---
url: https://gaojian.site/new-concept/book-4/29-the-hovercraft.md
description: 新概念英语第四册：The Hovercraft。精读、词块回忆、双向译练、句法、逻辑与FSRS复习。
---

# 29 · 气垫船

### 第1段

Many strange new means of transport have been developed in our century, the strangest of them being perhaps the hovercraft. In 1953, a former electronics engineer in his fifties, Christopher Cockerell, who had turned to boat-building on the Norfolk Broads, suggested an idea on which he had been working for many years to the British Government and industrial circles. It was the idea of supporting a craft on a "pad", or cushion, of low-pressure air, ringed with a curtain of higher pressure air. Ever since, people have had difficulty in deciding whether the craft should be ranged among ships, planes, or land vehicles—for it is something in between a boat and an aircraft. As a shipbuilder, Cockerell was trying to find a solution to the problem of the wave resistance which wastes a good deal of a surface ship's power and limits its speed. His answer was to lift the vessel out of the water by making it ride on a cushion of air no more than one or two feet thick. This is done by a great number of ring-shaped air jets on the bottom of the craft. It "flies", therefore, but it cannot fly higher—its action depends on the surface, water or ground, over which it rides.
The first tests on the Solent in 1959 caused a sensation. The hovercraft travelled first over the water, then mounted the beach, climbed up the dunes, and sat down on a road. Later it crossed the Channel, riding smoothly over the waves, which presented no problem.
Since that time, various types of hovercraft have appeared and taken up regular service. The hovercraft is particularly useful in large areas with poor communications such as Africa or Australia; it can become a "flying fruit-bowl", carrying bananas from the plantations to the ports; giant hovercraft liners could span the Atlantic; and the railway of the future may well be the "hovertrain", riding on its air cushion over a single rail, which it never touches, at speeds up to 300 m.p.h.—the possibilities appear unlimited.

中文理解：本世纪出现了许多新奇的交通工具，最奇特的或许要数气垫船。一九五三年，五十多岁的克里斯托弗·科克雷尔，向英国政府和工业界提出了一个研究多年的构想。他原是电子工程师，后来转到诺福克湖区造船。他设想，用一层低压空气形成的“垫子”托起船体，再在周围围上一圈压力更高的气幕。从那以后，人们一直难以决定，该把这种工具归入船、飞机，还是陆上车辆，因为它介于船和飞机之间。作为造船者，科克雷尔想解决的是波浪阻力问题：这种阻力消耗了水面船只的大量动力，也限制了航速。他的办法是让船体离开水面，乘在一层只有一两英尺厚的气垫上。船底大量环形喷气口实现了这一设想。因此，它确实是在“飞”，却不能飞得更高；它的运行始终离不开下方的水面或地面。
一九五九年，索伦特海峡的首次试航引起轰动。气垫船先掠过水面，再登上海滩，爬上沙丘，最后停在一条道路上。后来，它又横渡英吉利海峡，平稳地驶过波浪，毫无困难。
此后，各种气垫船陆续出现，投入常规运营。在非洲、澳大利亚这类幅员辽阔而交通不便的地区，它尤其有用。它可以成为“会飞的水果盘”，把香蕉从种植园运到港口；巨型气垫客轮或许能够横跨大西洋；未来的铁路也可能采用“气垫列车”，让列车靠气垫悬在一根轨道上方，始终不接触轨道，时速可达三百英里。种种可能，仿佛没有尽头。

* **means of transport**：交通方式；means单复数同形；不要把所有means都写成mean。

* **in his fifties**：在他五十多岁时；年代年龄段用复数，不是at his fifty。

* **had been working**：此前一直在研究；过去参照点以前持续研究，on接研究对象；不是提出构想后才开始做。

* **low-pressure air**：低压空气；undefined

* **Ever since**：从那时起一直；把过去的起点与后续持续的情况连起来，后面必须说清起点。

* **had difficulty**：有困难；后接doing，不用have difficulty to do。

* **something in between**：介于两者之间的东西；说明过渡性质，不必强行二选一。

* **a solution to**：……的解决办法；名词solution后用to，不机械套of。

* **wave resistance**：波浪阻力；undefined

* **no more than**：仅仅；不超过；在此突出气垫薄，不是not more比较程度的所有情况。

* **ring-shaped air jets**：环形喷气口；undefined

* **depends on**：取决于；说清影响条件，不等于必然因果。

* **caused a sensation**：引起轰动；sensation此处是社会反响，不是触觉。

* **riding smoothly**：平稳地行进；undefined

* **regular service**：常规运营；描述开始提供常规服务，不是临时试验。

* **poor communications**：交通不便；本文communications包括交通联系，不只互联网。

* **may well be**：很可能是；表示很可能如此，语气仍有保留；well不是“很好”。

* **air cushion**：一层气垫；undefined

* **up to**：高达；最高到；undefined

* **appear unlimited**：看似没有限度；undefined

#### Many strange new means of transport have been developed in our century, the strangest of them being perhaps the hovercraft.

简单句，主谓结构.

the strangest...hovercraft 为 being 的独立主格结构，这个较难理解，稍作分析. 该句的后半句原本是想用 be 动词的现在分词结构作伴随状语以补充解释和说明其中最为奇怪的是气垫船，可是如果直接用伴随状语 being 放在后面，那么这个 being 的主语仍旧是 means，这就不对了. Means is hovercraft，主谓不一致，于是需要为这个现在分词添加一个逻辑上的主语，以修正这个问题，于是加上其中最为奇怪的是 the strangest of them（主格，非宾格），问题就解决了. 该结构在作用上相当于一个状语从句.

#### In 1953, a former electronics engineer in his fifties, Christopher Cockerell, who had turned to boat-building on the Norfolk Broads, suggested an idea on which he had been working for many years to the British Government and industrial circles.

复合句，主句为主谓宾结构，紧接着是 who 引导的定语从句补充解释该工程师的具体情况. 工程师的名字是同位语.

an idea on which he had been working for many years 这里是 on which 引导的定语从句，因 on which 充当了该从句的宾语，he had been working on which，而同位语从句的连接词是不会充当任何成分的.

#### It was the idea of supporting a craft on a "pad", or cushion, of low-pressure air, ringed with a curtain of higher pressure air.

简单句，主系表结构. 后面有三个定语，但只有第一个是修饰 idea 的.

第二个定语 of low-pressure air 可以看作是修饰平板或软垫的，指由低压空气形成的气垫，并不是实体平板中另装了低压空气. 而第三个定语亦是如此，该平板或软垫外面环绕着高气压，是过去分词短语作定语.

#### Ever since, people have had difficulty in deciding whether the craft should be ranged among ships, planes, or land vehicles—for it is something in between a boat and an aircraft.

复合句，主句为主谓宾结构，have difficulty in doing sth. 这里 in doing 可以理解为方面状语，很多时候 in 也可以省略，而这里的 have had 是典型的现在完成时，这里的 had 是短语 have difficulty in doing sth. 中 have 的过去分词，不是过去式，第一个 have 是完成时的标识.

in deciding…vehicles 这个方面状语中，可以理解为包含了一个句子，相当于 decide 的宾语从句.

for 引导原因状语从句，in between 为组合介词作后置定语.

#### As a shipbuilder, Cockerell was trying to find a solution to the problem of the wave resistance which wastes a good deal of a surface ship's power and limits its speed.

复合句，主句为主谓宾结构，to the problem 作后置定语修饰 solution，讲解决什么问题的方案，而后面的 of the wave resistance 又是 problem 的后置定语，而这个 resistance 又通过 which 引导的定语从句来修饰，该从句还是一个由 and 连接的复合句.

#### His answer was to lift the vessel out of the water by making it ride on a cushion of air no more than one or two feet thick.

简单句，主系表结构，by 后面是方式状语, 最后是定语，修饰该气垫不能太厚.

#### This is done by a great number of ring-shaped air jets on the bottom of the craft.

简单句，主谓结构，by 后面同样是方式状语，而 on the bottom…也是状语，不过是地点状语，跟上一句不一样，上句的厚度表达可以看作是形容词，这里不行.

#### It "flies", therefore, but it cannot fly higher—its action depends on the surface, water or ground, over which it rides.

复合句，主句为主谓结构，句首 it 指上两句的 vessel.

破折号后面的句子作补充说明之用，可以理解成一个状语从句，该从句中含有一个 over which 引导的非限制性定语从句修饰 surface，可以将 ride over 看成动词词组作谓语.

#### The first tests on the Solent in 1959 caused a sensation.

简单句，主谓宾结构，tests 之所以用复数，就在于当天的试航不只是试了一次，试了很多次. 海峡的中文名根据现在的习惯用法予以了调整.

#### The hovercraft travelled first over the water, then mounted the beach, climbed up the dunes, and sat down on a road.

并列句，主谓结构，四个分句均为同一个主语.

#### Later it crossed the Channel, riding smoothly over the waves, which presented no problem.

复合句，主句主谓宾结构，it 指 hovercraft，riding 是伴随状语，主语同样是 it，所以这里就不是独立主格结构了.

which 引导的定语从句是较为少见用来修饰全句的，所以这里不能理解为波浪没有阻力这么个具体的技术情况，而是根据本段“试车”的情况来理解的，而且用的 present，整体测试下来，各路况所呈现的效果很好. 从句为主谓宾结构.

#### Since that time, various types of hovercraft have appeared and taken up regular service.

并列句，主谓（宾）结构，and 连接了两个谓语.

#### The hovercraft is particularly useful in large areas with poor communications such as Africa or Australia; it can become a "flying fruit-bowl", carrying bananas from the plantations to the ports; giant hovercraft liners could span the Atlantic; and the railway of the future may well be the "hovertrain", riding on its air cushion over a single rail, which it never touches, at speeds up to 300 m.p.h.—the possibilities appear unlimited.

这是一个包含数个完整句子的复合句. 从中文翻译可以看出，分号连接的很多句子本身就已经可以独立成句了. 考虑到句子所表达的意思均为针对气垫船作进一步的讲解，故合为一句.

2-1 句，主系表结构，such as Africa or Australia 是举例短语，说明哪些地区属于交通不便的广大地区；这里没有从句谓语，不宜称为定语从句。

2-2 句，也是主系表结构，现在分词作定语修饰水果盘.

2-3 句，主谓宾结构.

2-4 句，也是最后一句，添加一个 and 作连接词，符合表达习惯，然后是主系表结构，后面是现在分词 riding 作定语，后面跟了一个 which 引导的定语从句修饰 rail，句中的 it 指 hovertrain. 后面是介词短语作程度状语补充修饰前面 hovertrain 的速度，可以理解成 riding at speeds up…而破折号后面则是对整个长句的总结，得出气垫船的前途不可限量的结论.

## 学完这一课

主句概括一种发展，再补出其中最突出的例子。

[Nce · 本册复习台](/new-concept/book-4/review) · [三册选择地图](/new-concept/)

*译文依据整理稿，由本站按中文表达重新校订；解析据吴应时整理资料及首轮审校稿；词伙与练习提示为本站学习设计。原PDF第117—120页，2022年2月第2版。*