托福听力短文 I-05-2

(man) I want to welcome each and every balloon enthusiast¹ to Philadelphia. Thank you for coming here this morning to commemorate² the first balloon voyage in the United States. On January 9, 1793, at ten o'clock in the morning, a silk balloon lifted into the skies above this city, which was, at the time, the capital of the country.

According to the original records of the flight, the voyage lasted forty-six minutes, from its departure in Philadelphia to its landing across the Delaware River in New Jersey³. Though our pilots today will try to approximate the original landing site, they're at the mercy of the winds, so who knows where they'll drift off to. Even the balloonist in 1793 experienced some uncertain weather that day. There were clouds, fog, and mist in various directions.

Our reenactment promises to be noting less than spectacular. The yellow balloon directly behind me is five stories high. It's inflated⁴ with helium, unlike the original, which was filled with hydrogen and, unbeknownst to the pilot, potentially explosive. Gas-filled models are pretty uncommon⁵ now because of the extremely high cost, so the eighty other balloons in today's launch are hot air, heated by propane burners. These balloons are from all over the country.

1 enthusiast   

n.热心人，热衷者

参考例句：

• He is an enthusiast about politics.他是个热衷于政治的人。
• He was an enthusiast and loved to evoke enthusiasm in others.他是一个激情昂扬的人，也热中于唤起他人心中的激情。

2 commemorate   

vt.纪念，庆祝

参考例句：

• This building was built to commemorate the Fire of London.这栋大楼是为纪念“伦敦大火”而兴建的。
• We commemorate the founding of our nation with a public holiday.我们放假一日以庆祝国庆。

3 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

4 inflated   

adj.（价格）飞涨的；（通货）膨胀的；言过其实的；充了气的v.使充气（于轮胎、气球等）( inflate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）膨胀；（使）通货膨胀；物价上涨

参考例句：

• He has an inflated sense of his own importance. 他自视过高。
• They all seem to take an inflated view of their collective identity. 他们对自己的集体身份似乎都持有一种夸大的看法。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 uncommon   

adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的

参考例句：

• Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
• Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。