Who Was Neil Armstrong - 尼尔·阿姆斯特朗

It is July 16, 1969. By 9 A.M. the temperature hits a whopping ninety degrees. That’s just a typical summer morning in central Florida. The heat does not stop a crowd of a million people from coming as close to Cape¹ Kennedy as they can get. That is where the United States will launch a spacecraft in just a little while. Carloads of people line the roads for miles. Hundreds of boats bob in the waters just offshore². The beaches swarm³ with people. Everyone hopes to get a glimpse of the Apollo 11 spacecraft as it soars⁴ off into the heavens.
Two thousand reporters are in the press area, ready to write headline stories for their newspapers. In special stands nearest to the launchpad at Cape Kennedy are many members of Congress, the U.S. vice⁵ president, and many famous names in show business and sports.
Among all these important people are two young boys, twelve-year-old Rick and six-year-old Mark Armstrong. They stand close to their mother, Janet, who looks as nervous and excited as they do.
Like everyone else, the boys are watching the giant needlelike rocket. It stands thirty stories high.
At the very top is a space capsule; three astronauts are inside. One of them is the boys’ father. His name is Neil Armstrong. He is the commander of this space mission—Apollo 11. And if all goes well, in four days he will become the first person to set foot on the moon . . . but that is a big if. No spacecraft has ever tried to land on the moon before. What if Apollo 11 makes it to the moon but then can’t get back to Earth? . . . So many things could go wrong.
Apollo 11 may either make history or end in tragedy.

1 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

2 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

3 swarm   

n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入

参考例句：

• There is a swarm of bees in the tree.这树上有一窝蜜蜂。
• A swarm of ants are moving busily.一群蚂蚁正在忙碌地搬家。

4 soars   

v.高飞( soar的第三人称单数 )；猛增；（音乐）升高；高耸

参考例句：

• The lamp tower soars above the horizon. 这座灯塔高耸入云。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The condor soars above the mountain heights. 禿鹰翱翔于高山之上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。