屡败屡战痴心不改，美国冒险家福塞特开始第6次乘热气球环球之旅_名人传记

屡败屡战痴心不改，美国冒险家福塞特开始第6次乘热气球环球之旅

文章来源：文章作者：发布时间：2007-04-11 09:12 字体： [大中小]　进入论坛

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Adventurer Fossett launches solo balloon trip (2001/08/08)

US adventurer Steve Fossett on Sunday launched his balloon from the Western Australian desert in another attempt to become the first to fly a balloon solo around the world.

US millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett's balloon is inflated² by his ground-crew under a full moon in the township of Northam, located 100 kilometres east of Perth in Western Australia, August 5, 2001. Fossett is near lifting off for his sixth attempt to complete the first solo circumnavigation of the Earth. [Reuters]

The giant high-altitude balloon, bathed in the desert's golden morning light, drifted slowly into the sky above Northam, a small mining town 100 km (62 miles) east of Perth, just after 7.00 a.m. (2300 GMT).

Fossett had delayed inflating³ the aircraft for six and a half hours due to unfavourable winds, but with time running out before the arrival of the morning's hot thermals⁴, he gave the order to fill the balloon with helium for a dawn launch.

Fossett waved to around 100 townsfolk as he entered the capsule for an eastward⁵ circumnavigation that he expects will take 15 days.

"I am a bit nervous about the first night," Fossett said before take-off.

"On the first night I will find out if everything works, if there are any leaks in the balloon, if there are any failures in communications and if the all-important heating works," he said.

The millionaire former stockbroker⁶ has made a series of failed attempts to fly solo in a balloon around the world.

The last attempt to inflate¹ the giant balloon for a launch on June 17 from the Australian gold mining town of Kalgoorlie ended in disaster when a freak wind tore it apart.

Fossett's fourth solo bid ended in near disaster in 1998, when a thunderstorm off Australia's northeastern coast shredded⁷ his canopy⁸ and sent him plummeting⁹ 29,000 feet (9,000 metres) into the Coral Sea. He was unhurt.

This year Fossett, 57, decided¹⁰ to launch in western Australia, some 600 km (400 miles) from the Indian Ocean, to have a better chance of avoiding thunderstorms in the South Pacific and gain time to detect problems while still over land.

美国探险家史蒂夫-福塞8月5日在澳大利亚西部的沙漠中启动了他的热气球，开始了他若干次只身驾驶热气球环游世界失败后的又一次尝试。

早晨7点，沐浴在清晨沙漠金色的阳光下，福塞的这只巨大的高空热气球缓缓升入诺瑟姆镇上空。诺瑟姆是一个位于珀斯东部约100公里的产煤的小镇。

由于当天风向并不如人意，福塞将点火的时间推迟了6个半小时。不过他还是在早晨7点钟下令给气球充上氦气，赶在上午的沙漠热浪到来之前启程了。

福塞在进入热气球舱时，向周围近百名的小镇居民挥手致意，踏上了向东环游世界的征程。这次旅行预计将花费15天的时间。

在气球起飞之前，福塞说："想到今天晚上，我还是有一点紧张的。因为今天晚上是我升空的第一个夜晚，我将检查一切设备是否工作正常，气球上是否有漏洞，通讯是否正常，以及最最重要的制热系统是否正常。"

这位百万富翁曾是一位股票经纪人，他多次尝试只身乘热气球环球旅行，但都以失败而告终。

福塞上一次尝试是今年6月17日在澳大利亚一个盛产金子的城镇--卡尔吉利进行的。但是当时的一阵怪风将气球撕裂，他的这次尝试成了一次事故。

福塞的第四次尝试是在1998年，当时来自澳大利亚东北海岸的一场风暴撕裂了气球的罩蓬，结果他从29000英尺（9000米）的高空垂直掉进了太平洋的珊瑚海，万幸的是他并没有受伤，这次失败的尝试差点成了一次灾难。

现年57岁的福塞这次决定在距印度洋约600公里的澳大利亚西部点火，是为了尽量避免遇上来自南太平洋的暴风雨，也使得热气球还在陆地上空飞行时，他可以有时间对热气球进行检修

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收听单词发音

1 inflate
vt.使膨胀，使骄傲，抬高（物价）
参考例句：
The buyers bid against each other and often inflate the prices they pay.买主们竞相投标，往往人为地提高价钱。 Stuart jumped into the sea and inflated the liferaft.斯图尔特跳到海里给救生艇充气。

2 inflated
adj.（价格）飞涨的；（通货）膨胀的；言过其实的；充了气的v.使充气（于轮胎、气球等）( inflate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）膨胀；（使）通货膨胀；物价上涨
参考例句：
He has an inflated sense of his own importance. 他自视过高。 They all seem to take an inflated view of their collective identity. 他们对自己的集体身份似乎都持有一种夸大的看法。来自《简明英汉词典》

3 inflating
v.使充气（于轮胎、气球等）( inflate的现在分词 )；（使）膨胀；（使）通货膨胀；物价上涨
参考例句：
I felt myself inflating slowly with rage, like a tyre. 我感到自己体内的怒气正慢慢膨胀，像一只轮胎那样。来自互联网 Many are already overheating, with prices rising and asset bubbles inflating. 随着物价日益上涨、资产泡沫膨胀，很多新兴国家经济已经过热。来自互联网

4 thermals
热裂法炭黑；上升的热气流，温暖内衣裤( thermal的名词复数 )
参考例句：
Are the thermals picking up any signs of life? 热量探测器有没有检测到生命迹象？ Thermals are rising air currents caused by heat. 上升暖气流是由于受热而上升的气流。

5 eastward
adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部
参考例句：
The river here tends eastward.这条河从这里向东流。 The crowd is heading eastward,believing that they can find gold there.人群正在向东移去，他们认为在那里可以找到黄金。

6 stockbroker
n.股票（或证券），经纪人（或机构）
参考例句：
The main business of stockbroker is to help clients buy and sell shares.股票经纪人的主要业务是帮客户买卖股票。 My stockbroker manages my portfolio for me.我的证券经纪人替我管理投资组合。

7 shredded
shred的过去式和过去分词
参考例句：
Serve the fish on a bed of shredded lettuce. 先铺一层碎生菜叶，再把鱼放上，就可以上桌了。 I think Mapo beancurd and shredded meat in chilli sauce are quite special. 我觉得麻婆豆腐和鱼香肉丝味道不错。来自《简明英汉词典》

8 canopy
n.天篷，遮篷
参考例句：
The trees formed a leafy canopy above their heads.树木在他们头顶上空形成了一个枝叶茂盛的遮篷。 They lay down under a canopy of stars.他们躺在繁星点点的天幕下。

9 plummeting
v.垂直落下，骤然跌落( plummet的现在分词 )
参考例句：
Prices are rising, falling, going up, going down, shooting up, plummeting, etc. 物价在上涨、下跌、上升、下落、猛然上涨、骤然下跌等。来自辞典例句 The enemy plane went plummeting into the sea. 敌机直直掉进海里。来自辞典例句

10 decided
adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的
参考例句：
This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。 There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

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