期颐之年,极限跳伞
作者: 孙启禄1 On May 29, Rut Larsson became the oldest skydiver in the world. Rut Larsson is 103 years old. And yet she has just become the oldest parachutist in the world. This Swedish grandmother realized her dream at last. She jumped at the Motala airfield, 240 km southwest of Stockholm.
2 When Rut Larsson was in her 90s, she became fascinated with flying and started experimenting with paragliding and ballooning as a way to enhance her physical fitness. In 2019, she did her first parachute jump at 101 years old. But it was not a world record. In the same year, American Kathryn Hodges completed a jump at 103 years old.
3 Now Rut Larsson has passed the respectable age and was ready to take over the world record at 14 oclock on Sunday, in the same place where she jumped three years ago, just at the Motala airfield. Rut Larsson completed her worldrecord jump accompanied by parachutist Joackim Johansson in Motala. Her family and friends were there to celebrate her accomplishment, along with a judge from the Guinness Book of World Records.
4 With this jump, she became the oldest skydiver in the world, at 103 years and 259 days, improving by 78 days the record held so far by an American of 103 years and 181 days.
5 “Slowly sliding down from the top, I found that nice,” said the record holder. “An American broke the record. So I had to beat the Americans record,” laughs Rut Larsson. “It was wonderful to do this. I had been thinking about it for a long time.”
一、阅读自测
1. What does the first paragraph mainly tell us?
A. The dream of a Swedish grandmother.
B. The popularity of skydiving in Sweden.
C. The worlds oldest skydiving record holder.
D. The experience of a Swedish grandmother.
2. What can we learn from the second paragraph?
A. An American broke Larssons record in 2019.
B. Larsson began to learn flying at the age of 90.
C. Larsson attempted to set a world record at the age of 101.
D. Hodges did a parachute jump in 2019.
3. What does the underlined word “it” in paragraph 5 probably refer to?
A. Learning skydiving. B. Breaking the record.
C. Seeing the record holder. D. Celebrating Larssons success.
4. Which of the following words can best describe Larsson?
A. Generous. B. Serious.
C. Confident. D. Knowledgeable.
二、语篇解码
本文的主题语境为“人与自我”,属于“挑战自我”的范畴。103岁的瑞典老奶奶于5月29日与一名跳伞员成功进行双人高空跳伞,这位瑞典老奶奶也因此成为世界上最年长的跳伞者。
三、语言学习
(一)语料荟萃
(二)语句分析
1. Now Rut Larsson has passed the respectable age and was ready to take over the world record at 14 oclock on Sunday, in the same place where she jumped three years ago, just at the Motala airfield. 现在,鲁特·拉松已经到了一定的高龄,周日14点,她准备在三年前跳下的同一个地方——穆塔拉机场——打破世界纪录。
【点石成金】本句是一个主从复合句。where引导的是限制性定语从句,并在从句中作地点状语。
2. Her family and friends were there to celebrate her accomplishment, along with a judge from the Guinness Book of World Records. 她的家人和朋友以及《吉尼斯世界纪录大全》的一位裁判都在那里庆祝她的成功。
【点石成金】本句是“主系表”结构,to celebrate her accomplishment是动词不定式短语作目的状语,along with a judge...是介词短语作状语。