新视野大学英语读写教程听力 第三册 te-unit10-b

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[00:02.92]1  I climbed into the back-seat of the world's hottest jet fighter,
[00:08.86]the F-16. Clouds hung over our air base,
[00:14.44]but I knew that soon I would be above the clouds, where the sun was shining.
[00:20.09]2  A mechanic strapped me into my harness.
[00:24.88]and plugged in the system that would allow me to breathe
[00:28.51]and talk at 35,000 feet.
[00:32.22]"When you start pulling G's," he reminded me,
[00:37.26]referring to gravity forces,
[00:39.53]"your G-suit will fill with air automatically."
[00:43.63]I certainly hoped so.
[00:47.16]If my suit failed on a high-G mission like this,
[00:52.45]I coud be killed.
[00:54.72]3  "In an emergency," he said,
[00:58.68]"just pull the handle between your legs.
[01:01.81]A rocket under the seat will pop you out of the aircraft,seat and all.
[01:07.61]Your parachute will open automatically."
[01:12.00]The mechanic couldn't resist a parting joke:
[01:17.29]"If you have to use the survival equipment and it doesn't work,
[01:23.16]bring it back; we'll replace it."
[01:26.51]4  As I struggled to get comfortable, my pilot,
[01:31.66]Major patrick Hamilton,
[01:33.31]came aboard and started programming the jet's computers.
[01:32.31]Then, through the microphone, he spoke into my ear:
[01:37.35]"If you're ready, let's get going." Our engine roared to life,
[01:45.45]the powerful jet turbines making enough noise to waken the dead.
[01:50.49]We were going up for a practice battle.
[01:54.96]5  I expected the ride of my life, and with good reason.
[02:00.93]The F-16 is a $20 million piece of hardware
[02:06.91]that has enough horsepower to fly at twice the speed of sound.
[02:12.60]In tight turns and recovering from dives,
[02:17.35]it can pull nine G's, or nine times the force of gravity,
[02:23.72]causing a 200-pound man to weigh nearly a ton.
[02:29.34]6  The jet roared down the cement surface.
[02:34.23]slamming me against the seat. In seconds,
[02:37.08]we reached 145 miles per hour.
[02:42.51]The plane blasted into the air like a bullet shot out of a rifle,
[02:48.60]and soon we were at 2,000 feet and climbing.
[02:53.24]7  The F-16 can fly straight up. It can spin, dive, turn,
[03:01.63]climb, roll, and make loops with the grace of an eagle.
[03:06.63]Yet, loaded with practice bombs and 8,000 pounds of fuel,
[03:14.19]the mostly aluminum aircraft weighs some 15 tons.
[03:20.49]Controlling this precision machine and its many weapons is like playing
[03:26.86]a million-dollar video game that has dozens of buttons.
[03:32.05]8  "The controls are so sensitive." Major Hamilton says,
[03:37.23]"they're almost an extension of the pilot's body."
[03:40.69]9  In fewer than five minutes,
[03:44.65]we'd reached an altitude of 35,000 feet.
[03:48.61]At near the speed of sound,
[03:51.63]we were flying ahead of our engine's roar.
[03:55.52]We felt little sense of speed or motion.
[03:59.98]Even the boom that happens when the jetd breaks the sound barrier went unnoticed.
[04:07.47]10  The ride was exciting yet peaceful, and the view beautiful:
[04:14.28]an ocean of blue above, a blanket of pure white below.
[04:20.43]Inside our clear chamber, we were warm and comfortable,
[04:25.72]but outside was a whole different world.
[04:28.96]The atmosphere was 30 degrees below zero centigrade and too thin to breathe.
[04:37.24]Trailing behind us were white stripes
[04:41.49]created by heat from our exhaust hitting sub-zero air.
[04:46.17]11  Our target area was 250 miles to the north.
[04:51.36]For a few minutes, we would be flying straight,
[04:56.11]so Major Hamilton turned the controls over to me.
[04:60.00]"But don't try anything fancy," he warned. My goodness!
[05:07.70]I thought of all the pilots who'd give a month's pay to take my place.
[05:13.21]I turned the plane to the right,
[05:16.95]but I did it too hard and we went into a steep turn.
[05:21.81]I corrected with a squeeze to the left.
[05:26.96]That's about as fancy as I got.