VOA科学技术2023 空中的士将在莱特兄弟故乡量产

Flying Taxis to be Made in Ohio, Home of Wright Brothers

空中的士将在莱特兄弟故乡量产

The same area where the Wright brothers developed the first airplane will soon see electric planes that take off and land vertically².

在莱特兄弟发明第一架飞机的同一片土地上，很快将能看到电动飞机垂直起降。

The planes, called "flying taxis" will be produced under an agreement between the state of Ohio and Joby Aviation at Dayton International Airport.

这些被称为“空中的士”的飞机将根据俄亥俄州和乔比航空公司在代顿国际机场达成的协议被生产出来。

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine told The Associated Press, "When you're talking about air taxis, that's the future."

俄亥俄州州长麦克·德温告诉美联社：“说起空中的士，这就是未来。”

Around the world, electric vertical¹ takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, or flying taxis, are becoming more common. Still, questions remain about noise levels and charging demands.

在世界各地，电动垂直起降飞机或空中的士正变得越来越普遍。尽管如此，噪音水平和充电需求仍然存在疑问。

Developers say the planes are nearing the day when they will provide a way to move individual people or small groups from the top of buildings and parking spaces to their destinations.

开发商表示，这些飞机即将提供一种将个人或少部分人从建筑物顶部和停车场地运送到目的地的方式。

The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, lived and worked in Dayton, Ohio. In 1910, they opened the first U.S. airplane factory there. To connect with this history, Joby's official announcement Monday took place at Orville Wright's home, Hawthorn³ Hill, and ended with a special flight of a copy of the Wright Model B Flyer.

莱特兄弟奥维尔和威尔伯在俄亥俄州代顿生活和工作。1910年，他们在那里开设了第一家美国飞机工厂。为了与这段历史联系起来，乔比航空周一在奥维尔·莱特位于霍索恩山的故居正式宣布了这一消息，并以一架莱特B型飞行者飞机的特别飞行结束。

Engineers designed Joby's production aircraft to transport a pilot and four passengers at speeds of up to 321.87 kilometers per hour. The aircraft can cover a distance of up to 160.93 kilometers. It is a quiet machine that can barely be heard in most cities, the company said. The plan is to place them in aerial ridesharing networks beginning in 2025.

工程师们设计了乔比航空的量产飞机，它以每小时321.87公里的速度运送一名飞行员和四名乘客。这架飞机的飞行距离可达160.93公里。该公司表示，这是一台安静的机器，在大多数城市几乎听不到它的噪音。该公司计划从2025年开始将它们纳入空中的士网络。

Joby Aviation is a 14-year-old company that went public in 2021 and became the first eVTOL firm to receive a special kind of permission, or certification, from the U.S. Air Force. Its production efforts are supported by partnerships⁴ with Toyota, Delta⁵ Air Lines, Intel and Uber.

乔比航空是一家成立14年的公司，它于2021年上市，并成为第一家获得美国空军特别认证的电动垂直起降飞机公司。它的生产工作得到了与丰田、达美航空、英特尔和优步合作的支持。

The $500 million project is supported by up to $325 million in payments from the state of Ohio. With the money, Joby plans to build an Ohio facility capable of delivering up to 500 aircraft a year and creating 2,000 jobs. The U.S. Department of Energy has invited Joby to apply for a loan to support development of the facility as a clean energy project.

这个价值5亿美元的项目得到了俄亥俄州高达3.25亿美元的资金支持。有了这笔钱，乔比航空计划在俄亥俄州建造一座工厂，每年可交付500架飞机，并创造2000个就业机会。美国能源部已邀请乔比航空申请贷款，以支持该设施作为清洁能源项目的开发。

Joby CEO JoeBen Bevirt told the AP that the company chose Ohio after a large and competitive search. Ohio's financial deal was not the largest, but the chance to bring the operation to the birthplace of aviation — with a workforce⁶ experienced in the field — led to the deal, he said.

乔比航空首席执行官乔本·贝维特告诉美联社，该公司在进行了大规模竞争性的搜索后选择了俄亥俄州。他说，俄亥俄州的金融交易并不是最大的，但有机会将业务带到航空业的发源地，以及拥有该领域经验丰富的员工，这些优势最终促成了这笔交易。

The announcement comes as a group of Ohio's congressional representatives has recently increased efforts to draw the U.S. Air Force's new U.S. Space Command headquarters or Space Force units to Ohio. There, too, state leaders point to the history of the Wrights, as well as Ohio-born astronauts John Glenn and Neil Armstrong.

俄亥俄州的一群国会代表最近加大了将美国空军新的美国太空司令部总部或太空军部队吸引到俄亥俄州的力度。州领导人也提到了莱特兄弟的历史，以及俄亥俄州出生的宇航员约翰·格伦和尼尔·阿姆斯特朗。

1 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。

2 vertically   

adv.垂直地

参考例句：

• Line the pages for the graph both horizontally and vertically.在这几页上同时画上横线和竖线，以便制作图表。
• The human brain is divided vertically down the middle into two hemispheres.人脑从中央垂直地分为两半球。

3 hawthorn   

山楂

参考例句：

• A cuckoo began calling from a hawthorn tree.一只布谷鸟开始在一株山楂树里咕咕地呼叫。
• Much of the track had become overgrown with hawthorn.小路上很多地方都长满了山楂树。

4 partnerships   

n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系

参考例句：

• Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句

5 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

6 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。