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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
“I had a good look at the planes, the rudder-bar, and the elevating lever before I got in. Everything was in order so far as I could see. Then I switched on my engine and found that she was running sweetly. When they let her go she rose almost at once upon the lowest speed. I circled my home field once or twice just to warm her up, and then with a wave to Perkins and the others, I flattened1 out my planes and put her on her highest. She skimmed like a swallow down wind for eight or ten miles until I turned her nose up a little and she began to climb in a great spiral for the cloud-bank above me. It’s all-important to rise slowly and adapt yourself to the pressure as you go.
“It was a close, warm day for an English September, and there was the hush2 and heaviness of impending3 rain. Now and then there came sudden puffs4 of wind from the south-west—one of them so gusty5 and unexpected that it caught me napping and turned me half-round for an instant. I remember the time when gusts6 and whirls and air- pockets used to be things of danger—before we learned to put an overmastering power into our engines. Just as I reached the cloud-banks, with the altimeter marking three thousand, down came the rain. My word, how it poured! It drummed upon my wings and lashed7 against my face, blurring8 my glasses so that I could hardly see. I got down on to a low speed, for it was painful to travel against it. As I got higher it became hail, and I had to turn tail to it. One of my cylinders9 was out of action—a dirty plug, I should imagine, but still I was rising steadily10 with plenty of power. After a bit the trouble passed, whatever it was, and I heard the full, deep-throated purr—the ten singing as one. That’s where the beauty of our modern silencers comes in. We can at last control our engines by ear. How they squeal11 and squeak12 and sob13 when they are in trouble! All those cries for help were wasted in the old days, when every sound was swallowed up by the monstrous14 racket of the machine. If only the early aviators15 could come back to see the beauty and perfection of the mechanism16 which have been bought at the cost of their lives!
1 flattened | |
[医](水)平扁的,弄平的 | |
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2 hush | |
int.嘘,别出声;n.沉默,静寂;v.使安静 | |
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3 impending | |
a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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4 puffs | |
n.吸( puff的名词复数 );(烟斗或香烟的)一吸;一缕(烟、蒸汽等);(呼吸或风的)呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 );喷着汽(或烟)移动;吹嘘;吹捧 | |
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5 gusty | |
adj.起大风的 | |
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6 gusts | |
一阵强风( gust的名词复数 ); (怒、笑等的)爆发; (感情的)迸发; 发作 | |
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7 lashed | |
adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 );煽动;紧系;怒斥 | |
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8 blurring | |
n.模糊,斑点甚多,(图像的)混乱v.(使)变模糊( blur的现在分词 );(使)难以区分 | |
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9 cylinders | |
n.圆筒( cylinder的名词复数 );圆柱;汽缸;(尤指用作容器的)圆筒状物 | |
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10 steadily | |
adv.稳定地;不变地;持续地 | |
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11 squeal | |
v.发出长而尖的声音;n.长而尖的声音 | |
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12 squeak | |
n.吱吱声,逃脱;v.(发出)吱吱叫,侥幸通过;(俚)告密 | |
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13 sob | |
n.空间轨道的轰炸机;呜咽,哭泣 | |
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14 monstrous | |
adj.巨大的;恐怖的;可耻的,丢脸的 | |
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15 aviators | |
飞机驾驶员,飞行员( aviator的名词复数 ) | |
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16 mechanism | |
n.机械装置;机构,结构 | |
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