VOA常速英语2014--K9飞行学校训练狗狗适应航空旅行

 

K9 Flight School Trains Dogs for Air Travel K9飞行学校训练狗狗适应航空旅行

Traveling by air can be very stressful - the crowds, the noise, the sometimes intrusive¹ security procedures, the airplanes’ closed environment.  People can take a course to get over their fear of flying.  Service dogs can too.

Service dogs almost never leave their owners, even on public transportation, including airplanes.  But a busy airport environment can be disorienting and distressing² for dogs, even well-trained ones.

People with disabilities, who rely on their dogs, want to make sure their companions will be able to safely lead them through security checkpoints and stay calm even during occasional turbulence³ in flight.

They can turn to the Air Hollywood K9 Flight School, where owners and their dogs go through the entire procedure including spending time in a flight simulator, built for filming movie flight scenes.

Dogs experience all the sights, sounds and vibrations⁴ of a real flight.

Sandy Alexander, from Newport Beach, California, has a disability that requires his two-year-old Labrador, Doc, to be by his side at all times. Alexander says Doc didn’t like the turbulence.

“When that started he was pretty agitated⁵ and looked up at me and wasn't sure what was going on and I think we are going to be prepared the next time it happens,” he said.

Successful training is based on a simple rule: repetition, says trainer Mary Segall, with Canine⁶ Companions for Independence, which provides dogs for people with disabilities.

“Dogs need to be exposed gradually and repetitively to stimulation⁷, to the environment, to loud noises, to sounds and other dogs so that when this experience happens to them on a daily basis, they are able to act in a way that they are used to acting⁸ and they don't get excitable,” she said.

Stacey Huckeba's nine-month-old Labrador, Striker, is still in training to be a guide dog.

“I don't fly a lot so I don't know a lot, so I don't know a lot of the routine myself," she said. "So with a dog I would have been lost.”

Dog owners who attended the course say they now feel much more comfortable thinking about their flight. Dogs too, look like they have benefited from the training to take to the air.

乘飞机旅行可能会让人感到压力——比如拥挤的人群，噪音，偶尔发生的安全操作问题，以及飞机的密封环境。人们可以参加课程来克服飞行恐惧，而服务犬同样可以。

服务犬几乎从不离开它们的主人，即使是使用公共交通时，包括飞机。但是一个繁忙的机场环境可能会使狗狗们感到迷惑痛苦，哪怕是训练有素的狗也难免如此。

身体残疾的人比较依赖服务犬，他们想确信他们的好伙伴能够安全的带领他们通过安检，并且，即使飞行中偶尔发生颠簸也能保持镇静。

它们可以去好莱坞航空K9飞行学校，在那里，主人和他们的狗狗参加整个飞行活动，包括在拍摄电影场景用的飞行模拟器中一起度过一段时间。

狗狗可以体验到真实飞行中能遇到的所有景象，声音以及震动。

来自于加利福尼亚州纽波特比奇的Sandy Alexander身患残疾，时刻需要他两岁的拉布拉多犬Doc陪伴在身边。Alexander说他的Doc不喜欢飞行中的颠簸。

“当颠簸开始的时候，Doc会很焦躁，并且仰头看着我，似乎不确定发生了什么，所以我想我们应该为下次再发生这种事情做点准备。”他说。

成功的训练基于一条简单的准则：重复。训练员Mary Segall说。她致力于培训服务犬用来帮助需要的人。

“狗狗们需要反复的一点点暴露在那些刺激下，那种环境中，那种大的噪音中，以及各种声音还有习惯周围出现其他的狗狗。这样，当这种经历成为一种日常活动发生在它们身边的时候，它们就能够表现的如往常训练那样，而不会变的过于激动。”她说。

Stacey Huckeba那九个月大的拉布拉多犬Striker，还处在被训练成为一个导航犬的过程中。

“我不经常飞行，所以我也了解的不多，我甚至自己都不是很清楚路线。”她说，“所以如果我随着我的狗的话，我很可能会走丢。”

参加课程的狗狗主人们说，他们现在一想到飞行，比以往的感觉要舒服多了，狗狗们也一样，看起来它们似乎从训练中获得了很多益处，以至于能够良好的适应飞行了。

1 intrusive   

adj.打搅的；侵扰的

参考例句：

• The cameras were not an intrusive presence.那些摄像机的存在并不令人反感。
• Staffs are courteous but never intrusive.员工谦恭有礼却从不让人感到唐突。

2 distressing   

a.使人痛苦的

参考例句：

• All who saw the distressing scene revolted against it. 所有看到这种悲惨景象的人都对此感到难过。
• It is distressing to see food being wasted like this. 这样浪费粮食令人痛心。

3 turbulence   

n.喧嚣，狂暴，骚乱，湍流

参考例句：

• The turbulence caused the plane to turn over.空气的激流导致飞机翻转。
• The world advances amidst turbulence.世界在动荡中前进。

4 vibrations   

n.摆动( vibration的名词复数 )；震动；感受；（偏离平衡位置的）一次性往复振动

参考例句：

• We could feel the vibrations from the trucks passing outside. 我们可以感到外面卡车经过时的颤动。
• I am drawn to that girl; I get good vibrations from her. 我被那女孩吸引住了，她使我产生良好的感觉。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 agitated   

adj.被鼓动的，不安的

参考例句：

• His answers were all mixed up,so agitated was he.他是那样心神不定，回答全乱了。
• She was agitated because her train was an hour late.她乘坐的火车晚点一个小时，她十分焦虑。

6 canine   

adj.犬的，犬科的

参考例句：

• The fox is a canine animal.狐狸是犬科动物。
• Herbivorous animals have very small canine teeth,or none.食草动物的犬牙很小或者没有。

7 stimulation   

n.刺激，激励，鼓舞

参考例句：

• The playgroup provides plenty of stimulation for the children.幼儿游戏组给孩子很多启发。
• You don't get any intellectual stimulation in this job.你不能从这份工作中获得任何智力启发。

8 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。