VOA慢速英语2020 日本公司成功进行空中飞车测试

People have long dreamt of a car that flies through the sky.

人们早就梦想着有一辆在空中飞行的汽车。

Japan's SkyDrive has carried out a successful, but modest test flight of such a vehicle carrying a person. It is just one of the many "flying car" projects around the world.

日本的SkyDrive公司已经成功进行了一次这种车辆的适度载人测试飞行。它只是全球众多“飞行汽车”项目中的一个。

In a video shown to reporters last week, a vehicle that looked like a motorcycle with propellers¹ lifted up to two meters off the ground. It flew in circles in a protected area for four minutes.

在上周向记者展示的视频中，一辆看上去像是带有螺旋桨的汽车升离地面两米高。它在防护区内绕圈飞行了4分钟。

Tomohiro Fukuzawa heads the SkyDrive effort. He said he hopes the flying car can be made into a real-life product by 2023. However, he noted² the importance of safety.

福泽智博领导了Skydrive公司的研发工作。他称希望这种飞行汽车能够在2023年成为现实生活中的产品。但是，他提到了安全的重要性。

"Of the world's more than 100 flying car projects, only a handful has succeeded with a person on board," he told The Associated Press.

他对美联社表示：“在全球100多个飞行汽车项目中，只有极少数项目成功实现了载人飞行。”

"I hope many people will want to ride it and feel safe."

“我希望会有很多人想要乘坐它，并且感觉安全。”

The machine so far can fly for just five to 10 minutes, but if the flight time can be extended to 30 minutes, the car will have more possibilities. For example, it could be exported to places like China, Fukuzawa said.

福泽表示，到目前为止，该机器只能飞行5-10分钟，但是如果飞行时间能够延长到30分钟，这种汽车就会有更大可能性。例如它可以出口到中国等地。

Unlike airplanes and helicopters, "electric vertical³ takeoff and landing" vehicles, or eVTOL, generally offer quick point-to-point personal travel. They could do away with having to deal with airports, traffic jams and the cost of paying for pilots. Such vehicles could even fly without a pilot.

跟飞机以及直升飞机不同，这种电动垂直起降车辆（简称eVTOL）通常用于提供快速的点对点个人旅行。它无需机场，可以避免交通堵塞，也无需支付飞行员的高昂开支。这种车辆甚至无需飞行员就能起飞。

Battery sizes, air traffic control and other issues are among the main problems to overcome before selling them to the public.

电池尺寸、空中交通管制等问题是这款车辆上市销售前需要解决的主要问题。

"Many things have to happen," said Sanjiv Singh, professor at the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. He helped start Near Earth Autonomy, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company also develops eVTOL systems.

卡内基梅隆大学机器人研究所教授桑基夫·辛格表示：“还有很多问题需要解决。”他协助创办了宾夕法尼亚州匹兹堡市附近的Near Earth Autonomy公司。该公司也在开发eVTOL系统。

"If they cost $10 million, no one is going to buy them. If they fly for 5 minutes, no one is going to buy them. If they fall out of the sky...no one is going to buy them," Singh said.

辛格表示：“如果它售价一千万美元，没人会买。如果它只能飞5分钟，没人会买。如果它会从空中掉下来，没人会买。

SkyDrive's flying car began as a volunteer project in 2012. The project received financial support from top Japanese companies including carmaker Toyota, electronics company Panasonic and video-game developer Bandai Namco.

SkyDrive公司的飞行汽车始于2012年的一个志愿者项目。该项目获得了日本顶级公司的财务支持，其中包括丰田汽车制造厂、松下电子公司以及万代南梦宫视频游戏开发商。

A demonstration⁵ flight three years ago did not go well. But the flying car has improved, and the project recently received additional support of $37 million, including money from the Development Bank of Japan.

3年前的一次示范飞行并不顺利。但是该飞行汽车有所改进，该项目最近获得了3700万美元的额外支持，其中包括日本开发银行提供的资金。

The Japanese government has expressed support for the futuristic project, with a "road map" for business services by 2023. The goal is to expand the flying car's commercial use by the 2030s. It also has noted possible uses for connecting faraway areas and providing transportation in disasters.

日本政府已经对这一极其现代的项目表示支持，该项目提出了2023年前实现商用的路线图。其目标是在21世纪30年代扩大这种飞行汽车的商业用途。它还提出了连接遥远地区以及在灾难中提供交通运输的潜在用途。

Experts compare the excitement about flying cars to the days when the aviation industry got started with the Wright Brothers and the auto⁴ industry with the Ford⁶ Model T.

专家将这种对飞行汽车的激动跟以前怀特兄弟与航空工业的起步、福特T型汽车与汽车工业相提并论。

Lilium of Germany, Joby Aviation in California and Wisk, a joint⁷ business involving Boeing and the company Kitty Hawk⁸, are also working on eVTOL projects.

德国的Lilium公司，加州的Joby Aviation公司以及波音和小鹰公司联合的Wisk公司都在从事eVTOL项目。

Sebastian Thrun is chief executive of Kitty Hawk. Thrun said it took time for airplanes, cell phones and self-driving cars to win acceptance.

塞巴斯蒂安·特伦是小鹰公司的首席执行官。特伦表示，飞机、手机和自动驾驶汽车都花费了时间才赢得认可。

"But the time between technology and social adoption⁹ might be more compressed for eVTOL vehicles," he said.

他说：“但是对于eVTOL车辆来说，科技和社会适应之间的时间可能会更短。”

1 propellers   

n.螺旋桨，推进器( propeller的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The water was thrashing and churning about under the propellers. 水在螺旋桨下面打旋、翻滚。 来自辞典例句
• The ship's propellers churned the waves to foam. 轮船的推进器将海浪搅出泡沫。 来自辞典例句

2 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

3 vertical   

adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置

参考例句：

• The northern side of the mountain is almost vertical.这座山的北坡几乎是垂直的。
• Vertical air motions are not measured by this system.垂直气流的运动不用这种系统来测量。

4 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

5 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

6 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

7 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

8 hawk   

n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员

参考例句：

• The hawk swooped down on the rabbit and killed it.鹰猛地朝兔子扑下来,并把它杀死。
• The hawk snatched the chicken and flew away.老鹰叼了小鸡就飞走了。

9 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。