The electric-flight plan
本文英文部分选自经济学人science-and-technology版块
Small hybrid-electric airliners ready for take off
Companies are getting serious about electrifying air travel
ELECTRIC cars are clean, quiet and, it seems, the way of the future. Tesla, an American firm that has done much to help electric cars shed their museli-munching image, is struggling to meet demand for its mid-market Model 3 (though that has not stopped it announcing plans to build electric lorries as well). Volvo, a Swedish carmaker, has said that, from 2019, all its cars will be at least part-electric. Volkswagen has plans to offer battery options across all of its brands; General Motors has made similar noises. Some countries, including China, Britain and France, are mooting bans on internal-combustion vehicles, to take effect within a couple of decades.
shed
A.GET RID OF 去除
(often used in newspapers 常用于报章) to get rid of sth that is no longer wanted 去除；摆脱
The factory is shedding a large number of jobs.
这家工厂正大批裁员。
a quick way to shed unwanted pounds (= extra weight or fat on your body)
快速减肥的方法
Museums have been trying hard to shed their stuffy image.
博物馆一直努力改变自己沉闷的形象。
B.DROP 使落下
(formal) to let sth fall; to drop sth 使落下；使掉下
Luke shed his clothes onto the floor.
卢克把衣服脱在地板上。
A duck's feathers shed water immediately.
鸭子的羽毛不沾水。
(British English) (of a vehicle 交通工具) to lose or drop what it is carrying 掉落（货物）
The traffic jam was caused by a lorry shedding its load .
交通堵塞是因为一辆卡车掉下了货物。
C.SKIN/LEAVES 皮；叶
if an animal sheds its skin, or a plant sheds leaves, it loses them naturally 蜕；落
D.LIGHT 光
~ sth (on/over sb/sth) to send light over sth; to let light fall somewhere 散发出光；把光照到（或洒在）…上
The candles shed a soft glow on her face.
蜡烛在她的脸上映着一层柔光。
E.TEARS 眼泪
(formal,or literary) if you shed tears, you cry 流；洒
She shed no tears when she heard he was dead.
她听到他的死讯时没流一滴眼泪。
F.BLOOD 血
(formal) if you shed blood, you kill or injure people, especially in a war （尤指在战争中）造成伤亡；使流（血）
lorry
( also truck North Amercian English,British English) a large vehicle for carrying heavy loads by road 卡车；货运汽车
a lorry driver
卡车司机
Emergency food supplies were brought in by lorry .
应急食物是用卡车运来的。
a lorry load of frozen fish
装满一卡车的冷冻鱼
swedish
adj. 瑞典的;
n. 瑞典语; （总称）瑞典人;
Volkswagen
大众汽车
moot
[动词 + 名词短语][常用被动态](formal) to suggest an idea for people to discuss 提出…供讨论
(North Amercian English) unlikely to happen and therefore not worth considering （因不大可能发生而）无考虑意义的
He argued that the issue had become moot since the board had changed its policy.
他争辩说这项议题已变得毫无实际意义，因为董事会已经改变了政策。
a moot point/question
(British English,North Amercian English) a matter about which there may be disagreement or confusion 悬而未决的事；有争议的问题
internal-combustion
内燃的
Not all forms of transport are so easy to electrify. One of the hardest is aviation, where battery power runs up against a serious problem: weight. Kilo-for-kilo, fossil fuels contain roughly 100 times as much energy as a lithium-ion battery. On the road,that is a problem which can be designed around.For a machine that must lift itself into the sky, it is much harder to solve.
aviation
[不可数名词] the designing, building and flying of aircraft 航空
civil/military aviation
民用 / 军用航空
the aviation business/industry
航空业 / 工业
But it is not impossible. Dozens of firms are working on electrically powered planes of all shapes and sizes. Some resemble flying cars, such as those which Larry Page, one of Google’s founders, is backing. Others are hovering, drone-like machines that could operate as autonomous aerial taxis (Uber is keen on these). Pipistrel, a Slovenian company, already makes a two-seater electric training plane. Another two-seater, the E-fan, has been flown by Airbus, a European aviation giant, although it recently abandoned the project.
hover
[动词 + 副词或介词短语]
(of birds, helicopters , etc. 鸟、直升机等) to stay in the air in one place 翱翔；盘旋
A hawk hovered over the hill.
一只鹰在小山的上空翱翔。
(of a person 人) to wait somewhere, especially near sb, in a shy or uncertain manner 踌躇，彷徨（尤指在某人身边）
He hovered nervously in the doorway.
他在门口紧张地来回踱步。
[+ 副词或介词短语] to stay close to sth, or to stay in an uncertain state 靠近（某事物）；处于不稳定状态
Temperatures hovered around freezing.
气温在冰点上下徘徊。
He hovered on the edge of consciousness.
他似醒非醒。
A smile hovered on her lips.
她的嘴上挂着一丝笑容。
drone-like machine
无人机相机
autonomous
(of a country, a region or an organization 国家、地区、组织) able to govern itself or control its own affairs 自治的；有自治权的
independent
an autonomous republic/state/province
自治共和国 / 州 / 省
(of a person 人) able to do things and make decisions without help from anyone else 自主的；有自主权的
aerial
from a plane 从飞机上的
aerial attacks/bombardment/photography
空中攻击 / 轰炸 / 照相
an aerial view of Palm Island
棕榈岛鸟瞰图
in the air; existing above the ground 空中的；空气中的；地表以上的
The banyan tree has aerial roots.
榕树有气根。
The reason for that became clear on November 28th, when Airbus announced something more ambitious. It has teamed up with Rolls-Royce, a British jet-engine producer, and Siemens, a German electricals group, to convert a small airliner into a “flying test bed” to prove the feasibility of hybrid-electric propulsion. “We are entering a new world of aviation,” said Frank Anton, head of Siemens eAircraft. Electric power, he predicted, would prove to be as significant to commercial aviation as the invention of the jet engine.
propulsion
[不可数名词](technical 术语) the force that drives sth forward 推动力；推进
wind/steam/jet propulsion
风力 / 蒸汽 / 喷气推进
jet
[可数名词] a plane driven by jet engines 喷气式飞机
a jet aircraft/fighter/airliner
喷气式飞机 / 战斗机 / 客机
The accident happened as the jet was about to take off.
事故是在喷气式飞机正要起飞时发生的。
——see also jumbo n., jump jet
[可数名词] a strong narrow stream of gas, liquid, steam or flame that comes very quickly out of a small opening. The opening is also called a jet . 喷射流；喷射口；喷嘴
The pipe burst and jets of water shot across the room.
管子爆裂，一股股水从屋子这头喷到那头。
to clean the gas jets on the cooker
把煤气灶的气嘴擦干净
[不可数名词] a hard black mineral that can be polished and is used in jewellery 煤玉；黑玉；黑色大理石；贝褐碳
Insufficient, currently
目前动力不足
The general view in the industry is that battery technology is not yet up to building fully-electric airliners. But just as hybrid arrangements help to extend the range of some electric cars, so hybrid systems will bring electric aircraft closer to take-off.
行业内的普遍看法是电池技术不足以建立全电动型客机。 但是如同混合动力有助于延长电动汽车行驶里程，混合动力系统也将使电动飞机离起飞更进一步。
The Airbus team plans to modify a BAE 146, which is a 100-seat regional airliner powered by four conventional jet engines (see illustration above). The first step will be to replace one of those engines with a 2MW electric unit, consisting of a fan contained in a shroud. As with a hybrid car, the fan will be powered by a combination of a battery and a range-extender, in the form of a small jet engine mounted in the rear of the fuselage and hooked up to a generator. This range extender can be switched on during parts of the flight to power the fans or to top up the battery. Because it can be run at its most efficient speed all the time, unlike a jet directly propelling a plane, it would be highly fuel-efficient.
shroud
a piece of cloth that a dead person's body is wrapped in before it is buried 裹尸布；寿衣
~ of sth (literary) a thing that covers, surrounds or hides sth 覆盖物；遮蔽物
The organization is cloaked in a shroud of secrecy.
这个组织笼罩着一种诡秘的气氛。
a shroud of smoke 一片烟雾
[动词 + 名词短语][常用被动态] ~ sth in sth
(of darkness , clouds, cloth, etc. 黑暗、云、织物等) to cover or hide sth 覆盖；隐藏；遮蔽
The city was shrouded in mist.
城市笼罩在雾霭之中。
to hide information or keep it secret and mysterious 隐瞒；保密
His family background is shrouded in mystery .
他的家庭背景蒙上了神秘的色彩。
fuselage
the main part of an aircraft in which passengers and goods are carried （飞机的）机身
hook up (to sth) | hook sb/sth↔up (to sth)
to connect sb/sth to a piece of electronic equipment, to a power supply or to the Internet 连接到电子设备（或电源、互联网）；接通
She was then hooked up to an IV drip.
接着就给她接上了静脉滴注。
Check that the computer is hooked up to the printer.
检查一下计算机是否与打印机接通。
A large proportion of the nation's households are hooked up to the Internet.
全国大部分家庭都接通了互联网。
propel
[动词 + 名词短语][常用被动态]
to move, drive or push sth forward or in a particular direction 推动；驱动；推进
mechanically propelled vehicles
机动车辆
He succeeded in propelling the ball across the line.
他成功地把球带过线。
[+ 副词或介词短语] to force sb to move in a particular direction or to get into a particular situation 驱使；迫使；推搡
He was grabbed from behind and propelled through the door.
有人从后面抓住他，把他推过门去。
Fury propelled her into action.
怒火驱使她行动起来。
Flight tests are due to begin in 2020. If they are successful, a second engine on the aircraft will be replaced. The results, the team hope, will provide enough data to design a full-on hybrid-electric airliner with 50-100 seats from scratch. Such a plane might enter service in 2030 or so.
Other planes could be in the air before then. Zunum Aero, a startup based near Seattle, hopes to have its 12-seat hybrid-electric airliner ready to fly its first passengers by 2022, helped along by investment from Boeing, an American aerospace giant, and JetBlue, a successful airline.
Such aircraft will, their designers hope, serve as bridges to fully electric planes in the future. Overcoming the weight problem will be tricky. For big planes flying long-haul routes, full electrification may never happen, although hybrid systems would reduce their fuel consumption. But design changes can help. Airbus, for instance, thinks it can blend its electric motors into the aircraft’s fuselage to reduce drag. And electric power offers some advantages that offset its big drawback. One is that combustion engines are not very efficient at turning the energy in their fuel into motion. Instead, a great deal of it ends up wasted as heat. A jet engine might manage around 55% efficiency during a steady cruise at the ideal altitude. But that number could fall by half or more when taking off, climbing, landing and taxiing on the ground, which is what aircraft that fly short routes spend much of their time doing.
tricky
difficult to do or deal with 难办的；难对付的
a tricky situation
微妙的局势
Getting it to fit exactly is a tricky business .
使这完全合适是件很难做到的事。
The equipment can be tricky to install.
这设备安装起来可能很费事。
(of people 人) clever but likely to trick you 狡猾的；诡计多端的
blend
[动词 + 名词短语] ~ A with B | ~ A and B (together) to mix two or more substances together 使混合；掺和
Blend the flour with the milk to make a smooth paste.
把面粉和牛奶调成均匀的面糊。
Blend together the eggs, sugar and flour.
把鸡蛋、糖和面粉掺到一起。
[单独使用的动词] ~ (with sth) | ~ (together) to form a mixture with sth （和某物）混合；融合
Oil does not blend with water. 油不融于水。
Oil and water do not blend. 油与水不相融。
~ (with sth) | ~ (together) to combine with sth in an attractive or effective way; to combine sth in this way （使）调和，协调，融合
[单独使用的动词]
The old and new buildings blend together perfectly.
新旧建筑物相映成趣。
[动词 + 名词短语]
Their music blends traditional and modern styles.
他们的音乐融合了传统和现代风格。
[动词 + 名词短语][常用被动态] to produce sth by mixing different types together 调制；配制
blended whisky/tea
调配的威士忌；混合茶叶
【名词】
a mixture of different types of the same thing （不同类型东西的）混合品，混合物
a blend of tea 混合茶叶
[常用单数形式] a pleasant or useful combination of different things （不同事物的）和谐结合，融合
a blend of youth and experience
年轻而且有经验
cruise
a journey by sea, visiting different places, especially as a holiday/vacation 乘船游览；航行
I'd love to go on a round-the-world cruise.
我很想乘船周游世界。
a luxury cruise ship 豪华游轮
【动词】
to travel in a ship or boat visiting different places, especially as a holiday/vacation 乘船游览
[单独使用的动词, usually + 副词或介词短语]
They cruised down the Nile.
他们沿尼罗河而下乘船游览。
[动词 + 名词短语]
We spent two weeks cruising the Bahamas.
我们花了两个星期乘船游览巴哈马群岛。
[单独使用的动词, usually + 副词或介词短语] (of a car, plane, etc. 汽车、飞机等) to travel at a steady speed 以平稳的速度行驶
a light aircraft cruising at 4 000 feet
一架在4 000英尺高度巡航的轻型飞机
a cruising speed of 50 miles an hour
每小时50英里平稳行驶的速度
(of a car, etc. or its driver 汽车等或驾驶员) to drive along slowly, especially when you are looking at or for sth （尤指查看或寻找时）慢速行驶，巡行
[动词 + 副词或介词短语]
She cruised around the block looking for a parking space.
她绕着那个街区慢慢行驶，想找个停车的地方。
[动词 + 名词短语]
Taxis cruised the streets, looking for fares.
出租汽车缓慢行驶在街上招揽顾客。
[动词 + 副词或介词短语] to win or achieve sth easily 轻而易举赢得（或获得）；轻取
The home team cruised to victory.
主队轻松取胜。
[单独使用的动词], [动词 + 名词短语](slang) to go around in public places looking for a sexual partner （在公共场所）寻觅性伙伴，猎艳
An electric motor can do much better. The latest models are more than 95% efficient, so the batteries that power them would not need to match the energy density of jet fuel. Electric motors are also lighter than jet engines, which helps offset some of the weight disadvantage. And they contain far fewer parts, which means they require less maintenance, which is a big cost in aviation.
Those are all reasons why Zunum plans to focus, at least at first, on relatively short routes, where the efficiency gains from electric motors are most significant. The idea, says Ashish Kumar, the firm’s chief executive, is to serve the hundreds of small American airports that have been left behind as flights have shifted to bigger hubs. The firm’s aircraft will cruise at around 550kph (340mph) and have a range of about 1,130km (700 miles). Like the Airbus machine, it would use a single small jet engine in the rear fuselage to run a generator that could power the plane’s two 500kW fans and top up the batteries, which will be mounted in the wings and designed to be swapped in for fresh ones after landing. This way, at some airports, the turnaround time could be as low as ten minutes.
hub
[常用单数形式] ~ (of sth) the central and most important part of a particular place or activity （某地或活动的）中心，核心
the commercial hub of the city
城市的商业中心
to be at the hub of things (= where things happen and important decisions are made)
在核心部门
a hub airport (= a large important one where people often change from one plane to another)
大型中转机场
the central part of a wheel 轮毂
swap
~ (sth) (with sb) | ~ sth for sth to give sth to sb and receive sth in exchange 交换（东西）
[单独使用的动词]
I've finished this magazine. Can I swap with you?
这本杂志我看完了。我能跟你交换一下吗？
[动词 + 名词短语]
I swapped my red scarf for her blue one.
我用我的红围巾换了她的蓝围巾。
Can we swap places ? I can't see the screen.
咱俩交换一下座位好不好？我看不见银幕。
We spent the evening in the pub swapping stories (= telling each other stories) about our travels.
我们一晚上坐在酒吧里讲述各自的旅途经历。
[动词 + 名词短语 + 名词短语]
I swapped him my CD for his cassette.
我拿我的激光唱片换了他的盒式磁带。
[单独使用的动词] ~ (over) to start doing sb else's job, etc. while they do yours 交换（工作）
I'll drive there and then we'll swap over on the way back.
去的时候我开车，回来的时候咱俩再倒换过来。
[动词 + 名词短语] ~ sb/sth (for sb/sth) | ~ sb/sth (over) (especially British English) to replace one person or thing with another 用…替换；把…换成；掉换
I think I'll swap this sweater for one in another colour.
我想把这件毛衣换成一件其他颜色的。
I'm going to swap you over. Mike will go first and Jon will go second.
我打算把你俩掉换一下。迈克先去，乔恩后去。
The aircraft’s range, says Dr Kumar, should increase over time. For batteries have another advantage over fossil fuels: as a relatively underdeveloped technology, they still have plenty of room left for improvement. As production ramps up, led by the car and electronics industries, battery capacities are increasing and prices are falling.
ramp
a slope that joins two parts of a road, path, building, etc. when one is higher than the other 斜坡；坡道
Ramps should be provided for wheelchair users.
应该给轮椅使用者提供坡道。
(North Amercian English) = slip road
a freeway exit ramp
高速公路的出口坡道
a slope or set of steps that can be moved, used for loading a vehicle or getting on or off a plane （装车或上下飞机的）活动梯，活动坡道
a loading ramp
装货用的活动坡道
ramp sth up
to make sth increase in amount 使…的数量增加
This week, for instance, Samsung Electronics, a big South Korean firm, said that by incorporating graphene—an ultra-thin form of carbon—into a lithium-ion battery, it had managed to boost its energy capacity by 45% and greatly decrease the time needed for a recharge. Many other new battery chemistries are being developed. One promising idea is a solid-state lithium battery, which replaces the liquid electrolyte of current cells with a solid substitute. Besides offering much higher energy densities, such batteries should also be cheap to mass produce. Those trends, thinks Dr Kumar, would allow his aircraft to increase its range to around 2,400km by 2035, and perhaps even ditch the on-board generator.
ditch
[动词 + 名词短语](informal) to get rid of sth/sb because you no longer want or need it/them 摆脱；抛弃；丢弃
The new road building programme has been ditched.
新的道路建设计划已废弃。
He ditched his girlfriend.
他把女朋友给甩了。
[动词 + 名词短语, 单独使用的动词] if a pilot ditches an aircraft, or if it ditches , it lands in the sea in an emergency 使（飞机）在海上紧急降落；（在海上）迫降
Combining all these benefits and drawbacks into a single figure is tricky. Paul Eremenko, Airbus’s chief technology officer, says a single-aisle hybrid electric airliner would be “safe, efficient and cost-effective”. Zunum’s Dr Kumar is prepared to go further and talk numbers. For airlines, the important figure is the CASM—cost per available seat mile. This is obtained by dividing operating costs by capacity, measured as the number of seats in an aircraft multiplied by miles flown. Zunum claims that its plane will have a CASM of 8 cents. Oliver Wyman, a firm of aviation analysts, reckons that the average for American airlines in 2016 was 11 cents.
reckon
(informal,especially British English) to think sth or have an opinion about sth 想；认为
[动词 (+ that从句)]
I reckon (that) I'm going to get that job.
我认为我会得到那份工作。
He'll be famous one day. What do you reckon (= do you agree) ?
总有一天，他会成为名人的。你觉得呢？
[单独使用的动词]
It's worth a lot of money, I reckon.
我想这值很多钱。
‘They'll never find out. ’ ‘ You reckon? ’ (= I think you may be wrong about that)
“他们永远不会发现。”“是吗？”
be reckoned (not used in the progressive tenses 不用于进行时) to be generally considered to be sth 被普遍认为是；被看作是
[动词 + 名词短语 + 带to的不定式]
Children are reckoned to be more sophisticated nowadays.
人们认为今天的孩子比过去世故。
[动词 + 名词短语 + 名词短语]
It was generally reckoned a success.
大家都认为那是一次成功。
[also 动词 + 名词短语 + 形容词]
[动词 + 带to的不定式](British English,informal) to expect to do sth 料想；预计；指望
We reckon to finish by ten.
我们预计十点钟以前结束。
~ sth (at sth) to calculate an amount, a number, etc. 估算；估计；计算
[动词 + 名词短语]
The age of the earth is reckoned at about 4 600 million years.
估计地球的年龄大约为46亿年。
[动词 (+ that从句)]
They reckon (that) their profits are down by at least 20%.
他们估计利润至少下降了20%。
[动词 + 名词短语 + 带to的不定式]
The journey was reckoned to take about two hours.
路上估计要花大约两个小时。
And like electric cars, electric aircraft would offer other benefits that are worth having, but harder to quantify. They would be quieter than jet-powered planes, which may be attractive for airports near big cities. They would be cleaner too, and become more so as more electricity is produced from low-carbon sources. Sceptics doubt the weight problem can ever be properly overcome; cynics suspect that these projects are motivated by PR. But few people predicted the pace of electrification in other areas. If electric aircraft can offer faster door-to-door journeys avoiding crowded hub airports and provide cheaper fares at the same time, then air travellers will be happy for the sparks to fly.
skeptic
a person who usually doubts that claims or statements are true, especially those that other people believe in 惯持怀疑态度的人；怀疑论者
cynic
a person who believes that people only do things to help themselves, rather than for good or sincere reasons 认为人皆自私的人；愤世嫉俗者
a person who does not believe that sth good will happen or that sth is important 悲观者；怀疑者
Cynics will say that there is not the slightest chance of success.
悲观的人会说根本不可能取得成功。
fare
[可数名词, 不可数名词] the money that you pay to travel by bus, plane, taxi, etc. 车费；船费；飞机票价
bus/taxi fares 公共汽车费；出租汽车费
train/rail fares 火车票价
Children travel (at) half fare. 儿童交通费减半。
When do they start paying full fare?
他们什么时候开始买全票？
[可数名词] a passenger in a taxi 出租车乘客
The taxi driver picked up a fare at the station.
出租车司机在车站接了一名乘客。
[不可数名词] (formal) food that is offered as a meal 饭菜
The restaurant provides good traditional fare.
这家餐厅提供传统风味佳馔。
spark
[可数名词] a very small burning piece of material that is produced by sth that is burning or by hitting two hard substances together 火花；火星
A shower of sparks flew up the chimney.
烟囱里飞出无数火星。
[可数名词] a small flash of light produced by an electric current 电火花
sparks from a faulty light switch
漏电的电灯开关发出的火花
A spark ignites the fuel in a car engine.
汽车发动机中的燃料由火花点燃。
[可数名词, 常用单数形式] ~ of sth a small amount of a particular quality or feeling （指品质或感情）一星，丝毫，一丁点
同义词 glimmer
a spark of hope
一线希望
[不可数名词, 单数] a special quality of energy, intelligence or enthusiasm that makes sb very clever, amusing, etc. 生气；活力；才华；热情
As a writer he seemed to lack creative spark.
作为作家，他似乎缺少创作激情。
[可数名词] an action or event that causes sth important to develop, especially trouble or violence 诱因；导火线
the sparks of revolution
革命的导火线
[可数名词, 常用复数] feelings of anger or excitement between people 愤怒的情感；激烈的情绪
Sparks flew at the meeting (= there was a lot of argument) .
会上争论激烈，火星四溅。
[动词 + 名词短语] ~ sth (off) to cause sth to start or develop, especially suddenly 引发；触发
The proposal would spark a storm of protest around the country.
这一提案将引发全国性的抗议浪潮。
The riots were sparked off by the arrest of a local leader.
骚乱是因逮捕一名当地领导人而触发的。
Winds brought down power lines, sparking a fire.
大风刮断电线，引起了火灾。
[单独使用的动词] to produce small flashes of fire or electricity 冒火花；飞火星；产生电火花
a sparking, crackling fire
噼啪直响、火星飞迸的火
(figurative)The game suddenly sparked to life.
比赛突然变得激烈起来。
spark up sth
(British English) to begin a conversation, an argument, a friendship, etc., often suddenly 激起，突然引发（交谈、争论、友谊等）
I tried to spark up a conversation with her.
我设法跟她攀谈起来。
英语短语学习
that is a problem which can be designed around 问题是可以解决的。