires considerably more concentration. The pilot must command a collection of lights, dials, knobs, digital displays, and other electronic devices. "You must have to be an engineer or computer scientist to fly this airplane," I commented over the microphone.


"It helps," said Major Hamilton. But he added, "You don't have to know how everything is put together, just how the system operates. Even a monkey could fly this airplane."
Suddenly we heard the commander say "enemy" aircraft had been sighted. Action began with a rapid dive from 35,000 feet. I prepared for the G's I knew we'd pull. When the G-meter reached 6.2, I could no longer lift my feet off the floor. No wonder — they weighed nearly 100 pounds.


My vision went dim, as blood rushed from my head to my feet. My G-suit, now fully filled with air, compressed my legs to force the blood back into the upper part of my body. The jet twisted, turned, rolled, climbed and dived, constantly whipping me from one side to the other. I was having trouble following it all; I was, in fact, just hanging on.


During our mission, no planes were actually shot down. But cameras connected to video recorders had captured the action on tape. Hits and misses, determined by computers, would be watched and evaluated in post-flight meetings.


Although the major joked about how simple it was to fly the F-16, the truth is that a pilot must be an expert to control the craft. And to withstand the force of high-G movements, he must also be in top physical condition. As Major Hamilton landed our plane gracefully, I was thankful that he, not a monkey, had been my pilot. This man had indeed given me the ride of my life.


Words: 901

New Words

 jet n. 喷气式飞机
 mechanic n. 技工,机械工人
 strap vt. 捆,扎,绑 n. 带,皮带
 harness n. 马具;类似马具的装备(如降落伞背带或幼童的系带) vt. 1.给(马等)上马具 2.利用(自然力)发电等
 plug vt. 1.堵,塞 2.插上(插头) n. 插头
 gravity n. 1.重力,万有引力 2.严重(性)
 rocket n. 火箭
 pop vt. 快速地放,快速地拿 vi. 发出砰的响声 n. 流行音乐
■parachute n. 降落伞
 resist vt. 1.顶住,忍受 2.抵抗,反抗
 microphone n. 麦克风
 turbine n. 涡轮机,叶轮机,透平机
 waken v. 唤醒,醒来
 hardware n. 1.重型武器;重型机器 2.五金器具 3.(电脑)硬件
 horsepower n. 马力(功率单位)
 cement n. 水泥
 slam v. 1.猛力地推、放或扔 2.砰地关上
 rifle n. 来复枪,步枪
 loop n. 圈,环
 eagle n. 鹰,雕
 aluminum n. 铝
 precision n. 准确(性),精确(性),精密(度)
 weapon n. 武器,兵器
 extension n. 1.增加的部分,延伸的部分 2.伸展,延伸,扩大
 altitude n. 1.海拔;高度 2.高处;高地
 boom n. 1.低沉有回响的声音,隆隆声 2.暴涨,激增,繁荣
 chamber n. 1.封闭空间;腔,室 2.房间,寝室 3.议院
 centigrade n. 摄氏度 a. 摄氏的
 stripe n. 条纹,条子
 fancy a. 花哨的,异样的 n. 1.奇想,想入非非 2.喜爱,爱好 vt. 1.想像,设想 2.喜欢,想要
 goodness int. (用来表达强烈的感情,尤指惊奇)啊呀
 steep a. 1.急剧升降的 2.陡的,陡峭的
 concentration n. 1.全神贯注 2.集中,群集
 dial n. (机器或设备上的)刻度盘,标度盘 vt. 拨打电话
 digital a. 数字的,数字显示的
 compress vt. 压紧,压缩
 upper a. (位置、水平等)较高的,较上的;上层的,上部的
 whip v. 1.猛地移动 2.鞭打,鞭笞 n. 鞭子
 recorder n. 录音机,录像机
 craft n. 1.船,艇,航空器 2.工艺,手艺

Phrases and Expressions

 hang over 悬浮于空中
 plug in 插上插头
 fill with 充满,装满,盛满
 pop out (使)突然出来,出来一会儿
 get going (使)开始运行
 go up 上升,攀升
 load with 装,装载
 ahead of (在空间或时间上)超前,在……前面
 turn sth. over to sb. 把(某事)交给(某人)处理
 think of 想起,记得
 take sb.'s/sth.'s place 代替
 go into 开始(某活动)
 put together 装配,组装
 force into 迫使进入
 hang on 坚持 抓紧,抓牢

Proper Names

 F-16 F-16 喷气式战斗机
 Major Patrick Hamilton 帕特里克·汉密尔顿少校

    生命之旅
    我登上世界上最新式的喷气式战斗机F-16的后座, 此时云层正笼罩在我们空军基地的上空,但我知道,很快我将升至云端之上,那里阳光灿烂。
    一名机械师帮我系上降落伞背带,插上能让我在35,000英尺高空呼吸和谈话的机械系统。 "当你拉动G服时,"他提醒我道(G指的是重力),"你的重力服就会自动充气。 "我当然希望如此。 在重力如此之大的环境中执行任务,要是我的重力服失灵,我就没命了。
    "遇到紧急情况,"他说,"就拉动你两腿之间的手柄。 你座位下的火箭会把你连同座位一起弹出机舱。 你的降落伞也会自动打开。 "分手时,机械师还禁不住开了个玩笑: "如果你非用逃生设备不可,而它又不灵,那就把它带回来好了,我们负责换一个。"
    在我设法坐得舒服些时,驾驶员帕特里克·汉密尔顿少校上了飞机,开始给飞机电脑编程。 然后,我的耳中传来他通过麦克风发出的指令: "如果你准备好了,我们就出发。" 引擎轰鸣着发动起来,强大的涡轮机发出的声音可以把死人吵醒。 我们要飞入空中做实战演习。
    我期待着我的生命之旅,而且理由很充分: F-16是个造价2,000万美元的硬家伙,马力大到能以两倍的音速飞行。 在急转弯和俯冲后拉升时,它能达到超重9倍,也就是重力的9倍,让一个体重200磅的男子重达近1吨。
    飞机沿着水泥地面呼啸着,猛地把我压向椅背。 几秒钟后,我们的速度就达到了每小时145英里。 飞机像离膛的子弹射入空中,很快我们升到了2,000英尺的高空,并在继续爬升。
    F-16可以垂直向上飞,能旋转、俯冲、转弯、爬升、翻滚,能像鹰一样优雅地翻筋斗。 可是,携带着演习炸弹和8,000磅汽油,这架主要用铝合金制造的飞机重达15吨左右。 控制这架精密的机器和它所携带的众多武器,就像玩一个备有几十个按钮、价值百万的电子游戏。
    "这些控制装置非常灵敏," 汉密尔顿少校说,"它们几乎就是驾驶员身体的延伸。"
    不到五分钟,我们就升到了35,000英尺的高度。 由于速度几近音速,我们把引擎的轰鸣声甩在了后面, 几乎没有速度或飞行的感觉, 也察觉不到飞机冲破声障时发出的隆隆声。
    飞行之旅激动人心而又平和安详,窗外的景色非常美丽: 头上是一片蓝色的天海,身下铺着雪白的云毯。 坐在透明的机舱内,我们觉得温暖而舒适,然而外面却是一个截然不同的世界。 大气温度为零下30摄氏度,空气稀薄得无法呼吸。 在我们的身后,拖着一道道白色的尾巴,那是我们的排气口放出的热气与低于零度的大气相遇而形成的。
    我们的目标区在向北250英里处。 有几分钟,我们将直线飞行,所以汉密尔顿少校把控制装置交给我。 "可别做异想天开的事," 他警告说。 天哪! 我想起了所有那些愿意用一个月的薪水来换取我现在的位置的驾驶员。 我把飞机向右拐,但用力过大,变成了急转弯。 于是我做了纠正,握紧操纵杆转向左边。 这就是我做的所谓异想天开的事。
    水平直线驾驶F-16非常简单。 在战争中驾驶并控制好那些复杂的武器系统则需要更加地专心。 驾驶员必须能控制一整套设备,包括机灯、仪表盘、手柄、数字显示器和其他电子设备。 我通过麦克风发表了自己的看法:"驾驶这架飞机,你得是个工程师或者是名计算机科学家。"
    "那当然有用,"汉密尔顿少校说。 但他又补充道:"可你无须知道各部件是怎样组装的,只要知道系统怎样操作就行了。 就算是只猴子,也能开这架飞机。"
    突然,我们听到指挥官说发现"敌"机。 我们开始行动,从35,000英尺的空中迅速向下俯冲。 我做好了准备,知道我们将会拉动G服。 当重力仪表显示6.2时,我就再也不能把脚从地板上抬起来了。 毫无疑问,重力服现在重达100英磅。 血液从我的头部直往脚底冲,我的视线开始模糊。 我的G服现在已经充满了气,紧紧地压住我的双腿,逼迫血液流回身体的上半部。 飞机不停地旋转、拐弯、翻滚、爬升和俯冲,不停地把我从一边甩到另一边。 我不知道怎么做了。事实上,我是在坚持着。
    在我们执行任务的过程中,并没有飞机真正被击落。 但是和录像机相连的摄像机已经将行动记录到了录像带上。 击中或脱靶由电脑确定,我们将在飞行后的讨论会上观看并评价这一过程。
    尽管少校开玩笑说,驾驶F-16是件多么容易的事,然而事实是,驾驶这架飞机的飞行员必须是专家才行。 而且为了承受高度超重力运动所产生的力,他的身体状况也必须是一流的。 在汉密尔顿少校把我们的飞机轻巧地降下时,我非常庆幸飞机的飞行员是他,而不是只猴子。 他的确给了我一次生命之旅。

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