British Vision Issue 29 空客A380英伦首航

Despite its enormous size the Airbus A380 still manages to look graceful¹. The double-decker plane which can carry more than 550 passengers dwarfs² all other commercial aircraft. Later today a prototype will land for the first time in the UK. En route it will fly over airbus factories. Wings are produced here in North Wales and travel by land, river and sea for assembly in France.

It will be very interesting to see the flyover³. And I think the whole world of course is looking forward to it, to be honest. And we've seen the wing go down the river. It will be nice to see it coming back on the fuselage.

Until now the Boeing 747 Jumbo was the world's biggest passenger plane, but no longer. The A380 is as high as an 8-storey building, take-off thrust from the plane's four engines is the equivalent of 2,500 family cars, and without seats, the A380 can contain 10 squash courts. But the European aircraft will soon have an American rival, Boeing's 787 Dream liner. It's smaller, can fly further, and isn't restricted to large airports.

It's a new generation of aircraft that represents extraordinary technological⁴ breakthrough, reduced fuel emissions⁵ by about 20%, er, much better conditions inside the aircraft and offering both the airlines and the passengers much greater flexibility⁶ in their long-haul journeys.

The bigger A380 may offer shops, a casino or even a gym. But when it comes to holidaymakers or business people, it's good-value seats which will win the airline battle.

People like to fly in a new aircraft. They maybe like to fly when it's very large 'cause it is going to have a novelty factor. At the end of the day, people just wanna get to where they wanna get to and airlines wanna carry them at a price which they make money.

Critics of the new aircraft including environmentalist.

It might be more fuel efficient per passenger than other jets, but the benefits we'll get from the Airbus are a drop in the ocean compared to the huge climate emissions from aviation. Aviation is the fastest growing source of climate-change/ gases both in Britain and worldwide and the Airbus 380 is not going to solve that problem.

Singapore Airlines will get the first A380 by the end of the year. It may be over budget and behind schedule but fasten your seatbelts because the new king of the skies is on its way.

1 graceful   

adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的

参考例句：

• His movements on the parallel bars were very graceful.他的双杠动作可帅了!
• The ballet dancer is so graceful.芭蕾舞演员的姿态是如此的优美。

2 dwarfs   

n.侏儒，矮子（dwarf的复数形式）vt.（使）显得矮小（dwarf的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Shakespeare dwarfs other dramatists. 莎士比亚使其他剧作家相形见绌。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The new building dwarfs all the other buildings in the town. 新大楼使城里所有其他建筑物都显得矮小了。 来自辞典例句

3 flyover   

n.立交桥，天桥

参考例句：

• It took workers more than one year to build this flyover.建造这座立交桥破费工人一年多时间。
• All that came to his bakery should go over a flyover first.所有来他店的人都必须先经过一座立交桥。

4 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

5 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

6 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。