新視野大學(xué)英語(yǔ)讀寫(xiě)教程第三冊(cè)u(píng)nit10-b The Ride of My Life

Section(B)

The Ride of My Life

I climbed into the back-seat of the world's hottest jet fighter, the F-16. Clouds hung over our air base, but I knew that soon I would be above the clouds, where the sun was shining.

A mechanic strapped me into my harness, and plugged in the system that would allow me to breathe and talk at 35,000 feet. "When you start pulling G's," he reminded me, referring to gravity forces, "your G-suit will fill with air automatically." I certainly hoped so. If my suit failed on a high-G mission like this, I could be killed.

"In an emergency," he said, "just pull the handle between your legs. A rocket under the seat will pop you out of the aircraft, seat and all. Your parachute will open automatically." The mechanic couldn't resist a parting joke: "If you have to use the survival equipment and it doesn't work, bring it back; we'll replace it."

As I struggled to get comfortable, my pilot, Major Patrick Hamilton, came aboard and started programming the jet's computers. Then, through the microphone, he spoke into my ear: "If you're ready, let's get going." Our engine roared to life, the powerful jet turbines making enough noise to waken the dead. We were going up for a practice battle.

I expected the ride of my life, and with good reason. The F-16 is a $20 million piece of hardware that has enough horsepower to fly at twice the speed of sound. In tight turns and recovering from dives, it can pull nine G's, or nine times the force of gravity, causing a 200-pound man to weigh nearly a ton.

The jet roared down the cement surface, slamming me against the seat. In seconds, we reached 145 miles per hour. The plane blasted into the air like a bullet shot out of a rifle, and soon we were at 2,000 feet and climbing.

The F-16 can fly straight up. It can spin, dive, turn, climb, roll, and make loops with the grace of an eagle. Yet, loaded with practice bombs and 8,000 pounds of fuel, the mostly aluminum aircraft weighs some 15 tons. Controlling this precision machine and its many weapons is like playing a million-dollar video game that has dozens of buttons.

"The controls are so sensitive," Major Hamilton says, "they're almost an extension of the pilot's body." In fewer than five minutes, we'd reached an altitude of 35,000 feet. At near the speed of sound, we were flying ahead of our engine's roar. We felt little sense of speed or motion. Even the boom that happens when the jet breaks the sound barrier went unnoticed.

The ride was exciting yet peaceful, and the view beautiful: an ocean of blue above, a blanket of pure white below. Inside our clear chamber, we were warm and comfortable, but outside was a whole different world. The atmosphere was 30 degrees below zero centigrade and too thin to breathe.

Trailing behind us were white stripes created by heat from our exhaust hitting sub-zero air. Our target area was 250 miles to the north. For a few minutes, we would be flying straight, so Major Hamilton turned the controls over to me. "But don't try anything fancy," he warned. My goodness!

I thought of all the pilots who'd give a month's pay to take my place. I turned the plane to the right, but I did it too hard and we went into a steep turn. I corrected with a squeeze to the left. That's about as fancy as I got.

Flying the F-16 straight and level was easy enough. Flying in combat and managing the complex weapons system requires considerably more concentration. The pilot must command a collection of lights, dials, knobs, digital displays, and other electronic devices. "You must have to be an engineer or computer scientist to fly this airplane," I commented over the microphone.

"It helps," said Major Hamilton. But he added, "You don't have to know how everything is put together, just how the system operates. Even a monkey could fly this airplane."
Suddenly we heard the commander say "enemy" aircraft had been sighted. Action began with a rapid dive from 35,000 feet. I prepared for the G's I knew we'd pull. When the G-meter reached 6.2, I could no longer lift my feet off the floor. No wonder — they weighed nearly 100 pounds.

My vision went dim, as blood rushed from my head to my feet. My G-suit, now fully filled with air, compressed my legs to force the blood back into the upper part of my body. The jet twisted, turned, rolled, climbed and dived, constantly whipping me from one side to the other. I was having trouble following it all; I was, in fact, just hanging on.

During our mission, no planes were actually shot down. But cameras connected to video recorders had captured the action on tape. Hits and misses, determined by computers, would be watched and evaluated in post-flight meetings.

Although the major joked about how simple it was to fly the F-16, the truth is that a pilot must be an expert to control the craft. And to withstand the force of high-G movements, he must also be in top physical condition. As Major Hamilton landed our plane gracefully, I was thankful that he, not a monkey, had been my pilot. This man had indeed given me the ride of my life.

Words: 901

New Words

　jet n. 噴氣式飛機(jī)
　mechanic n. 技工，機(jī)械工人
　strap vt. 捆，扎，綁 n. 帶，皮帶
　harness n. 馬具；類(lèi)似馬具的裝備（如降落傘背帶或幼童的系帶） vt. 1.給（馬等）上馬具 2.利用（自然力）發(fā)電等
　plug vt. 1.堵，塞 2.插上（插頭） n. 插頭
　gravity n. 1.重力，萬(wàn)有引力 2.嚴(yán)重（性）
　rocket n. 火箭
　pop vt. 快速地放，快速地拿 vi. 發(fā)出砰的響聲 n. 流行音樂(lè)
■parachute n. 降落傘
　resist vt. 1.頂住，忍受 2.抵抗，反抗
　microphone n. 麥克風(fēng)
　turbine n. 渦輪機(jī)，葉輪機(jī)，透平機(jī)
　waken v. 喚醒，醒來(lái)
　hardware n. 1.重型武器；重型機(jī)器 2.五金器具 3.（電腦）硬件
　horsepower n. 馬力（功率單位）
　cement n. 水泥
　slam v. 1.猛力地推、放或扔 2.砰地關(guān)上
　rifle n. 來(lái)復(fù)槍?zhuān)綐?br /> 　loop n. 圈，環(huán)
　eagle n. 鷹，雕
　aluminum n. 鋁
　precision n. 準(zhǔn)確（性），精確（性），精密（度）
　weapon n. 武器，兵器
　extension n. 1.增加的部分，延伸的部分 2.伸展，延伸，擴(kuò)大
　altitude n. 1.海拔；高度 2.高處；高地
　boom n. 1.低沉有回響的聲音，隆隆聲 2.暴漲，激增，繁榮
　chamber n. 1.封閉空間；腔，室 2.房間，寢室 3.議院
　centigrade n. 攝氏度 a. 攝氏的
　stripe n. 條紋，條子
　fancy a. 花哨的，異樣的 n. 1.奇想，想入非非 2.喜愛(ài)，愛(ài)好 vt. 1.想像，設(shè)想 2.喜歡，想要
　goodness int. （用來(lái)表達(dá)強(qiáng)烈的感情，尤指驚奇）啊呀
　steep a. 1.急劇升降的 2.陡的，陡峭的
　concentration n. 1.全神貫注 2.集中，群集
　dial n. （機(jī)器或設(shè)備上的）刻度盤(pán)，標(biāo)度盤(pán) vt. 撥打電話(huà)
　digital a. 數(shù)字的，數(shù)字顯示的
　compress vt. 壓緊，壓縮
　upper a. （位置、水平等）較高的，較上的；上層的，上部的
　whip v. 1.猛地移動(dòng) 2.鞭打，鞭笞 n. 鞭子
　recorder n. 錄音機(jī)，錄像機(jī)
　craft n. 1.船，艇，航空器 2.工藝，手藝

Phrases and Expressions

　hang over 懸浮于空中
　plug in 插上插頭
　fill with 充滿(mǎn)，裝滿(mǎn)，盛滿(mǎn)
　pop out （使）突然出來(lái)，出來(lái)一會(huì)兒
　get going （使）開(kāi)始運(yùn)行
　go up 上升，攀升
　load with 裝，裝載
　ahead of （在空間或時(shí)間上）超前，在……前面
　turn sth. over to sb. 把（某事）交給（某人）處理
　think of 想起，記得
　take sb.'s/sth.'s place 代替
　go into 開(kāi)始（某活動(dòng)）
　put together 裝配，組裝
　force into 迫使進(jìn)入
　hang on 堅(jiān)持 抓緊，抓牢

Proper Names

　F-16 F-16 噴氣式戰(zhàn)斗機(jī)
　Major Patrick Hamilton 帕特里克·漢密爾頓少校