原文標(biāo)題：
Aviation
Welcome to the?vertiport
A?new?type?of?air?terminal?opens?for?flying?taxis
航空
歡迎來到垂直機(jī)場(chǎng)

一種新型空中候機(jī)樓為飛行的士開放

Urban air-travel takes a step closer
離城市空中旅行更進(jìn)一步

[Paragraph 1]
AS ?THE MORNING mist slowly clears over Pontoise-Cormeilles, a regional ?airport 40km north-west of central Paris, it is time to check in at the ?vertiport.
晨霧緩緩消散在巴黎市中心西北40公里處的龐圖瓦茲-科梅耶地區(qū)機(jī)場(chǎng)，是時(shí)候在這個(gè)垂直機(jī)場(chǎng)辦理登機(jī)了。
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This is the name the aviation industry has adopted to describe a new type of air terminal.Vertiports will be used by eVTOLs, or flying taxis as they are sometimes called.

垂直機(jī)場(chǎng)是航空業(yè)用來描述一種新型航站樓的名稱，它將為飛行的士服務(wù)。

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As the name indicates, these aircraft take off and land vertically, like helicopters.
顧名思義，這些飛機(jī)可以和直升機(jī)一樣垂直起飛和降落。
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But instead of being powered by jet turbines they rely on sets of electrically driven rotors, much like hovering drones.
但它們不是由噴氣渦輪機(jī)提供動(dòng)力，而是依靠電力驅(qū)動(dòng)的旋翼，很像盤旋的無人機(jī)。
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[Paragraph 2]
Pontoise-Cormeilles’ vertiport, which opened on November 10th, so far serves only as a prototype—for, being the first of its kind in Europe, it has no matching facility?to act as a destination.
龐圖瓦茲-科梅爾的垂直機(jī)場(chǎng)于11月10日開放，到目前為止還只是一個(gè)原型。作為歐洲第一個(gè)這樣的機(jī)場(chǎng)，它沒有相應(yīng)的設(shè)施來充當(dāng)目的地。
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But Groupe ADP, which manages Paris’s airports, including Pontoise-Cormeilles, hopes that will soon change.
巴黎機(jī)場(chǎng)集團(tuán)（ADP）希望改變現(xiàn)狀。ADP負(fù)責(zé)管理巴黎的機(jī)場(chǎng)，其中包括蓬圖瓦茲-科梅耶地區(qū)機(jī)場(chǎng)。?
The ?Paris Olympics open in July 2024. By then the firm plans for at least ?two routes to be operating in the region, with a total of ten air taxis, ?each flying two or three trips an hour.
巴黎奧運(yùn)會(huì)將于2024年7月開幕。屆時(shí)，該集團(tuán)計(jì)劃在該地區(qū)至少運(yùn)營兩條航線，總共有10輛飛行的士，每小時(shí)飛行2-3趟。?
These would link the Olympic Village with conventional airports and also with the Paris heliport?at Issy-les-Moulineaux, on the southern side of the city near an emergency?medical centre.
這些設(shè)施將把奧運(yùn)村與傳統(tǒng)機(jī)場(chǎng)連接起來，并與巴黎南部靠近緊急醫(yī)療中心的伊斯-勒斯-穆利諾的直升機(jī)場(chǎng)連接起來。
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[Paragraph 3]
Quick exit
快速出口
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The terminal building itself is compact—about as big as a medium-sized apartment.
候機(jī)樓本身很袖珍，約一個(gè)中型公寓大小。
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The idea is that, having bought a ticket using a mobile-phone app, a passenger can check in rapidly and paperlessly.
其理念是，乘客使用手機(jī)應(yīng)用程序購買了機(jī)票，就可以快速、無紙化地辦理登機(jī)手續(xù)。
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A facial-recognition scan confirms identity and a floor sensor measures weight.
面部識(shí)別掃描確認(rèn)乘客身份，地板傳感器測(cè)量重量。
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This ?lets the craft, sitting on a pad just outside, calculate its load so ?that it knows how much power will be needed for the journey, and thus ?when its batteries will require topping up.
這使得飛行出租車可以停在外面的墊子上，以計(jì)算它的負(fù)載，從而知道整個(gè)旅程需要多少電力，從而知道它的電池何時(shí)需要充電。
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There should be barely enough time to grab a cup of coffee before the less-than-20-minute hop downtown, avoiding the snarling?rush-hour traffic below.

市中心上空飛行避開了地面的交通高峰期，全程不足20分鐘，應(yīng)該是沒有時(shí)間讓你喝杯咖啡消磨一下了。

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[Paragraph 4]
If a passenger spends more than ten or 15 minutes in the terminal?then something has gone wrong, says Duncan Walker, boss of Skyports, the British firm that built the facility.
Skyports是一家建造該設(shè)施的英國公司，它的老板鄧肯·沃克表示，如果乘客在航站樓停留的時(shí)間超過10或15分鐘，那么一定是哪個(gè)環(huán)節(jié)就出了問題。?
The eVTOL flying around outside it is made by Volocopter, a German company.
德國沃洛科普特公司制造電動(dòng)垂直起降飛行器（eVTOL）。?
Skyports has opened ?a similar vertiport in Marina, California, which is being used by Joby ?Aviation, an American outfit that is also developing a flying taxi, and ?is planning others in places that include London and Singapore.
“天空港”已經(jīng)在加州的瑪麗娜建造了一個(gè)類似的垂直機(jī)場(chǎng)，也計(jì)劃在倫敦和新加坡等地建機(jī)場(chǎng)。美國的“喬比”航空公司正在研發(fā)一種飛行出租車，它也在使用加州的垂直機(jī)場(chǎng)。

[Paragraph 5]
In ?a dense urban environment, a vertiport needs to take up as little space ?as possible, which is why people will not be encouraged to linger.
在人口密集的市區(qū)，一個(gè)垂直機(jī)場(chǎng)需盡可能地少占用空間，這也是為什么不鼓勵(lì)人們?cè)跈C(jī)場(chǎng)逗留。
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And there is another difference from either a conventional airport or a heliport: silence.
此外，與傳統(tǒng)機(jī)場(chǎng)和直升機(jī)機(jī)場(chǎng)的另一個(gè)區(qū)別是：安靜。?
As ?the eVTOL flies overhead it is strikingly?quieter than a helicopter ?that landed near the main airport building a little earlier.

剛剛有一架直升機(jī)在機(jī)場(chǎng)主樓附近降落，頭頂飛行的飛行出租車比那直升機(jī)的噪音要小得多。

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“That’s your licence to operate in city centres,” says Mr Walker.
沃克表示:“這一點(diǎn)很適合市中心。”
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Not ?only are flying taxis less noisy than helicopters, but if recharged ?from a renewable source of electricity they are greener and, being ?mechanically?simpler, a lot cheaper to run.
飛行出租車不僅比直升機(jī)噪音小，而且如果用可再生能源充電，它們更環(huán)保，而且由于它們機(jī)械結(jié)構(gòu)更簡單，運(yùn)行成本更低。
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[Paragraph 6]
Operating costs should fall even further, for eVTOLs are readily adaptable to autonomous flight.
飛行出租車更容易適應(yīng)自動(dòng)飛行，運(yùn)營成本也會(huì)下降。
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That frees up the pilot’s seat for an extra passenger.
這樣一來，飛行員的座位就空出來了，可以多坐一名乘客。
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At first, however, regulators are expected to grant airworthiness?certificates only to flying taxis with pilots on board.
不過，預(yù)計(jì)監(jiān)管機(jī)構(gòu)最初只會(huì)向有飛行員的飛行出租車頒發(fā)適航證書。
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This ?will allow experience to be gained and the reliability of the craft to ?be tested before they are permitted to do without the pilot.
在無人駕駛被批準(zhǔn)前，對(duì)飛行器的可靠性進(jìn)行測(cè)試和逐漸積累經(jīng)驗(yàn)是我們所需要的。
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（恭喜讀完，本篇英語詞匯量520左右）
原文出自：2022年11月19日《The Economist》Science & technology版塊。

精讀筆記來源于：自由英語之路

本文翻譯整理: Maree

本文編輯校對(duì): Irene
僅供個(gè)人英語學(xué)習(xí)交流使用。

【補(bǔ)充資料】（來自于網(wǎng)絡(luò)）
巴黎機(jī)場(chǎng)集團(tuán)(Groupe ADP)，原名巴黎機(jī)場(chǎng)(法語:Aéroports de Paris)法國的一家機(jī)場(chǎng)建設(shè)管理公司。
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eVTOL，是 ?Electric Vertical Takeoff and ?Landing的縮寫，電動(dòng)垂直起降飛行器。目前國內(nèi)將eVTOL飛行器稱為飛行汽車，主要用于城市空中交通，是目前熱門的投資領(lǐng)域。近年來，eVTOL飛行器開發(fā)吸引了包括航空航天企業(yè)、汽車行業(yè)、運(yùn)輸行業(yè)、政府、軍方以及學(xué)術(shù)界的廣泛關(guān)注。eVTOL未來潛在應(yīng)用涉及城市客運(yùn)（UAM）、區(qū)域客運(yùn)（RAM）、貨運(yùn)、個(gè)人飛行器、緊急醫(yī)療服務(wù)等多種場(chǎng)景模式。
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【重點(diǎn)句子】（3?個(gè)）
As the name indicates, these aircraft take off and land vertically, like helicopters.
顧名思義，這些飛機(jī)可以和直升機(jī)一樣垂直起飛和降落。
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Not ?only are flying taxis less noisy than helicopters, but if recharged ?from a renewable source of electricity they are greener and, being ?mechanically simpler, a lot cheaper to run.
飛行出租車不僅比直升機(jī)噪音小，而且如果用可再生能源充電，它們更環(huán)保，而且由于它們機(jī)械結(jié)構(gòu)更簡單，運(yùn)行成本也更低。

This ?will allow experience to be gained and the reliability of the craft to ?be tested before they are permitted to do without the pilot.
在無人駕駛被批準(zhǔn)前，對(duì)飛行器的可靠性進(jìn)行測(cè)試和逐漸積累經(jīng)驗(yàn)是我們所需要的。