58 两名巴基斯坦飞行员将开始“巴基斯坦之光”旅程

 

 

 

Two Prepare for

'Spirit of Pakistan' Journey

Jon Tkach

Islamabad

21 Jun 2001 09:20 UTC

 

Two Pakistani 1)pilots are preparing what they hope will be a 37,000 kilometer journey around the world in an 2)ultralight plane. They are calling their trip the "Spirit of Pakistan," hoping it will raise some money for 3)charity and spread 4)goodwill to the more than twenty countries they will be visiting along the way.

This noisy, but relatively¹ tiny little engine, will be the main thing pilots Zaka Ullah Bhangoo and Ajab Khan will be hearing for nearly three months as they attempt to circle the globe. They will be crammed² into an airplane not much bigger than a 5)bathtub. The body of the aircraft is about three meters long, surrounding two 6)slim 7)vcockpits that leave the pilots only centimeters of 8)wiggle room. The engine and propeller³ sit behind the 9)rear cockpit, and the plane's slim tail stretches out behind. In this little plane, the pilots will be literally⁴ 10)hopping around the globe.

They have more than forty scheduled stops along the way, where they are planning to meet some locals, especially local Pakistanis. Retired⁵ military pilot Zaka Ullah Bhangoo says they aim to be 11)roving 12)ambassadors of their country. "We are die-hard Pakistanis, Spirit of Pakistan, and wherever we go we will represent Pakistan and we hope we do it well," he says.

But the main reason for the stops will be to refuel, their ultralight only has a range of about 900 kilometers. Mr. Bhangoo says weight will be a huge concern. "This aircraft is so light and we can carry so little that on two of the legs I don't think we can even carry our 13)toothbrush with us," he says.

He even says he and his co-pilot, Ajab Khan, are currently⁶ on diets in a bid to slim down. Each kilogram they lose, he says, means another seven minutes of extra flying time.

Mr. Khan says they will be happy they lost those kilos right away as they attempt a first ever trip in a ultralight over the massive⁷ mountains that line Pakistan's northern border with China. "We cross over the Khunjerab Pass along the Karakuram highway and this should be the highest crossing ever by an ultralight aircraft," he says. "We will be using oxygen for that because we expect to clear it at about 18,000 feet."

From there, they head east through northern China and then into the eastern reaches of Russian Siberia. But first they say they might 14)encounter difficulties of the 15)bureaucratic kind.

The problem is they still have not gotten 16)clearance from the Russian government to pass through and they say they might have to wait a while along the 17)border for the nod from Moscow.

After Siberia, the two head over the Bering Straits and Alaska, down over Canada and across the U.S. mainland⁸. They then pass over Greenland, Iceland and down into Europe. Finally, the last legs take them through vast 18)stretches of the Muslim world, along the northern edge of Africa and finally through the Arab Peninsula⁹ and back into Pakistan.

But before Mr. Banghoo and Mr. Khan head out to circle the globe, they will spend a couple of weeks circling their own country to 19)rally support for the "Spirit of Pakistan."

They are hoping to line up more sponsors¹⁰ and they have pledged¹¹ to give all the 20)proceeds from their trip to children's charities. The two men aim take off on their round-the-world journey in mid-July. And if all goes right, they will be flying back into Islamabad, from the opposite direction, of course, in late October.

 

 

(1)       pilot[5paIlEt]n.飞行员, 领航员

(2)       ultralight[9QltrE`laIt, `QltrElaIt]adj.超轻型的

(3)       charity[`tFArEtI]n.慈善, 施舍, 慈善团体,

(4)       goodwill[^Jd5wIl]n.善意, 亲切

(5)       bathtub[`bB:WtQb]n.浴缸, 澡盆

(6)       slim[slIm]adj.苗条的, 纤细的

(7)       cockpit[5kRkpIt]n.驾驶员座舱, 战场

(8)       wiggle[5wI^(E)l]v.(使)踌躇, 摆动n.踌躇, 摆动

(9)       rear[rIE(r)]n.后面,后方, 屁股adj.后面的, 背面的

(10)       hop[hRp]v.单脚跳, (鸟, 蛙等)跳跃

(11)       rove[rEJv]v.漫游, 流浪, 转来转去n.漫游, 流浪, 粗纱

(12)       ambassador[Am5bAsEdE(r)]n.大使

(13)       toothbrush[5tu:WbrQF]n.牙刷

(14)       encounter[In5kaJntE(r)]v.遭遇, 遇到n.遭遇, 遭遇战

(15)       bureaucratic[9bjJErEJ`krAtIk]adj.官僚政治的

(16)       clearance[5klIErEns]n.清除

(17)       border[5bC:dE(r)]n.边界, 国界, 边境v.接壤

(18)       stretch[stretF]v.伸展, 伸长n.一段路程, 伸展

(19)       rally[5rAlI]v.重整旗鼓, 给予新力量, 力量, 决心, 集结n.集会

(20)       proceeds[5prEJsi:dz]n. pl.收益

 

 

1 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

2 crammed   

adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式)

参考例句：

• He crammed eight people into his car. 他往他的车里硬塞进八个人。
• All the shelves were crammed with books. 所有的架子上都堆满了书。

3 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。

4 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

5 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

6 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。

7 massive   

adj.巨大的，大规模的，大量的，大范围的

参考例句：

• A massive sea search has failed to find any survivors.经过大规模的海上搜救仍未找到幸存者。
• He drank a massive amount of alcohol.他喝了大量的烈酒。

8 mainland   

n.大陆，本土

参考例句：

• The new bridge will link the island to the mainland.新的桥梁将把该岛与大陆连接在一起。
• Hong Kong's prosperity relies heavily on mainland.香港的繁荣在很大程度上依赖于大陆。

9 peninsula   

n.半岛

参考例句：

• Dalian is in the south of the Liaodong Peninsula.大连位于辽东半岛南部。
• Korean peninsula lies to the west of Japan.朝鲜半岛在日本以西。

10 sponsors   

n.保人( sponsor的名词复数 )；（广播电视节目、音乐会或运动会的）赞助者；（培训或教育的）资助者；（法案等的）倡议者v.赞助( sponsor的第三人称单数 )；资助（某人的培训或教育）；为慈善活动捐资；倡议

参考例句：

• The race organizers are trying to attract sponsors. 比赛的组织者在想方设法吸引赞助者。
• They become official sponsors and put their logos on stadium walls. 他们成为正式赞助者，从而能在赛场周围的墙上挂上他们公司的广告牌。 来自辞典例句

11 pledged   

保证，许诺，发誓( pledge的过去式和过去分词 )； 典当； 保证给予（或做）； 以誓言约束

参考例句：

• They have pledged that they will always remain faithful to each other. 他们发誓他们将永远忠诚于对方。
• The government pledged to rehouse the refugees. 政府许诺给难民提供新住房。