第20课

旁白 neutral

In 1908 Lord Northcliffe offered a prize of £1,000 to the first man who would fly across the English Channel.

1908年，诺思克利夫勋爵悬赏1000英镑，奖给第一位飞越英吉利海峡的人。

旁白 neutral

Over a year passed before the first attempt was made.

一年多过去了，才有人首次尝试。

旁白 neutral

On July 19th, 1909, in the early morning,

1909年7月19日清晨，

旁白 neutral

Hubert Latham took off from the French coast in his plane the 'Antoinette IV.'

休伯特·拉瑟姆驾驶他的“安托瓦内特四号”飞机从法国海岸起飞。

旁白 neutral

He had travelled only seven miles across the Channel when his engine failed and he was forced to land on the sea.

他飞越海峡仅七英里，发动机就失灵了，被迫降落在海面上。

旁白 neutral

The 'Antoinette' floated on the water until Latham was picked up by a ship.

“安托瓦内特”号浮在水面，直到拉瑟姆被一艘船救起。

旁白 neutral

Two days later, Louis Bleriot arrived near Calais with a plane called 'No.XI'.

两天后，路易·布莱里奥带着一架名叫“十一号”的飞机抵达加来附近。

旁白 neutral

Bleriot had been making planes since 1905 and this was his latest model.

布莱里奥自1905年起就在制造飞机，这是他的最新型号。

旁白 neutral

A week before, he had completed a successful overland flight during which he covered twenty-six miles.

一周前，他成功完成了一次陆上飞行，飞行距离达二十六英里。

旁白 neutral

Latham, however, did not give up easily.

然而，拉瑟姆并没有轻易放弃。

旁白 neutral

He, too, arrived near Calais on the same day with a new 'Antoinette'.

他也在同一天带着一架新的“安托瓦内特”号抵达加来附近。

旁白 neutral

It looked as if there would be an exciting race across the Channel.

看来将有一场激动人心的跨海峡比赛。

旁白 neutral

Both planes were going to take off on July 25th, but Latham failed to get up early enough.

两架飞机都准备在7月25日起飞，但拉瑟姆未能足够早地起床。

旁白 neutral

After making a short test flight at 4.15 a.m., Bleriot set off half an hour later.

在凌晨4点15分进行了一次短程试飞后，布莱里奥在半小时后出发了。

旁白 neutral

His great flight lasted thirty-seven minutes.

他这次伟大的飞行持续了三十七分钟。

旁白 neutral

When he landed near Dover, the first person to greet him was a local policeman.

当他在多佛附近着陆时，第一个迎接他的是一位当地警察。

旁白 neutral

Latham made another attempt a week later and got within half a mile of Dover,

一周后，拉瑟姆又进行了一次尝试，到达了离多佛半英里以内的地方，

旁白 neutral

but he was unlucky again.

但他再次不幸。

旁白 neutral

His engine failed and he landed on the sea for the second time.

他的发动机失灵了，他第二次降落在海面上。