玩命大冒险 他不带降落伞从7620米高空跳下

 　　If you think skydiving is scary, try doing it from twice the usual height and without a parachute. After two minutes of free-fall, you must position yourself to land on a net less than half the size of a football field, spread out 200 feet above the earth.

　　如果你觉得跳伞很恐怖的话，试想一下，从一般跳伞的两倍高度进行这项活动并且不带降落伞又会如何。在自由下坠两分钟后，你得把自己定位好，以便落到从地面架高200英尺（约合61米）的网子上，它的面积不到半个足球场大。

　　On Saturday, Luke Aikins took that challenge. He was the first person ever to attempt a skydive with neither a parachute nor a wingsuit — and, in a feat¹ broadcast live on Fox, the first ever to complete one.

　　卢克?艾金斯(Luke Aikins)在上周六接受了这项挑战。当天在福斯电视网(Fox)现场直播中，他成为史上首位尝试不带降落伞或穿滑翔衣跳伞并获得成功的人。

　　Mr. Aikins began his dive at an altitude of 25,000 feet, just 4,000 feet short of the summit² of Mount³ Everest. Viewers watched him plummet⁴, legs and arms spread, stomach down. Around 18,000 feet, he removed his oxygen mask and passed it to one of the three parachuted assistants diving with him. He aimed for the center of the net, guided by GPS and lights. Seconds before impact, he flipped⁵ onto his back and landed safely in the California desert.

　　艾金斯是从2万5千英尺（7620米）高处往下跳的，只比珠穆朗玛峰(Mount Everest)峰顶低了4千英尺（1219米）。观众看着艾金斯下坠，他的四肢张开、腹部朝下。高度达到约1万8千英尺（5486米）的时候，他取下氧气面罩，递给穿戴降落伞陪他一同行动的三名助手之一。在GPS装置与光线信号的引导下，他瞄准了安全网中心点。撞上安全网几秒前，他翻身让背部朝下，最终在加利福尼亚的沙漠里安全降落。

　　He lay cocooned⁶ in the net for a few moments, hands over his face. Then he clambered out, into the arms of his wife, Monica, with whom he has a 4-year-old son.

　　艾金斯被裹在安全网里躺了一阵子，双手掩面。 然后他爬了出来，投入妻子莫妮卡(Monica)的怀抱里；他们育有一个4岁儿子。

　　“We did and cannot thank everyone enough for the support,” Mr. Aikins wrote on Facebook shortly after the jump. “My vision was always proper preparation and that if you train right you can make anything happen. Thank you!!!!”

　　“我们不知道该如何感谢大家的支持才好，”艾金斯在完成跳伞不久后在Facebook上写道。“我认为永远都要妥善准备，而且只要训练得当，任何事都有可能成功。谢谢你们！！！！”

　　The stunt⁷, planned for two years, almost did not happen. At first, Mr. Aikins, 42, who has skydived 18,000 times since he was 12 years old, felt the idea was a bit much even for him.

　　这次特技跳伞已经准备了两年时间，计划还几乎泡汤。42岁的艾金斯从12岁就开始跳伞，有18000次跳伞纪录。起初，他觉得这个想法就算对他来说都有些太过火了。

　　“Like any normal, sane⁸ person, I said: ‘Thank you, but no thank you. I have a wife and a son, and I’ve got a life to live,’” he told People magazine. “Then, two weeks went by and I kept waking up in the middle of the night thinking, ‘If somebody said you had to do this, how could it be done?’”

　　“就像任何一个神智正常的普通人一样，我说：‘谢谢你的提议，不过还是免了吧。我家有妻小，还想继续过我的人生。’” 艾金斯告诉《人物》杂志(People)。“接下来两周时间里，我老是在半夜醒来，想着：‘如果有人说你非这么做不可，又该怎么去完成它呢？’”

　　Then, just two days ago, SAG-Aftra, the screen actors’ union, issued a “do not work” order barring its members from taking part in the production unless Mr. Aikins agreed to wear a parachute — something that, Mr. Aikins said in the live broadcast, would actually make the jump more dangerous by adding weight to his body, thus increasing the force of the impact.

　　然后，在仅仅两天前，美国演员工会及美国电视与广播演员联合会(SAG-Aftra)发出了“禁演令”，要求会员不得参与制作这项计划，除非艾金斯同意带降落伞。艾金斯则在现场直播中表示，降落伞其实会让这次跳伞更危险，因为这会增加他的重量，从而加强撞击力道。

　　As Mr. Aikins’s plane approached the start point of his dive, 25,000 feet above Simi Valley, Calif., he strapped⁹ on the parachute but told viewers he would not open it. At the last minute, the union dropped its objection, and Mr. Aikins removed the parachute before jumping from the plane.

　　艾金斯搭乘的飞机飞到近加州西米谷(Simi Valley)上方、2万5千英尺（7620米）高的起跳点的时候，他还是系上了降落伞装备，同时告诉观众他不会打开它。不过SAG-Aftra工会在最后一刻解除了禁令，于是艾金斯在跳出机身前脱下了降落伞。

　　Mr. Aikins’s publicist, Peter Moran, did not respond to an emailed request for an interview with his client on Saturday evening. But speaking to reporters at the scene, Mr. Aikins was euphoric.

　　艾金斯的公关人员彼得?莫兰(Peter Moran)未回应本报在周六傍晚用电邮发出的访问请求，不过艾金斯在现场接受记者采访的时候显得神采飞扬。

　　“I’m almost levitating¹⁰ — it’s incredible¹¹, this thing that just happened,” he told reporters after climbing out of the net, according to E! Online. “The words I want to say, I can’t even get out of my mouth.”

　　“我几乎都要浮起来了── 刚刚发生的事情令人难以置信。”根据E! Online网站的报道，艾金斯爬出安全网后这么告诉记者。“我简直不知道该说什么才好。”

 

1 feat   

n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的

参考例句：

• Man's first landing on the moon was a feat of great daring.人类首次登月是一个勇敢的壮举。
• He received a medal for his heroic feat.他因其英雄业绩而获得一枚勋章。

2 summit   

n.最高点，峰顶；最高级会议；极点

参考例句：

• They climbed up the mountain and reached the summit.他们爬山，最终达到了山顶。
• The summit of the mountain is lost in the cloud and mist.山顶隐没在云雾之中。

3 mount   

n.山峰，乘用马，框，衬纸；vi.增长，骑上（马）；vt.提升，爬上，装备

参考例句：

• Their debts continued to mount up.他们的债务不断增加。
• She is the first woman who steps on the top of Mount Jolmo Lungma.她是第一个登上珠穆朗玛峰的女人。

4 plummet   

vi.(价格、水平等)骤然下跌；n.铅坠；重压物

参考例句：

• Mengniu and Yili have seen their shares plummet since the incident broke.自事件发生以来，蒙牛和伊利的股票大幅下跌。
• Even if rice prices were to plummet,other brakes on poverty alleviation remain.就算大米价格下跌，其它阻止导致贫困的因素仍然存在。

5 flipped   

轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥

参考例句：

• The plane flipped and crashed. 飞机猛地翻转，撞毁了。
• The carter flipped at the horse with his whip. 赶大车的人扬鞭朝着马轻轻地抽打。

6 cocooned   

v.茧，蚕茧( cocoon的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The doctors cocooned the patient in blankets. 医生们将病人紧包在毯子里。 来自辞典例句
• I cocooned in my own kingdom. 我完全沉迷在我自己的王国中。 来自辞典例句

7 stunt   

n.惊人表演，绝技，特技；vt.阻碍...发育，妨碍...生长

参考例句：

• Lack of the right food may stunt growth.缺乏适当的食物会阻碍发育。
• Right up there is where the big stunt is taking place.那边将会有惊人的表演。

8 sane   

adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的

参考例句：

• He was sane at the time of the murder.在凶杀案发生时他的神志是清醒的。
• He is a very sane person.他是一个很有头脑的人。

9 strapped   

adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带

参考例句：

• Make sure that the child is strapped tightly into the buggy. 一定要把孩子牢牢地拴在婴儿车上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soldiers' great coats were strapped on their packs. 战士们的厚大衣扎捆在背包上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 levitating   

v.（使）升空，（使）漂浮( levitate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• It will not mean things like levitating objects and reading others minds. 你将开始明白掌握力量的真正意义。 来自互联网
• As the pole rotates the balls spin out levitating higher the faster the system spins. 柱子旋转的时候，这两个球也会转起来，这个系统转得越快，它们飞得越高。 来自互联网

11 incredible   

adj.难以置信的，不可信的，极好的，大量的

参考例句：

• Some planets run at incredible speed.某些星球以难以置信的速度运行着。
• Her answer showed the most incredible stupidity.她的回答显示出不可思议的愚蠢。