练习材料

Lesson 29-1 The hovercraft

Many strange new means of transport have been developed in our century, the strangest of them being perhaps the hovercraft. In 1953, a former electronics engineer in his fifties, Christopher Cockerell, who had turned to boat-building on the Norfolk Broads, suggested an idea on which he had been working for many years to the British Government and industrial circles. It was the idea of supporting a craft on a 'pad', or cushion, of low-pressure air, ringed with a curtain of higher pressure air. Ever since, people have had difficulty in deciding whether the craft should be ranged among ships, planes, or land vehicles -- for it is something in between a boat and an aircraft. As a shipbuilder, Cockerell was trying to find a solution to the problem of the wave resistance which wastes a good deal of a surface ship's power and limits its speed. His answer was to lift the vessel out of the water by making it ride on a cushion of air, no more than one or two feet thick. This is done by a great number of ring-shaped air jets on the bottom of the craft.

/ˈlɛsən/ 29-1 /ðə/ /ˈhʌvərˌkræft/

/ˈmɛni/ /streɪnʤ/ /nu/ /minz/ /ʌv/ /ˈtrænspɔrt/ /hæv/ /bɪn/ /dɪˈvɛləpt/ /ɪn/ /ˈaʊər/ /ˈsɛnʧəri/, /ðə/ /ˈstreɪnʤɪst/ /ʌv/ /ðɛm/ /ˈbiɪŋ/ /pərˈhæps/ /ðə/ /ˈhʌvərˌkræft/. /ɪn/ 1953, /ə/ /ˈfɔrmər/ /ɪˌlɛkˈtrɑnɪks/ /ˈɛnʤəˈnɪr/ /ɪn/ /hɪz/ /ˈfɪftiz/, /ˈkrɪstəfər/ /ˈkɑkəˌrɛl/, /hu/ /hæd/ /tɜrnd/ /tu/ /boʊt/-/ˈbɪldɪŋ/ /ɑn/ /ðə/ /ˈnɔrfək/ /brɔdz/, /səgˈʤɛstəd/ /ən/ /aɪˈdiə/ /ɑn/ /wɪʧ/ /hi/ /hæd/ /bɪn/ /ˈwɜrkɪŋ/ /fɔr/ /ˈmɛni/ /jɪrz/ /tu/ /ðə/ /ˈbrɪtɪʃ/ /ˈgʌvərmənt/ /ænd/ /ɪnˈdʌstriəl/ /ˈsɜrkəlz/. /ɪt/ /wʌz/ /ði/ /aɪˈdiə/ /ʌv/ /səˈpɔrtɪŋ/ /ə/ /kræft/ /ɑn/ /ə/ /pæd/, /ɔr/ /ˈkʊʃən/, /ʌv/ /loʊ/-/ˈprɛʃər/ /ɛr/, /rɪŋd/ /wɪð/ /ə/ /ˈkɜrtən/ /ʌv/ /ˈhaɪər/ /ˈprɛʃər/ /ɛr/. /ˈɛvər/ /sɪns/, /ˈpipəl/ /hæv/ /hæd/ /ˈdɪfəkəlti/ /ɪn/ /ˌdɪˈsaɪdɪŋ/ /ˈwɛðər/ /ðə/ /kræft/ /ʃʊd/ /bi/ /reɪnʤd/ /əˈmʌŋ/ /ʃɪps/, /pleɪnz/, /ɔr/ /lænd/ /ˈvihɪkəlz/ -- /fɔr/ /ɪt/ /ɪz/ /ˈsʌmθɪŋ/ /ɪn/ /bɪˈtwin/ /ə/ /boʊt/ /ænd/ /ən/ /ˈɛrˌkræft/. /æz/ /ə/ /ˈʃɪpˌbɪldər/, /ˈkɑkəˌrɛl/ /wʌz/ /ˈtraɪɪŋ/ /tu/ /faɪnd/ /ə/ /səˈluʃən/ /tu/ /ðə/ /ˈprɑbləm/ /ʌv/ /ðə/ /weɪv/ /rɪˈzɪstəns/ /wɪʧ/ /weɪsts/ /ə/ /gʊd/ /dil/ /ʌv/ /ə/ /ˈsɜrfəs/ /ʃɪps/ /ˈpaʊər/ /ænd/ /ˈlɪməts/ /ɪts/ /spid/. /hɪz/ /ˈænsər/ /wʌz/ /tu/ /lɪft/ /ðə/ /ˈvɛsəl/ /aʊt/ /ʌv/ /ðə/ /ˈwɔtər/ /baɪ/ /ˈmeɪkɪŋ/ /ɪt/ /raɪd/ /ɑn/ /ə/ /ˈkʊʃən/ /ʌv/ /ɛr/, /noʊ/ /mɔr/ /ðæn/ /wʌn/ /ɔr/ /tu/ /fit/ /θɪk/. /ðɪs/ /ɪz/ /dʌn/ /baɪ/ /ə/ /greɪt/ /ˈnʌmbər/ /ʌv/ /rɪŋ/-/ʃeɪpt/ /ɛr/ /ʤɛts/ /ɑn/ /ðə/ /ˈbɑtəm/ /ʌv/ /ðə/ /kræft/.