英语听力精选进阶版 7101

Background: 埃及一热气球再次坠落。据报道这是近年第三起由于热气球坠落导致游客受伤的事故。

Hot air ballooning at sunrise over the ancient temples of Karnak and Luxor is a magical experience. But for a good number of tourists this year the descent¹ has been less than perfect.

In this latest accident the balloon is said to have struck a mobile phone mast² on the west bank of the Nile near the village of Gourna.

Among 13 people injured, were eight French tourists, two Britons, a Canadian, a Dane and a South Korean.

Despite an earlier statement from the Governor of Luxor, that all had been released from hospital with minor³ scrapes and bruises⁴, it appears that five of them are in fact being transferred to Cairo for further treatment.

There are reports that one of the French tourists has a broken back and a British woman travelling with them is said to have a suspected broken leg.

This is the third such incident in as many months. A fortnight ago several tourists were injured in a similar crash. And in late February, three hot air balloons carrying sixty tourists crashed on the same day in separate locations, injuring seven passengers. Mostly broken bones.

The problem appears to be the number of balloon companies that are working in the area - all of them competing on price.

So far there have been no deaths but in the past the government has been forced to ground the balloons while it investigates safety.

GLOSSARY⁵ 词汇表

ancient temples 古老的寺庙

magical 神奇的

tourists 游客

descent 降落

accident 事故

struck 撞上

mast （通信）塔

bank 河岸

released 出院

incident 事故

crash 坠落

passengers 乘客

ground 停飞

Questions and Answers

1. Whereabouts in Egypt did the hot air balloon crash?

It crashed over the ancient temples of Karnak and Luxor.

2. What nationalities were the injured tourists?

The injured tourists were French, British, Canadian, Danish and South Korean.

3. How many people died?

Nobody died although there were some minor injuries.

4. How many other hot air balloon accidents have there been recently?.

There have been two other hot air balloon incidents in the last few months.

1 descent   

n.下降，下倾，斜坡，坡道，血统，世系

参考例句：

• We watched anxiously during her descent from the tree.我们焦急地看着她从树上爬下来。
• Many Americans are of English descent.许多美国人的祖籍是英国。

2 mast   

n.船桅，桅杆，旗杆，天线杆

参考例句：

• Flags are flying at half-mast across China.全中国将半旗。
• The sails were flapping against the mast.帆拍打着桅杆。

3 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

4 bruises   

n.瘀伤，伤痕，擦伤( bruise的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was covered with bruises after falling off his bicycle. 他从自行车上摔了下来，摔得浑身伤痕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The pear had bruises of dark spots. 这个梨子有碰伤的黑斑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 glossary   

n.注释词表；术语汇编

参考例句：

• The text is supplemented by an adequate glossary.正文附有一个详细的词汇表。
• For convenience,we have also provided a glossary in an appendix.为了方便，我们在附录中也提供了术语表。