【1】Terrafugia Inc. said Monday that its new flying car has completed its first flight, bringing the company closer to its goal of selling the flying car within the next year. The vehicle-named the Transition-has two seats, four wheels and wings that fold up so it can be driven like a car. The Transition, which flew at 1,400 feet for eight minutes last month, can reach around 70 miles per hour on the road and 115 in the air. It flies using a 23-gallon tank of gas and burns5 gallons per hour in the air. On the ground, it gets 35 miles per gallon.

 

【2】Around 100 people have already put down a $10,000 deposit to get a Transition when they go on sale, and those numbers will likely rise after Terrafugia introduces the Transition to the public later this week at the New York Auto Show. But don’t expect it to show up in too many driveways. It’s expected to cost $279,000. And it won’t help if you’re stuck in traffic. The car needs a runway.

 

【3】 Inventors have been trying to make flying cars since the 1930s, according to Robert Mann, an airline industry expert. But Mann thinks Terrafugia has come closer than anyone to making the flying car a reality. The government has already permitted the company to use special materials to make it easier for the vehicle to fly. The Transition is now going through crash tests to make sure it meets federal safety standards.(http://ask.yygrammar.com/)

 

【4】Mann said Terrafugia was helped by the Federal Aviation Administration’s decision five years ago to create a separate set of standards for light sport aircraft, which are lower than those for pilots of larger planes. Terrafugia says an owner would need to pass a test and complete 20 hours of flying time to be able to fly the Transition, a requirement pilots would find relatively easy to meet.(http://www.yygrammar.com/)

历年（2017）高考英语“阅读理解C”真题翻译（连载03）――中文翻译见下页！

【1】美国特拉弗吉亚汽车公司周一宣布，他们的新款飞行汽车已经实现首飞，这使其朝着来年上市销售的目标又迈进了一步。这款名为“特拉弗尼亚过渡者”的飞行车有两个座位、四个轮子和一对机翼，机翼折叠起来后就可以像汽车一样行驶。上个月，“过渡者”在1,400英尺的高空飞行了八分钟，其在陆地上时速大约70英里，在空中则大约115英里。其油箱容积为23加仑，飞行耗油为每小时五加仑；在地面行驶时，每加仑汽油能跑35英里。

 

【2】目前大约已有100人为购买该款飞车支付了一万美元的定金。这一数字在本周晚些时候公司在纽约车展上向公众推介该车之后很可能还会上升。但别指望它会大量上路，因为预计这款车的售价高达279,000美元；此外，如果你真堵在路上了，它再能飞也无济于事，因为它起飞需要跑道。

 

【3】据航空业专家罗伯特・曼恩说，自20世纪30年代以来，发明家们就一直在试图制造飞行汽车。不过曼恩认为，特拉弗吉亚公司比任何人都更接近于梦想成真。政府现已允许该公司使用特殊材料以使车辆更易于飞行。眼下，“过渡者”正在接受碰撞测试以确保其符合联邦安全标准。

 

【4】曼恩说，五年前联邦航空管理局决定为轻型运动飞行器设立一套单独的标准，与对大型飞机飞行员的要求相比，这一标准对飞行员的要求比较低，因此这一决定对特拉弗吉亚公司有不小帮助。公司表示，车主需要通过一项测试并完成20个小时的飞行时数，才能驾驶“过渡者”，对该车飞行员来说达到此项要求相对较为简单。

 

【背景资料介绍】

美国特拉弗吉亚汽车公司是2006年由麻省理工学院的几位毕业生创立的，其专门致力于研发飞行汽车。2009年该公司即推出本文所提到的这款"过渡者"。尽管公司心高志远，可是时至今日“过渡者”一辆也没有卖出去。2017年中国吉利汽车公司收购了特拉弗尼亚，继续研发飞行汽车。 预计“过渡者”将于2019年推向市场，距本文提及的预计上市行销时间已将近晚了10年。此外，公司还在研发新一代“过渡者”，此款飞车有一个更先进的设计――可垂直起降――但愿届时其真的能成为堵车杀手。该款车有望于2023年推出。