VOA标准英语2011--Innovative Electric Aircraft Win Green F

Innovative¹ Electric Aircraft Win Green Flight Challenge

We often hear about hybrid² cars, which run in part on electricity and can travel about 20 kilometers on a liter of fuel. Engineers are also experimenting with another mode of electric transportation - airplanes.
Experimental aircraft took to the skies over California recently for the 2011 Green Flight Challenge, a contest that prized fuel efficiency.
The event's sponsor, the Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency Foundation, required eligible³ aircraft to fly 322 kilometers in less than two hours, while using less than 3.75 liters of fuel per passenger or the equivalent in electricity.
Fourteen teams registered, and judges ruled that three qualified⁴ to compete.
The winners
Team Pipistrel-USA.com of Pennsylvania took home the grand prize, and $1.35 million, for its electric-powered craft, the Taurus G4. The four-seater plane managed the equivalent of 171 passenger kilometers per liter of fuel.
Jack⁵ Langelaan led Team Pipistrel-USA.com to victory.
"Together we've all shown that electricity is not only a viable⁶, but in fact a beautiful, way of powering these airplanes," said Langelaan. "When our airplanes fly overhead, 2,000 feet up [610 meters], we cannot hear them. When they fly by, there are no emissions⁷. The power to recharge our batteries came from a geothermal plant powered by geysers near Santa Rosa [California]."
Langelaan said it costs about $7.00 for the kilowatts⁸ of electricity needed to fly the craft for two hours.
Team e-Genius of California came in second place overall, winning $120,000 in prize money for an electric aircraft that traveled the equivalent of about 160 passenger kilometers per liter.
It also won another award. Eric Raymond accepted his team's prize for the quietest craft.
"A thought that just occurred to me is people expect progress through the passage of time, as if in the future there will be quiet electric aircraft, and it's really been slow in coming," said Raymond. "And what we really need is support for the engineers."
Aviation innovation
NASA's acting⁹ chief technology officer, Joseph Parrish, said these new aircraft are five to 10 times more efficient than conventional planes.
"It was not possible to win the Green Flight Challenge with an existing aircraft design. Innovation was required in order to win this competition," said Parrish. "Lighter¹⁰ batteries, more compact and powerful electric motors, sleeker¹¹ and lighter structures are going to benefit more than just the aerospace¹² community. They're going to usher¹³ in technologies that are useful in the automotive industry, in mass transit¹⁴, in the green energy industries."
The CAFE Green Flight Challenge was sponsored by Google, and the prize money was awarded by NASA. The U.S. space agency says, collectively, the competing teams invested more than $4 million in pursuit of the prize.

1 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

2 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

3 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

4 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

5 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

6 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

7 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

8 kilowatts   

千瓦( kilowatt的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It's about 500 kilowatts per hour on average. 年用电量平均为每小时500千瓦。 来自商贸英语会话
• We have an emergency-standby electric generator with a capacity of 300 kilowatts. 我们有一台三百千瓦的事故备用发电机。

9 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

10 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

11 sleeker   

磨光器，异型墁刀

参考例句：

• As tight as a corset, the new speed suits make the wearer sleeker and more streamlined. 这种新型泳衣穿起来就像紧身胸衣，可使穿着者身形光滑，更具流线型。
• When he became leaner and faster, his digital doppelganger also became sleeker and more fleet-footed. 当真科比变得更瘦并且更快，他的虚拟兄弟也变得灵动飞快。

12 aerospace   

adj.航空的，宇宙航行的

参考例句：

• The world's entire aerospace industry is feeling the chill winds of recession.全世界的航空航天工业都感受到了经济衰退的寒意。
• Edward Murphy was an aerospace engineer for the US Army.爱德华·墨菲是一名美军的航宇工程师。

13 usher   

n.带位员，招待员；vt.引导，护送；vi.做招待，担任引座员

参考例句：

• The usher seated us in the front row.引座员让我们在前排就座。
• They were quickly ushered away.他们被迅速领开。

14 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。