離開
進入《中英對照讀新聞》Google co-founder is quietly building the world’s biggest aircraft Google共同創辦人正悄悄打造全球最大飛行器
Google共同創辦人布林（Sergey Brin）正進行一項高科技飛船的建造計畫。（歐新社）
◎魏國金
Google co-founder Sergey Brin is working on a high-tech airship in Silicon Valley — a behemoth that will be the largest aircraft in the world, according to a report.
報導指出，Google共同創辦人布林正在矽谷進行一項高科技飛船的建造計畫 —一個將成為全球最大飛行器的龐然大物。
The dirigible will likely be almost 657 feet long, making it by far the largest aircraft today – though smaller than Germany’s iconic Zeppelins of the 1930s, or the US Navy’s airship USS Macon.
這艘可駕駛的飛船可能長達近657英尺，使它顯然成為當今最大的飛行器—儘管比1930年代德國代表性的齊柏林飛船，或美國海軍飛船「梅肯號」小。
The Macon, which crashed in 1935, was 784 feet long. The ill-fated Hindenburg, which was more than 800 feet long, crashed in an infamous disaster in New Jersey two years later. Today, by comparison, the Russian Antonov An-225 Mriya is 276-feet long and the Airbus A380 is about 240 feet long.
1935年墜毀的梅肯號有784英尺長。2年後，長逾800英尺、命運乖舛的（齊柏林）興登堡號在新澤西州一場聲名狼藉的災難中墜毀。相較之下，現今的俄羅斯安托諾夫An-225型運輸機「夢幻號」長276英尺，空中巴士A380客機則約240英尺長。
Brin, who has remained mum on the project, is personally funding the airship. He wants the mammoth aircraft to be able to deliver supplies on humanitarian missions to remote locations — but it also will serve as a luxurious intercontinental “air yacht” for his relatives and pals, sources told The Guardian. The project will cost $100 million to $150 million to complete, one source said.
對這項計畫保持緘默的布林獨資打造這艘飛船。他希望這艘龐大的飛行器可執行運送物資到偏遠地區的人道任務—不過，它也將作為他親朋好友的豪華洲際「空中快艇」，消息來源告訴「衛報」。這項計畫將斥資1億至1.5億美元，一名消息人士說。
新聞辭典
by far：明顯的。例句：Climate change is by far the most urgent issue of the age.（氣候變遷顯然是當代最緊迫的問題。）
mum：沉默的、無言的。例句：Keep mum about this.（這事別聲張出去。）
mammoth ：巨大的、龐大的。例如：The escalating corruption scandal has caused the mammoth political crisis（越演越烈的貪瀆醜聞，已引發重大的政治危機。）
