英语听力—环球英语 1248 Brave or Insane?

 　　Voice 1

 

　　Welcome to Spotlight¹. I’m Liz Waid.

 

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　　And I’m Adam Navis. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand - no matter where in the world they live.

 

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　　A woman is standing² at the top of a cliff³ in Switzerland. She looks down at the valley. It is several thousand feet below her. The wind is strong. It pushes against her body with force. Suddenly, she runs toward⁴ the cliff and jumps off. She falls through air for a few seconds. The sharp rocks on the cliff are only a few meters away. She gets closer and closer to the ground.

 

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　　Then, she opens her parachute. The huge cloth spreads out above her. She holds onto it with thin ropes. The parachute slows her fall. She lands softly⁵ on the ground at the bottom of the cliff. She feels excited and strong.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　This woman is a BASE jumper. Today’s Spotlight is on this extreme sport.

 

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　　Thousands of people take part in BASE jumping each year. There are BASE jumpers from every country in the world. Jumpers often travel to different countries to jump from many kinds of objects.

 

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　　Each letter of the word BASE represents an object that these athletes jump from.

 

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　　B is for buildings. Many BASE jumps are from very tall buildings like the Eiffel Tower in Paris or the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur.

 

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　　A is for antennas⁶. These tall structures send radio, television and mobile⁷ telephone signals. BASE jumpers also jump from antennas on tall buildings, like the CN Tower in Toronto.

 

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　　S is for spans⁸. This usually means bridges. There are many popular BASE jumping bridges in places like Utah and Norway.

 

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　　E is for earth. BASE jumpers also jump from natural formations⁹, like high cliffs¹⁰ and mountains. Or they jump into deep valleys and caves under the ground.

 

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　　Each BASE jumper tries to get a BASE number. To get this number, a jumper needs to safely jump from each of these four objects. After they do, the original creators of the sport give them a BASE number. Each new jumper gets a number. This number is a symbol of success in the sport. Jumpers are proud if they have a lower BASE number than someone else. Jumpers can also get a BASE night number. To do this, a jumper must jump from all four of these objects at night.

 

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　　People began jumping off tall objects as early as 1912. Many people wanted to test the parachutes they had made. Some jumps were successful. But some were not. Many people died while jumping.

 

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　　However, the birth of BASE jumping as a real sport was in nineteen seventy eight. A man named Carl Boenish [BAIN-ish] began filming people jumping off a famous cliff called El Capitan. This is now one of the most popular places to BASE jump in the world. Boenish shared these films. The films made the jumps look exciting. More people wanted to try jumping like this. The sport began to grow.

 

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　　Many of these first BASE jumpers were professional skydivers. They had jumped from an airplane with a parachute many times before. Some had jumped hundreds of times. But jumping from an object on earth was much different.

 

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　　There are many dangers in BASE jumping that are not a part of skydiving. The ground is much closer. This means that the time a BASE jumper is in the air is shorter. There is less time to fix any problems that may happen. If something goes wrong with a parachute, there is no time to open a second one.

 

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　　It is also difficult to know wind direction close to the ground. Strong winds move quickly around buildings, bridges, cliffs, and other large objects. These bursts of wind can throw the jumper against a rock or building. The wind can also turn the jumper around backwards¹¹ or upside down. This makes it difficult to safely open a parachute.

 

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　　A BASE jumper only has a few seconds to fall before he opens his parachute. This means that he only has one chance. The jumper needs to choose the safest second to open it.

 

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　　There is also a new type of BASE jumping called wingsuit jumping. These BASE jumpers wear a special suit with webbing between their arms and legs. This cloth webbing stretches from their arms to their body and between their legs. This gives the jumper a kind of wings.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　When a wingsuit diver jumps from an object, the cloth wings slow his fall. He is able to glide¹² through the air more slowly than a regular BASE jumper. He is also able to control the direction he floats through the air. In this way, he moves through the air like a bird. When it is time, he opens his parachute and lands safely on the ground.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　But sometimes BASE jumpers do not land safely. The sport is a very dangerous one. On average, one out of every sixty BASE jumpers dies while BASE jumping. In fact, in 1984, the man who made BASE jumping famous, Carl Boenish, died in a jump.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　But this is not the only danger. BASE jumpers often break the law to jump. Jumpers like to jump from tall buildings and structures. However, for safety reasons, the owners usually do not want people to jump from their buildings. So jumpers will jump without permission. They may even be arrested!

 

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　　However, sometimes buildings do permit BASE jumpers to use their property. Often it is to gain the attention of television and newspapers.

 

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　　This was the case in January of 2010. Two men, Nasser Al Niyadi and Omar Al Hegelan jumped from the Burj Khalifa. This building is in Dubai. It is the tallest building in the world! Two years earlier, two other men had been arrested for jumping from the same building. Those men were arrested, but this jump was different. This time, Niyadi and Hegelan were going to set a new world record.

 

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　　Niyadi and Hegelan had permission from the owner of the building. Niyadi has completed 2700 BASE jumps. Hegelan is also very experienced¹³. Together, they wanted to set a record for the world’s tallest BASE jump. The Burj Khalifa is 672 meters tall.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　Niyadi will never forget the intense¹⁴ experience of jumping from that building. He told the Sunday Times newspaper about his jump. He said:

 

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　　“It was “the best experience ever... When we were at the top of the building, I was thinking ‘This is insane¹⁵!’”

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Do you think Niyadi was insane? Would you ever BASE jump? Are you insane and brave enough to try it? If you are, there are thousands of people who will be happy to jump with you!

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　The writer of this program was Johanna Poole. The producer was Michio Ozaki. All quotes were adapted and voiced by Spotlight. You can find our programs on the Internet at http://www.radioenglish.net This .program is called ‘Brave or Insane?’ We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye.

1 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

2 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

3 cliff   

n.悬崖，峭壁

参考例句：

• The cliff edge is dangerous and should be railed.崖边危险，应该用栏杆围起来。
• He took the measure of the cliff before he climbed it.他把悬崖的高度估量一下后再攀登。

4 toward   

prep.对于，关于，接近，将近，向，朝

参考例句：

• Suddenly I saw a tall figure approaching toward the policeman.突然间我看到一个高大的身影朝警察靠近。
• Upon seeing her,I smiled and ran toward her. 看到她我笑了，并跑了过去。

5 softly   

adv.柔和地，静静地，温柔地

参考例句：

• He speaks too softly for her to hear.他讲话声音太轻，她听不见。
• She breathed her advice softly.她低声劝告。

6 antennas   

[生] 触角，触须（antenna的复数形式）

参考例句：

• Marconi tied several antennas to kites. 马可尼在风筝上系了几根天线。 来自超越目标英语 第3册
• Radio astronomy today is armed with the largest antennas in the world. 射电天文学拥有世界上最大的天线。

7 mobile   

adj.可移动的，易变的，机动的；n.运动物体

参考例句：

• The old lady sits on a mobile chair every morning.那位老妇人每天上午坐在一把可携带使用的椅子上。
• She's much more mobile now that she's bought a car.自从她买了汽车后，活动量就大多了。

8 spans   

跨度( span的名词复数 )； 持续时间； 一段时间； （五指张开时的）指距

参考例句：

• A steel railway bridge spans the Yalu River. 鸭绿江上有一座钢铁大桥。
• The wire door was a couple of hand-spans from his face. 铁笼门距他的脸只有一两个巴掌远。 来自英汉文学

9 formations   

n.形成( formation的名词复数 )；构成；形成物；编队

参考例句：

• Clouds are formations of condensed water vapour. 云是由凝聚的水蒸气构成的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• New word formations have not regularity. 新词的构成没有规律。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 cliffs   

n.悬崖，峭壁（cliff的复数形式）

参考例句：

• the chalk cliffs of southern England 英格兰南部的白垩质峭壁
• Local folklore has it that prehistoric men drove cattle over these cliffs. 当地民间传说中称，史前人类把野牛从这些悬崖上驱赶下去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

12 glide   

n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝

参考例句：

• We stood in silence watching the snake glide effortlessly.我们噤若寒蝉地站着，眼看那条蛇逍遥自在地游来游去。
• So graceful was the ballerina that she just seemed to glide.那芭蕾舞女演员翩跹起舞，宛如滑翔。

13 experienced   

adj.有经验的；经验丰富的，熟练的

参考例句：

• Experienced seamen will advise you about sailing in this weather.有经验的海员会告诉你在这种天气下的航行情况。
• Perhaps you and I had better change over;you are more experienced.也许我们的工作还是对换一下好，你比我更有经验。

14 intense   

adj.认真的，专注的；强烈的；紧张的；热情的

参考例句：

• Susan was an intense young lady.苏珊是一个热情的年轻姑娘。
• The quarrel caused her intense unhappiness.争吵令她极其不快。

15 insane   

adj.蠢极的，荒唐的，精神错乱的，疯狂的

参考例句：

• Insane people are sometimes dangerous.精神病人有时非常危险。
• The letter made her insane with jealousy.那封信使她妒忌得发疯。