VOA常速英语2015--多架二战战机飞过华盛顿上空 致敬退伍老兵

多架二战战机飞过华盛顿上空 致敬退伍老兵

More than 50 World War II-era planes flew in formation over the World War II Memorial in Washington Friday, marking the 70th anniversary of the end of the conflict in Europe.

超过50架曾在二战时期服役的战机编队周五飞过华盛顿的美国二战纪念碑，纪念二战胜利70周年。

The roar of mighty¹ piston² engines overhead tranfixed midday strollers and crowds along the National Mall.

强力活塞式发动机的轰鸣声让国家广场中午散步者和人群感到震耳欲聋。

"It's just been an incredible day to come here, after all these years, and see these airplanes again."

“这一天真是是令人难以置信,这么多年过去后,能够再次看到这些飞机。”

The flyby, called Arsenal³ of Democracy, was organized by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association.Its president and CEO, Peter Bunce, says restorating old airplanes is a slow and painstakingly⁴ hard process done mostly by enthusiasts⁵.

这次名为民主政治兵工厂的飞行表演是由通用航空制造商协会组织。其总裁兼首席执行官彼得·博尼斯表示大多由爱好者们修复的老式飞机过程十分缓慢且极其艰苦。

“Recently, there was a very iconic aircraft that was fished out in Lake Michigan and that aircraft will go through a very long restoration processes, it's years and years."

“最近, 在密西根湖中打捞出一架非常具有代表性的飞机,而这架老飞机会经历非常漫长的修复过程，很多年后才能重返天空。”

Many of the planes, such as this Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress⁶, called Texas Raiders belongs to a Texas-based non-profit organization called Commemorative Air Force.

像这架名为德州掠夺者的波音B-17飞行堡垒的许多飞机属于德克萨斯非营利组织纪念空军。

Civilian⁷ corporate⁸ pilot Buddy⁹ Cooksey has been flying its vintage planes at air shows for more than 40 years.He says the group has over 11,000 members but is always looking for new fans ready to devote time and work to restoration and upkeep of old planes.

民用企业飞行员巴迪·库克西和它的老爷机从事空中表演已有40多个年头。他称这个组织有超过11000名成员，但总是在寻找准备将时间和精力用在修复及维护旧飞机的新粉丝。

“We are looking for young ladies, young men, race, color, creed¹⁰ does not matter to us.They got the enthusiasm-we want them."

“我们需要年轻的女士,年轻人,种族、肤色、信仰对我们并不重要。只要他们有热情,我们就需要。”

Cooksey says, despite their age, the planes are still in very good shape.

库克西表示虽然过了服役期,但这些飞机性能仍然良好。

“Strangely enough the airplanes are quite durable¹¹, they were meant to be that durable.And there's lot of redundancy in the systems and so, the problem that we have is the parts are not easily to come by."

“奇怪的是，这些飞机很耐用,它们就是耐用。系统中还有很多冗余,因此,我们的问题是很难找到零件。”

Cooksey says every once in a while, a box of spare parts is discovered in some warehouse¹², but many of them have to be manufactured new, which is not cheap.But he says it is important to keep these planes flying as a tribute to all who fought in them.

库克西表示每隔一段时间,都能在一些仓库找到零件,但其中很多必须重新制造,而费用并不便宜。但是他说重要的是要让这些飞机再次翱翔天际向曾经驾驶过它们的老兵们致敬。

“I believe that they could be continually operated for probably…forever, as long as we can continue to do what we are doing."

“我相信这些飞机可以永远飞下去，直到永远…,只要我们继续做正在做的事情。”

1 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

2 piston   

n.活塞

参考例句：

• They use a piston engine instead.他们改用活塞发动机。
• The piston moves by steam pressure.活塞在蒸汽压力下运动。

3 arsenal   

n.兵工厂，军械库

参考例句：

• Even the workers at the arsenal have got a secret organization.兵工厂工人暗中也有组织。
• We must be the great arsenal of democracy.我们必须成为民主的大军火库。

4 painstakingly   

adv. 费力地 苦心地

参考例句：

• Every aspect of the original has been closely studied and painstakingly reconstructed. 原作的每一细节都经过了仔细研究，费尽苦心才得以重现。
• The cause they contrived so painstakingly also ended in failure. 他们惨淡经营的事业也以失败而告终。

5 enthusiasts   

n.热心人，热衷者( enthusiast的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A group of enthusiasts have undertaken the reconstruction of a steam locomotive. 一群火车迷已担负起重造蒸汽机车的任务。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Now a group of enthusiasts are going to have the plane restored. 一群热心人计划修复这架飞机。 来自新概念英语第二册

6 fortress   

n.堡垒，防御工事

参考例句：

• They made an attempt on a fortress.他们试图夺取这一要塞。
• The soldier scaled the wall of the fortress by turret.士兵通过塔车攀登上了要塞的城墙。

7 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

8 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

9 buddy   

n.（美口）密友，伙伴

参考例句：

• Calm down,buddy.What's the trouble?压压气，老兄。有什么麻烦吗？
• Get out of my way,buddy!别挡道了，你这家伙！

10 creed   

n.信条；信念，纲领

参考例句：

• They offended against every article of his creed.他们触犯了他的每一条戒律。
• Our creed has always been that business is business.我们的信条一直是公私分明。

11 durable   

adj.持久的，耐久的

参考例句：

• This raincoat is made of very durable material.这件雨衣是用非常耐用的料子做的。
• They frequently require more major durable purchases.他们经常需要购买耐用消费品。

12 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。