2017考研英语阅读精选：空中惊现悬浮滑板

　　考研英语阅读真题中的文章，多摘自英美主流外刊，有时候你认识所有单词、搞清全部语法还不够，还需要了解英美文化，掌握他们的表达方式，这就是阅读的潜台词。有时候是一些俗语和俚语，有时候是固定搭配，有时候需要借助历史、风俗、文化才能理解某种现象或表达。总之，这些地道的英语文章背后都有潜台词，一般人不容易读出，但往往是理解文章的关键。

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　　If this crazy hoverboard is real, then the future is now

　　空中惊现悬浮滑板

　　We want hoverboards so bad. The promise of sweet, skateboard-style flying machines from the 1989 film "Back to the Future: Part II" continues to haunt our tech dreams.

　　我们如此渴望悬浮滑板。1989年的电影《回到未来2》中出现的滑板式飞行器一直是我们科技界梦寐以求的发明。

　　We’re not talking about those wheeled poseurs that never leave the ground, but the ones that actually take flight. So far, we’ve received working hoverboards that require special surfaces (like the Hendo), a DIY hoverboard powered by leaf blowers and the large, slow-ish ArcaBoard. There’s also the quadcopter-like contraption invented by a Canadian who set a record for the longest hoverboard flight. The dream is alive, but it has not been fully realized.

　　我们所说的并非是那些带轮的、无法离开地面的、假模假式的东西，而是真正能够起飞的。目前，我们有收到像Hendo那样要求特殊曲面的飞行板，吹叶机驱动的自制大型缓慢的ArcaBoard，以及一名加拿大人发明的类似四轴飞行器的装置。我们的梦想如此真实的，却还没有完全实现。

　　Enter the Flyboard Air from Zapata Racing, a team of professional personal-watercraft racers. Zapata Racing posted a video on Saturday showing a test flight of what it claims is a new kind of hoverboard-style craft.

　　近来，萨帕塔竞技(Zapata Racing，一个专业的个人船舶竞技团队)设计的Flyboard Air引发关注。Zapata Racing公司周六发布了一段试飞视频，称其为新版的滑板式飞行器。

　　Franky Zapata, founder of Zapata Racing, didn’t just appear in a DeLorean from out of nowhere. His original Flyboard debuted in 2011. It uses a long hose and hydrojet to lift a rider out of the water. A secondary set of handheld jets provide the steering. Zapata clearly wasn’t content with water-powered hovering. He wanted to cut the liquid cord with the invention of the Flyboard Air.

　　弗朗基·萨帕塔，Zapata Racing的创立者，并非突然出现在发明德罗宁(DeLorean, 电影《回到未来2》中的飞行器名字)队伍中。他最初的飞行板出现在2011年。使用一根长管，利用水利喷射骑手从水中举起来，而手持式喷射的后置机组则掌握方向。很明显，萨帕特对借助水力飞行并不满意。他想要摆脱液体的束缚，发明出真正的飞行器。

　　The video is a high-energy affair with a rocking soundtrack. It shows Zapata, suited up and wearing a helmet, hovering through the air over a lake on a flying platform just barely wider than his shoulders. The Flyboard Air is equipped with legs that look like they belong on a UFO.

　　该视频是一个高能视频，并伴有晃动的配音。视频中，萨帕塔身着专业套装，头戴钢盔，盘旋在一个湖面的上空，脚下是一个只有肩宽的飞行平台。Flyboard Air是一个有腿装置，看起来就像UFO。

　　The company is keeping quiet on details of the device, but claims it can fly as high as 10,000 feet, has a top speed of 93.2 mph (150 km/h) and can fly for up to 10 minutes. It may use a turbine engine with a fuel line leading from a backpack down to the Flyboard. It is still in prototype phase and is not expected to be available this year.

　　该公司对此装置的细节并未提及，但是声称它的飞翔高度可达1万英尺，速度可达150千米每小时，并可持续飞行10分钟。它可能是通过一根燃料管道，将背负式涡轮发动机里面的动力输送到飞行器上。而目前它还只是模型阶段，今年并不能投入使用。

　　Zapata Racing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

　　Zapata Racing公司对此没有立刻做出回应。

　　We’ve survived some hoverboard fakes in the past, notably with a 2014 Funny or Die hoax. Commentators on Zapata Racing’s Facebook page are expressing a fair amount of skepticism about the video, with some accusing the group of using helicopters or cranes and wires to achieve the flight footage.

　　我们曾遇到过一些假的悬滑板，特别是2014年的Funny or Die(“笑死人不偿命”)骗局。评论家对于Zapata Racing脸书主页的视频持有很大的怀疑，一些人指控他们使用直升飞机或是起重机以及绳索来实现飞行镜头。

　　Until we get more evidence and information on the Flyboard Air, it should be approached with a little bit of apprehension and a little bit of excitement. It certainly looks like fun. If real, it could get us one step closer to reenacting the famous Marty McFly hoverboard chase scene in real life.

　　在我们获得更多关于Flyboard Air的证据和相关信息之前，我们有点担忧，也有点兴奋。当然这看起来有趣。如果是真的，马蒂·麦克弗莱(《回到未来2》的主角，)利用滑板飞行的场景就能在我们的生活中真实上演。

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