第16期，難度係數8，共3187字，閱讀約需8分鐘
supersonic /ˌsuːpərˈsɑːnɪk/
adj. 超音速；超聲波
US Air Force Captain Charles Yeager made the world's first supersonic flight in October, 1947.
sonic boom /ˌsɑːnɪk ˈbuːm/ NASA is developing a supersonic plane that can fly without creating a sonic boom.n. 設施，設備；（機器等的）特別裝置，特殊功能；（特定用途的）場所；才能，天賦This city has good sports facilities.
wind tunnel /ˈwɪnd tʌnl/Before being developed further, the car had to be tested in a wind tunnel.
Dense clouds started to form in the sky.
carbon-neutral /ˌkɑːrbən ˈnuːtrəl/Japan has set a target to be carbon-neutral by 2050.
New 'Boomless' Supersonic Jet to Be Built in Florida
新型「無音爆」超音速噴氣機將在佛羅裡達建造
No one has traveled using a commercial supersonic jet since the Concorde stopped flying in 2003. But Aerion Supersonic hopes to change that, with plans to build a new supersonic jet, the AS2, at the company's Aerion Park facility in Melbourne, Florida.
自從2003年協和式飛機停飛以來，還沒有人乘坐商用超音速噴氣式飛機旅行過。但是 Aerion 超音速公司希望改變這一現狀，他們計劃在位於佛羅裡達州墨爾本的 Aerion 公園研發一款新型超音速飛機 AS2。
Aerion announced in December that construction had begun on the $300 million facility. Over 44 hectares in size, it will be located next to Orlando Melbourne International Airport.
Aerion 公司在去年12月宣布，耗資3億美元的工廠已經開工建設。該工廠建築面積超過44公頃，它將坐落在奧蘭多墨爾本國際機場旁邊。
With wind tunnel testing on the AS2 completed in November, the plan is now for Aerion Park to begin building planes in 2023, with flight testing starting in 2025 and the aircraft entering service by 2027.
隨著11月 AS2風洞測試的完成，現在的計劃是2023年開始建造飛機，2025年開始飛行測試，2027年投入使用。
According to Tom Vice, Chairman, President and CEO of Aerion, the company hopes to make 300 of the planes at Aerion Park.
據 Aerion 公司董事長、總裁兼執行長 Tom Vice 說，該公司希望在 Aerion 公園製造300架飛機。
The AS2 will be a luxury business jet able to carry eight to 12 passengers at speeds of up to Mach 1.4 — that's 1.4 times the speed of sound, or about 1,700 kilometers per hour. While slower than the Concorde, which could fly at over Mach 2, the AS2 would still be able to fly from New York City to London in just 4.5 hours — much faster than the seven hours a normal flight takes.
AS2將是一架豪華商務噴氣式飛機，能夠以高達1.4馬赫的速度搭載8至12名乘客，相當於音速的1.4倍，約合每小時1700公裡。儘管速度低於超過2馬赫的協和式飛機，但 AS2仍然能夠在4.5小時內從紐約飛往倫敦，比正常飛行7小時快得多。
Civilian planes are usually not allowed to fly faster than Mach 1 over land in the US because doing so creates a very loud "sonic boom," which can be powerful enough to break glass and cause other damage. Aerion hopes to solve this by using highly accurate weather information to plan routes over areas with a layer of warmer, denser air between the ground and the plane, which will reflect the sonic boom up away from land.
在美國，民用飛機通常不允許以超過1馬赫的速度在陸地上空飛行，因為這樣做會產生非常響亮的「音爆」，其威力足以打碎玻璃並造成其他損害。Aerion 公司希望通過使用高度精確的天氣信息來規劃路線，在地面和飛機之間形成一層更暖、更密集的空氣，這將反映出遠離陸地的音爆。
Aerion also aims for the AS2's flights to be carbon-neutral, with the plane's fuel created using carbon dioxide taken from the atmosphere. The company further promises that Aerion Park will use solar power for manufacturing, while rain that lands on the site will be reused, and the buildings will be made from recycled materials wherever possible.
Aerion 公司還希望 AS2的飛行是碳中和的，飛機的燃料使用從大氣中提取的二氧化碳。該公司進一步承諾，Aerion 公園生產製造時將使用太陽能，同時雨水土地將被再利用，建築物將儘可能使用回收材料。
1.Do you think commercial supersonic planes will be commonplace within your lifetime?
你認為商用超音速飛機會在你的有生之年變得司空見慣嗎?
2.What do you imagine air travel will be like 50 years from now?
你認為50年後的航空旅行會是什麼樣子？
3.Do you remember the first time you flew?
你還記得你第一次飛行的情景嗎？
4.What's the longest flight you've ever been on?
你坐過的最長的航班是多久？