영어속독--Sailplanes and Gliders(1)

영어속독--Sailplanes and Gliders(1)

 

The English Channel was crossed by a two -seater sailplane for the first time yesterday.

 

The sailplane left Lasham, Hampshire, the headquarters of Surrey Gliding Club, at 10:55 a.m., and by 1 p.m. the two men who were flying it had reached Dover. Here they found a strong upward current which took them to 8,100 ft, high enough for a safe Channel crossing. They crossed in 20 minutes, and reached the French coast at 4,000 ft. Here they found more up-currents, which made it possible for them to continue their flight.

 

There have been three flights across the Channel in single-seater sailplanes.

 

The newspaper item above is one of many items about the now popular sport of gliding. only very rich people can afford to own and fly airplanes. Not many people can afford to buy a sailplane. But it costs comparatively little to join a gliding club and enjoy the excitement of flying silently and without effort in a motorless aircraft.

 

When these motorless aircraft were first made, they were called gliders. Today the kinds used by gliding clubs for sport are usually known as sailplanes. The word glider is now used for those motorless aircraft that are towed behind powered aircraft, to be released when their destination is reached. During the Second World War gliders were used by both sides for carrying troops and supplies.(245 words)

 

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1. comparatively little: not much compared with (the cost of buying an airplane or a sailplane).

2. tow: pull (a ship, motor-car, glider) along by a rope, etc.

3. powered: having an engine or engines to provide power.

4. released: unfastened.

5. troops: (in plural) soldiers.