VOA慢速英語(yǔ): 忽視重力的懸浮板

忽視重力的懸浮板

Can you imagine riding around the streets of your hometown on a skateboard without wheels? In the late1980s, film director Robert Zemeckis showed a skateboard floating above the ground in his movie Back To The Future Part II.

你能想象在家鄉(xiāng)街道上用一個(gè)沒(méi)有轱轆的滑板滑行嗎？二十世紀(jì)八十年代末，電影導(dǎo)演羅伯特·澤梅基斯在他的電影《回到未來(lái)Ⅱ》中展示了一個(gè)在地面上懸浮的滑板。

Now, an American company, Arx Pax, has moved the idea for such a device from a futuristic dream to reality. The new product operates on the same rules that govern magnetism.

如今，有一家美國(guó)公司Arx Pax，已經(jīng)在研發(fā)，要把這個(gè)未來(lái)的夢(mèng)想轉(zhuǎn)化成現(xiàn)實(shí)。新產(chǎn)品的操作同樣基于控制磁力的原理。

When similarly charged ends of two magnets get close together, they repel or push away from each other. That force can make an object levitate or hover in space.

當(dāng)兩塊磁鐵兩端相同的磁性相互靠近時(shí)，他們相互排斥或者彼此拉開距離。這種磁力可以使物體在空中懸浮。

Since the 1980s, levitation has been used on trains in Europe, Japan and China. These maglev trains, seem to float above the ground. There is no contact between the bottom of the cars and the surface of the train track. Maglev trains are almost noiseless and can move very fast.

自從二十世紀(jì)八十年代開始，在歐洲、日本和中國(guó)開始使用這種懸浮力量。磁懸浮列車看起來(lái)就像漂浮在地面上。在懸浮列車底部與火車軌道之間并沒(méi)有什么接觸。磁懸浮列車幾乎沒(méi)有什么噪音，但是卻能夠以非?？斓乃俣刃羞M(jìn)。

Greg Henderson says the same technology can make anything hover, even buildings.

格雷格·亨德森說(shuō)制造任何懸浮的東西，甚至建造懸浮樓房時(shí)都使用相同的技術(shù)。

“Imagine there's an earthquake and the early warning turns on the warning systems and the supports fall away as the building starts to hover. The shaking stops, the supports return, and no one in that room or in that building ever knew there was an earthquake."

“假如發(fā)生一次地震，地震預(yù)警打開地震預(yù)警機(jī)制，支撐物疏離，大廈就可以懸浮。搖晃停止后，支撐再返回原狀，房間或者大廈里沒(méi)有人知道發(fā)生過(guò)地震。”

Greg Henderson’s company created the first maglev hoverboard, called Hendo. It can hold a single person about 2.5 centimeters above a metal surface.

格雷格·亨德森的公司已經(jīng)研發(fā)出第一款磁懸浮板，叫做Hendo。這個(gè)懸浮板能夠在金屬表面2.5cm的上方支撐一個(gè)人。

"We are creating a magnetic field, and then through a method of induction, that's part of our secret sauce*, we are creating a secondary and equal magnetic field in this conductive surface."

“我們?cè)趧?chuàng)造一個(gè)磁場(chǎng)，然后通過(guò)一種電磁感應(yīng)的方法，這是我們的秘密武器。我們?cè)谶@個(gè)導(dǎo)體表面開創(chuàng)一種輔助的磁場(chǎng)或者相同的磁場(chǎng)。”

Batteries provide the electricity needed to power Hendo's four engines. However, the batteries only last for a short time. But design engineer KyleO'Neil says they last long enough for experienced skateboarders to learn how to control the hoverboard.

電池為Hendo的四個(gè)引擎提供必要的電源。不過(guò)電池只能持續(xù)很短的時(shí)間。但是設(shè)計(jì)工程師克里歐·內(nèi)爾說(shuō)電池的電池足夠讓有經(jīng)驗(yàn)的滑板人學(xué)會(huì)如何控制這個(gè)懸浮板。

“Some people say it's like snowboarding. Some say it's how they imagined a hoverboard is supposed to be, which is kind of an interesting response because no one's ever ridden one before.”

“一些人說(shuō)這個(gè)懸浮板就像滑雪板，有的人說(shuō)這個(gè)懸浮板就是他們想象的那個(gè)樣子，這是個(gè)非常有意思的回應(yīng)，因?yàn)閺那耙矝](méi)有人踩過(guò)這樣的滑板。”

The creators of Hendo say they do not expect to see their hoverboard on the streets anytime soon. The reason: it only works on a metal-covered surface. But they say larger hover engines could be used to transport containers in storerooms.

Hendo的研發(fā)人員說(shuō)他們并不期望很快在大街上隨時(shí)都能看到他們的懸浮板。原因是：懸浮板只能在一個(gè)金屬覆蓋面上運(yùn)作。但是他們說(shuō)更大的懸浮引擎要用在儲(chǔ)藏室的運(yùn)輸集裝箱上。

For now, their dream is to build a recreation area where anyone can take a ride on a hoverboard.

現(xiàn)在，他們的夢(mèng)想是創(chuàng)造一個(gè)休閑體驗(yàn)區(qū)，這里任何人都可以嘗試一下懸浮滑板。

I’m Jonathan Evans.

我是喬納森·伊凡斯。

l       secret sauce - idiom. the essential (but perhaps largely unknown) ingredient required for success

l       secret sauce—習(xí)語(yǔ)，（取勝的）秘密武器

George Putic reported this story from Washington. Jonathan Evans wrote it for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

來(lái)自華盛頓報(bào)道，喬治·普提克播報(bào)這篇新聞。喬納森·伊凡斯編寫，喬治·格魯編輯。

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Words in This Story

hover – v. to float in the air

magnetism - n. the property of attracting certain metals; the attractingproperty of a magnet

repel - v. to force (something) to move away or apart

skateboard – n. a short board that is on wheels and that a person stands on to move along a surface or to perform tricks