In 1963 a Lancaster bomber crashed on Wallis Island, a remote place in the South Pacific, a long way west of Samoa. The plane wasn't too badly damaged, but over the years, the crash was forgotten and the wreck remained undisturbed. Then in 1989, twenty-six years after the crash, the plane was accidentally rediscovered in an aerial survey of the island. By this time, a Lancaster bomber in reasonable condition was rare and worth rescuing. The French authorities had the plane packaged and moved in parts back to France. Now a group of enthusiasts are going to have the plane restored. It has four Rolls-Royce Merlin engines, but the group will need to have only three of them rebuilt. Imagine their surprise and delight when they broke open the packing cases and found that the fourth engine was sweet as honey -- still in perfect condition. A colony of bees had turned the engine into a hive and it was totally preserved in beeswax!
New words and expressions 生词和短语
Lancaster n. 兰开斯特
bomber n. 轰炸机
remote adj. 偏僻的
Pacific n. 太平洋
damage v. 毁坏
wreck n. 残骸
rediscover v. 重新发现
aerial adj. 航空的
survey n. 调查
rescue v. 营救
package v. 把......打包
enthusiast n. 热心人
restore v. 修复
imagine v. 想像
packing case 包装箱
colony n. 群
bee n. 蜂
hive n. 蜂房
preserve v. 保护
beeswax n. 蜂蜡
Notes on the text 课文注释
1 west of Samoa,萨摩亚群岛以西。
2 worth rescuing,有抢救的价值。
3 The French authorities had the plane packaged and moved in parts back to France.法国政府让人把飞机包装起来，一部分一部分地搬回法国