VOA新闻杂志2015 莱特兄弟：第一架飞机

（单词翻译）

莱特兄弟：第一架飞机

Wilbur and Orville Wright: The First Airplane

Wilbur and Orville Wright are the American inventors who made a small engine-powered flying machine.

威尔伯·莱特以及奥维尔·莱特是美国发明家，他们制造了一种由小型发动机驱动的飞行器。

They proved that flight without the aid of gas-filled balloons was possible.

他们证明了不借助充气气球进行飞行是可能的。

Wilbur Wright was born in 1867 near Melville, Indiana.

威尔伯·莱特于1867年出生在印第安纳州梅尔维尔附近。

His brother Orville was born four years later in Dayton, Ohio.

四年后，他的弟弟奥维尔在俄亥俄州的代顿出生。

As they grew up, the Wright brothers experimented with mechanical¹ things.

长大后，莱特兄弟开始用机械设备做试验。

Later, the Wright brothers began to design their own flying machine.

后来，莱特兄弟开始设计自己的飞行器。

They used ideas they had developed from earlier experiments with a toy helicopter², kites, the printing machine and bicycles.

他们利用自己从早些时候关于玩具直升机、风筝、印刷机和自行车的试验中产生的想法。

Soon, they needed a place to test their ideas about flight.

很快，他们需要一个地方来测试自己关于飞行的想法。

The best place with the best wind conditions seemed to be a piece of sandy land in North Carolina along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean.

风力条件最好的最佳之地似乎是北卡罗来纳州大西洋沿岸的一片沙地。

It was called Kill Devil³ Hill, near the town of Kitty Hawk⁴.

那片沙地被称为“杀魔丘”，靠近基蒂霍克镇。

The Wright brothers did many tests with gliders⁵ at Kitty Hawk.

莱特兄弟在基蒂霍克用滑翔机进行了多次试验。

With these tests, they learned⁶ how to solve many problems.

通过这些试验，他们得知如何解决许多问题。

By the autumn of 1903, Wilbur and Orville had designed and built an airplane powered by a gasoline⁷ engine.

到1903年秋天，威尔伯和奥维尔设计并制造了一架由汽油发动机驱动的飞机。

The plane had wings 12 meters across.

这架飞机的翼展为12米。

It weighed about 340 kilograms⁸, including the pilot.

包括飞行员在内，它重约340公斤。

On December 17th, 1903, they made the world's first flight in a machine that was heavier than air and powered by an engine.

1903年12月17日，他们驾驶一架比空气重、由发动机驱动的机器进行了世界上首次飞行。

Orville flew the plane 36 meters.

奥维尔驾驶该飞机飞行了36米。

He was in the air for 12 seconds.

他在空中停留了12秒。

The two brothers made three more flights that day.

两兄弟当天又驾驶飞行了三次。

Four other men watched the Wright brothers' first flights.

另外四个人观看了莱特兄弟的首次飞行。

One of the men took pictures.

其中一名男子拍下了照片。

Few newspapers, however, noted⁹ the event.

然而，几乎没有报纸提及这一事件。

It was almost five years before the Wright brothers became famous.

差不多过了5年，莱特兄弟才出名。

In 1908, Wilbur went to France.

1908年，威尔伯前往法国。

He gave demonstration¹⁰ flights at heights of 90 meters.

他在90米高空进行了演示飞行。

A French company agreed to begin making the Wright brothers' flying machine.

一家法国公司同意开始制造莱特兄弟的飞行器。

Orville made successful flights in the United¹¹ States at the time Wilbur was in France.

当威尔伯在法国时，奥维尔在美国成功进行了驾驶飞行。

The United States War Department agreed to buy a Wright brothers' plane.

美国陆军部同意购买莱特兄弟的一架飞机。

Wilbur and Orville suddenly became world heroes.

威尔伯和奥维尔突然成了世界英雄。

But the brothers were not seeking fame.

但他们兄弟俩并不追求名声。

They returned to Dayton where they continued to improve their airplanes.

他们回到代顿，在那里继续改进他们的飞机。

They taught many others how to fly.

他们教会其他许多人如何驾驶飞机。

Wilbur Wright died of typhoid fever in 1912.

威尔伯·赖特于1912年死于伤寒。

Orville Wright continued designing and inventing until he died many years later, in 1948.

奥维尔·赖特继续设计和发明，直到多年后在1948年去世。

Today, the Wright brothers' first airplane is in the Air and Space Museum in Washington¹², D.C.

如今，莱特兄弟的第一架飞机陈列在华盛顿特区的航空航天博物馆。

Visitors to the museum can look at the Wright brothers' small plane.

参观该博物馆的游客可以看到莱特兄弟的那架小飞机。

Then they can walk to another area and see space vehicles¹³ and a rock collected from the moon.

然后他们可以走到另一区域，看到太空飞行器和从月球收集的岩石。

The world has changed a lot since Wilbur and Orville Wright began the modern age of flight over one hundred years ago.

自从一百多年前威尔伯·莱特和奥维尔·莱特开启现代飞行时代以来，世界发生了很大变化。

I'm John Russell.

约翰·拉塞尔为您播报。