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 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.

    hovercraftn.  氣墊船

    Norfolk Broadsn.  諾福克郡的湖泊地區

    cushionn.  座墊

    ringv.  圍

    Solentn.  （英國的）蘇倫特海峽

    sensationn.  轟動

    dunen.  沙丘

    plantationn.  種植園

    hovertrainn.  氣墊火車

    本世紀已研制出許多新奇的交通工具，其中最新奇的要數氣墊船了。1953年，有一位50多歲名叫克里斯托弗。科克雷的原電子工程師，改行在諾福克郡的湖泊地區從事造船業，他向英國政府和工業界提出了他研究多年的一項計劃。他的設想是：用一個低壓空氣或軟墊來支撐船體，軟墊周圍用高壓空氣環繞。自那以后，人們很難決定是否應該將這種運載工具列為輪船、飛機，或是陸上交通工具，因為它是介于船和飛機之間。作為一個船舶技師，科克雷爾在尋找解決波浪阻力的方法，因為波浪阻力浪費掉了船在水面行駛的大量動力，從而限制了船的速度。他的解決辦法是把船體提離水面，讓船在一個氣墊上行駛，氣墊只有一兩英尺厚。船底裝上大量環狀噴氣嘴以實現這一目的。這樣，船就能飛了，但飛不高。它的飛行限決于它所懸浮的水面或地面。

    1959年，在蘇倫特海峽進行的首次試航引起了轟動，氣墊船先是在水面上行駛，后又登上海岸，爬上沙丘，最后停在路上。后來氣墊船跨越英吉利海峽，平衡地在波浪上方行駛，波浪不再產生阻力。

    從那以后，各種各樣的氣墊船出現了，并開始了定期航行服務。氣墊船在非洲、澳大利亞等交通不發達地區特別有用。它能成為"飛行水果盤子"，把香蕉從種植園動到港口。大型的氣墊班輪或許能跨越大西洋。未來的火車或許能成為"氣墊火車"，靠氣墊在單軌上行駛而不接觸軌道，時速可達每小時300英里。氣墊船的前途是不可限量的。