英语听力：探索发现 科学新发现：我们的大气层-4

 Kittinger is in the mid¹ stratosphere, a record 102,800 feet high. And it is now the time to make the long, swift journey down. 

 

When it came time for me to jump, I was ready to jump because I was heading back toward a more friendly environment, a friendly planet that we’re used to. I had made this jump a thousand times in my mind. I’d gone through every step a thousand times. Just before I jumped, I said a silent prayer. I reached over to hit a button that started the cameras going. And then I just did a little hop² off the step of the gondola³. You can’t tell that you’re going fast. You can’t tell anything and I looked up at the balloon and the balloon was firing into space. And I said, “Gosh, that’s amazing.” And then I realized it was me that was going down at a fantastic rate and the balloon was standing⁴ still. 

 

He falls for 16 miles. The thin air offers almost no resistance. He reaches 614 miles an hour, approaching the speed of sound. After a record-breaking 4 minutes and 36 seconds of free fall, Kittinger opens the main parachute. He drifts down to the desert floor and lands. 

 

We were just elated because we had accomplished⁵ what we’d set out to do. There were a lot of people that said we couldn’t do it. And we proved that we could do it…

 

1 mid   

adj.中央的，中间的

参考例句：

• Our mid-term exam is pending.我们就要期中考试了。
• He switched over to teaching in mid-career.他在而立之年转入教学工作。

2 hop   

n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过

参考例句：

• The children had a competition to see who could hop the fastest.孩子们举行比赛，看谁单足跳跃最快。
• How long can you hop on your right foot?你用右脚能跳多远？

3 gondola   

n.威尼斯的平底轻舟；飞船的吊船

参考例句：

• The road is too narrow to allow the passage of gondola.这条街太窄大型货车不能通过。
• I have a gondola here.我开来了一条平底船。

4 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

5 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。