美国英语听力80篇3 Lesson45

[00:07.58]Igor Sikorsky was born in the city of Kiev, Russia; on May 25, 1889.
[00:16.12]His mother was a doctor.
[00:15.12]His father was a professor of psychology¹.
[00:18.59]Igor became interested in science when he was very young.
[00:23.82]He was especially interested in the possibilities of human flight.
[00:28.94]As a ten-year-old boy, he started building toy flying machines out of paper and bamboo.
[00:36.59]One was a helicopter².
[00:38.97]Igor turned the blades³ and held them in place with a thin piece of rubber.
[00:45.08]When he let go of the rubber, the blades turned in the opposite direction.
[00:50.57]And the little helicopter flew around the room.
[00:54.12]Igor dreamed of building a real helicopter.
[00:59.08]But he had little hope.
[01:01.41]Later he said: "I had read with great interest the stories of French writer Jules Verne.
[01:08.38]In some of the stories,Verne described a helicopter.
[01:13.00]Many intelligent people, however, said such a machine would never fly.
[01:19.33]So I decided⁴ my dream would remain just that."
[01:23.01]Sikorsky entered the naval⁵ college in St. Petersburg.
[01:27.87]Then he studied engineering⁶ at the Polytechnic⁷ Institute in Kiev.
[01:33.25]He did not know that -- a few years earlier -- Americans Orville and Wilbur Wright had succeeded in flying.
[01:42.52]In 1908, Sikorsky traveled to Germany with his father.
[01:48.53]He saw a picture in a newspaper of Orville Wright and his airplane.
[01:54.02]"Within twenty-four hours," he said, "I decided to change my life's work.
[02:00.31]I would study aviation⁸."
[02:03.76]The next year, Sikorsky went to Paris.
[02:07.42]At that time,Paris was the center of aviation in Europe.
[02:12.83]Sikorsky met several French pilots, including Louis Bleriot, the first person to fly across the English Channel.
[02:21.50]The pilots gave him advice about building successful airplanes.
[02:26.83]Sikorsky returned home to Kiev after learning⁹ all he could in Paris.
[02:34.01]He decided to build a helicopter, even though many experts said it was not possible.
[02:41.64]He tested his first helicopter in 1909.
[02:46.55]It weighed too much and had too little power.
[02:50.89]It could not get off the ground.
[02:53.47]He tested his second helicopter a year later.
[02:57.94]That one could lift itself off the ground.
[03:01.67]But it was not powerful¹⁰ enough to lift a pilot, too.
[03:05.75]After these failures, Sikorsky decided to work on airplanes; instead.
[03:11.89]His technique was unusual.
[03:15.81]First, he drew pictures of a plane.
[03:19.02]Then he built it.
[03:21.06]Finally, he trained himself to fly it.
[03:24.58]In this way, he quickly discovered any problems in the design and was able to correct them.
[03:31.82]The first plane Sikorsky designed and built was called the S2.
[03:38.04]He tested it in the summer of 1910.
[03:41.90]Justs two years later,another Sikorsky plane -- the S6 -- won the highest prize at an aviation show in Moscow.
[03:40.90]Sikorsky's success helped win him a job as head of the airplane division¹¹ of the Russian Baltic Railroad¹² Car Works¹³.
[03:51.87]That is where he developed his first major new airplane design.
[03:56.60]Planes at that time had only one engine.
[04:01.10]Sometimes, a plane's propeller¹⁴ pulled masses of flying insects into the engine.
[04:07.13]The engine stopped, and the plane crashed.
[04:10.50]Sikorsky thought planes would be safer if they had more than one engine.
[04:16.56]So he designed a plane with four engines.
[04:20.19]He called it "The Grand¹⁵."
[04:23.12]Sikorsky's plane was revolutionary.
[04:27.84]It was the first to have more than one engine.
[04:32.02]It was the first to have a closed area for the pilot and passengers.
[04:37.72]And it was the first to have a toilet.
[04:41.25]After designing "The Grand," Sikorsky designed an even bigger airplane.
[04:46.94]He called it the "Ilia Mourometz," the name of a famous Russian who lived in the Tenth century.
[04:55.22]He made a military version of this plane

1 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

2 helicopter   

n.直升飞机；vt.用直升飞机载送；vi.乘直升飞机

参考例句：

• The helicopter flying at a height of 5,000 meters.这架直升机正在五千米的高空飞行。
• The pilot landed the helicopter in a rice field.飞行员将直升飞机降落在一片稻田里。

3 blades   

n.刀口( blade的名词复数 )；（机器上旋转的）叶片；桨叶；（船桨的）桨叶

参考例句：

• the blades of a propeller 螺旋桨叶
• Stay well away from the helicopter when its blades start to rotate. 直升机的螺旋桨开始转动时，尽量离远点儿。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

6 engineering   

n.工程，工程学，管理，操纵

参考例句：

• The science of engineering began as soon as man learned to use tools. 人类一学会使用工具,工程科学就开始了。
• It was the first great engineering works in the world. 这是世界上第一家大型的工程工厂。

7 polytechnic   

adj.各种工艺的，综合技术的；n.工艺(专科)学校；理工(专科)学校

参考例句：

• She was trained as a teacher at Manchester Polytechnic.她在曼彻斯特工艺专科学校就读，准备毕业后做老师。
• When he was 17,Einstein entered the Polytechnic Zurich,Switzerland,where he studied mathematics and physics.17岁时，爱因斯坦进入了瑞士苏黎士的专科学院，学习数学和物理学。

8 aviation   

n.航空，航空学，飞机制造业

参考例句：

• Ten years ago,they began to develop the aviation. 十年前，他们开始发展航空工业。
• Pilots of large aircraft are masters of aviation.大型飞行器的驾驶员是航空学方面的专家。

9 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

10 powerful   

adj.有力的，有权力的，强大的

参考例句：

• The UN began to get more and more powerful.联合国开始变得越来越强大了。
• Such are the most powerful voices of our times!这些就是我们时代的最有力的声音！

11 division   

n.区分，分开，除法，公司，部门，师(军队里)

参考例句：

• Have you learnt division?你学会除法了吗？
• The division commander ordered that we start the attack before dawn.师长令我们在拂晓前发起攻击。

12 railroad   

n.铁路；vi.由铁路运输

参考例句：

• The railroad connects two cities,namely,New York and Chicago.这条铁路连接两个城市，即纽约与芝加哥。
• My brother is working on the railroad.我兄弟在铁路系统工作。

13 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

14 propeller   

n.螺旋桨，推进器

参考例句：

• The propeller started to spin around.螺旋桨开始飞快地旋转起来。
• A rope jammed the boat's propeller.一根绳子卡住了船的螺旋桨。

15 grand   

adj.豪华的，宏伟的，壮丽的，主要的，重大的；n.(美俚)一千美元

参考例句：

• The pianist played several pieces of music on a grand piano.钢琴家在一架大钢琴上弹了几首乐曲。
• Come on,I'll give you the grand tour of the backyard.跟我来，我带你去后院来一次盛大的旅游。