China’s New Jetliner, the Comac C919, Takes Flight for First Time
C919首次商飞，
中国航空业迎里程碑，
挑战犹存
第一段：
SHANGHAI — China’s commercial aerospace dreams took wing on Friday, as the first Chinese-built passenger jetliner completed its first public flight test, embodying the country’s ambitions to take on the industry champions, Boeing and Airbus.
上海——周五，中国首架国产客机进行公开首飞，带着中国向行业领军者波音公司和空中客车公司发起挑战的野心，中国的商业航空梦想也随之起飞。
With a brisk breeze blowing through light smog under overcast skies, a large crowd of government officials and aerospace executives gathered to watch as the C919, white with a green-and-blue striped tail, underwent a lengthy preflight check, then rumbled down a runway and into the sky. The aircraft landed safely, and Comac, its manufacturer, declared it a success. But the program still has a long journey ahead.
随着一阵轻快的微风吹过阴天中的些许烟雾，一大批政府官员和航空航天业高层聚集在一起，观看这架机身为白色、尾部有蓝绿条纹的C919经过漫长的飞行前检查，隆隆作响地沿着跑道飞向天空。试飞持续了将近一个小时。飞机平安降落；它的制造商中国商用飞机(Comac)宣布试飞成功，但这个项目仍然有很长的路要走。
The C919 is years — if not decades — behind aircraft made by Airbus and Boeing that are cheaper to fly and easier to maintain. Safety regulators in Europe, the United States and elsewhere still have to certify the plane before it can be sold outside China. And including parts like the engines, its cockpit and its belly, the C919 is filled with gear made by Western industrial giants like General Electric and Honeywell.
相较于空中客车公司和波音公司制造的成本更便宜且更易维护的飞机，这架飞机的建成落后了几年、甚至是几十年。欧洲、美国和其他地方的安全监管机构仍然必须对飞机进行认证，该飞机才能在中国境外更广泛地销售。包括引擎、驾驶舱和机腹的零部件在内，C919内部充满了西方工业巨头如通用电气(General Electric)和霍尼韦尔(Honeywell)制造的装置。
But on Friday, none of that mattered. For a country that only 40 years ago was one of the poorest in the world, the C919 symbolized the industrial might of an emerging superpower — and its dream to dominate a new technological era.
但是在星期五，这些都不重要了。对于一个在40年前还是世界上最穷困之一的国家来说，C919的首次飞行象征着新兴超级大国的工业实力，同时也体现了其主导新技术时代的梦想。
1. 过水门：water solute 水门礼
2. Jetliner大型喷气式客机 aviation industry航空行业 civil aviation民航 aircraft集合名词/airplane飞机 ，airline航空公司 airway/air，airliner大型客机，aerospace航空航天（两个领域） space aircraft，space shuttle航天飞机
3. Take wing起飞 ，无复数，my dream will take wing.梦想起飞
4. Take on sb向谁发起挑战 challenge sb ,team A take on team B
5. Industry champions领军人物 industry insider/leader，不是industrial ；culture minister，不是cultural 名词+名词
6. Overcast skies阴天 20 blue skies蓝天可数
7. Watch as sb did sth，watch sb do/doing sth
8. Years-if not decades-behind 几年甚至是更多 此处没用even ；it will take 3 days-if not ..
9. Cheaper to fly飞行成本更便宜，具体翻译，主要是燃料
10. Safety regulator安全监管机构，拟人化 toy maker，car maker，major out wide investor,a manufacture 大国（数量）向强国（质量）转变
11. Certify the plane适航认证 air worthiness certificate
12. Gear ，gear up for sth:积极紧锣密鼓的准备
13. Sth is mighty气势强大的，strength
第二段：
Planning for the 158-seat C919 began more than a decade ago, but the plane has become a centerpiece of the country’s more recent ambitions to become largely self-sufficient in many high-tech goods and to export them as well. That plan, called Made in China 2025, worries many Western businesses who fear competing against government-supported Chinese companies.
针对有着158个座位的C919的规划在十余年前就开始了，但这种飞机却成了最近才出炉的《中国制造2025》计划的一场重头戏。该计划的目标是让中国基本实现很多高科技产品的自给自足，还要把它们卖到海外。这个计划让许多西方公司担心，担心它们将不得不与接受政府支持的中国公司竞争。
“We used to believe that it was better to buy than to build, better to rent than to buy,” President Xi told workers during a recent visit here. “We need to spend more on researching and manufacturing our own airliners.”
“过去有人说造不如买、买不如租，这个逻辑要倒过来，”习主席最近前去参观时表示，“要花更多资金来研发、制造自己的大飞机。”
China’s investment in civilian aircraft manufacturing is enormous. The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, better known as Comac, unveiled the extent of its activities for the first time on Thursday, showing off a complex of more than 110 buildings. Only after building six test planes will Comac decide whether it is ready for large-scale production.
中国在民用飞机制造方面投资颇巨。中国商业飞机有限责任公司（简称中国商飞）于周四首次展示了它取得的最新进展，其中包括尚在组装中的第二架C919的样子。只有在制造出六架试用的飞机之后，中国商飞才会确定自己是否做好了大规模生产的准备。
Comac says it already has 570 orders from 23 buyers. But those have almost entirely come from Chinese companies and a couple of small overseas air carriers with links to China. A notable exception is an order for 20 planes from General Electric Capital Aviation Services; G.E. is also a big supplier to the C919 program.
中国商飞说，公司已获23家客户共570架订单。但这些订单几乎全部来自中国公司以及海外的几家与中国有关的小航空公司。一个很大的例外是，通用电气资本航空服务公司(General Electric Capital Aviation Services)订购了20架飞机；通用电气也是C919项目的一个大供应商。
The C919 is designed to compete with the Airbus 320 and the Boeing 737, single-aisle planes that are the workhorses of the world’s airlines. For Comac, the plane represents the culmination of decades of work; for Airbus and Boeing, it is a challenge to a profitable duopoly that has endured for decades.
C919旨在与空客320和波音737竞争，这两种单通道飞机都是世界各地很多航空公司机群的中坚力量。对中国商飞来说，C919是数十年工作的结晶；对空客和波音来说，持续了数十年且有利可图的双寡头垄断局面面临挑战。
But it is unclear that China can produce aircraft that are as efficient and reliable as even the current generation of Boeings and Airbuses.
目前尚不清楚中国能否制造出燃油效率和可靠程度堪与哪怕是当前这代波音和空客相媲美的飞机。
China has learned a lot in recent years about how to build single-aisle planes by making many parts for Boeing 737s and by assembling entire A320s for Airbus. But the country’s dream of becoming a competitor in the global market for commercial aircraft started in 1972, when President Nixon visited China in a Boeing 707.
近年来，中国通过制造波音737的很多零部件以及为空客整机组装A320，学到了很多关于如何制造单通道飞机的知识和经验。但中国成为全球商用飞机市场上的一个竞争者的梦想发端于1972年，也就是尼克松乘坐一架波音707访华的那一年。
1. centerpiece核心，突出位置 a centerpiece of sth (the plan)..the core
2. Self-sufficient 自给自足 stranglehold 掐脖子
3. Better to buy than to build,..现在的逻辑应该反过来
4. Research名词，研究 research and development 还可及物动词 对..进行细致的研究
5. Unveil公共展示 the progress of doing sth
6. Show off展示 complex of /compound of建筑群，不是复杂的
7. Only after doing sth ..will..只有.. 才..,only在句首的时候较少；we must do sth if we are to do sth else..
8. Air carriers
9. Supply sth to sth,介词的使用 a supplier to ..
10. Workhorse主力，老黄牛，踏实肯干的人 mainstay中坚力量
11. Culmination结晶，口语常用 culminate in sth=result in
12. Duopoly双寡头垄断的局面，此处局面不需要翻译，中文可以补充出来
13. Endure sth及物动词 ，忍受... last..持续
14. Boeings and airbuses 变成复数了 737s加复数变成一个总称
15. In a boeing 707,一架，介词是in,不是on
第三段：
Arnold Barnett, the dean of aviation safety statistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said that China had had only one fatal crash in the past decade, even as its aviation sector expanded. One person has been killed per 70 million passengers boarded in China, compared with one passenger per 25 million boardings in the West, he said.
麻省理工学院(Massachusetts Institute of Technology)航空安全统计系主任阿诺德·I·巴尼特(Arnold I.Barnett)说，中国过去十年里只发生过一起造成人员伤亡的坠机事件，尽管其航空业已经发展成了全球第二繁忙的，仅次于美国。他说，在中国，乘飞机出行的乘客死亡率是七千万分之一，而相比之下，西方是两千五百万分之一。
For China, the C919 is just the beginning. Even if the plane proves less fuel-efficient than Western alternatives, the state-controlled airline industry may still be required to buy it, and the Chinese aviation market in the coming years is expected to rival only the American market in size and perhaps surpass it.
对中国来说，C919只是一个开始。实际上，即便事实证明它的油耗比西方客机高，中国由官方控制的航空业也许依然会被要求购买。在接下来的几年里，预计只有美国的市场能在规模上与中国航空市场一争高下，并且可能会被后者超越。
And although the plane represents a new challenger for aircraft sales, Airbus and Boeing, increasingly dependent on Chinese airlines for sales as well as on Chinese suppliers for parts, welcomed its arrival.
尽管C919代表着对飞机销售的新挑战，但空客和波音均表示欢迎。这两家公司在销量上越来越依赖中国航空公司，在零部件上越来越依赖中国供应商。
Comac is already looking past the C919 to the design and manufacture of a wide-body jet that would compete with larger, more profitable planes like the Boeing 747 and the A340. Steven Lien, the president for Asia at Honeywell’s aerospace division, said that Russia and China were in the final stages of negotiating a plan to jointly design and produce it.
中国商飞已经越过C919，开始着眼于设计和制造一架能够与波音747和A340这种更大、利润更高的飞机竞争的宽体客机。霍尼韦尔航空航天集团亚太区总裁林世伟(Steven Lien)表示，俄罗斯和中国正处在通过协商达成计划，联合设计和制造一架宽体客机的最后阶段。
Comac, based in Shanghai, is under the direct control of China’s cabinet. The state-owned enterprise that jointly owns Comac and is most closely linked to it is the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, or AVIC, which makes China’s fighters and bombers. It is also G.E.’s joint venture partner in producing sophisticated avionics equipment for the C919.
总部设在上海的中国商飞直接受国务院领导。中国商飞的所有者之一、与其关系最为密切的是国企中国航空工业集团公司（简称中航工业）。中航工业是中国的战斗机和轰炸机制造商，也正是它与通用电气成立合资企业，为C919生产精密的航电设备。
Honeywell expects $15 billion in sales to the C919 program during its 20 or more years of production. But the company plans to adhere to Western export control regulations in this process, Mr. Lien said.“We follow them very, very closely,” he said, “and we would never take a shortcut.”
在C919飞机20年或更久的生产中，霍尼韦尔预计该公司针对这一项目的销售额会达到150亿美元。但林世伟说，在这个过程中，霍尼韦尔计划密切关注西方的出口管制规定。
“我们会非常非常严格地遵守它们，”他说，
“永远不会抄近路。”
1. one fatal crash简明翻译，不用翻译事件
2. Be boarded被动 ..is boarding.. boardings与前面避免重复，做成替换 file a report 注意英文中巧妙的变化
3. Sth proves to be/do 事实证明
4. Western peer/counterparts，alternatives 多几个可替换词
5. Arrival事件的到来，或者指人 tourist arrival游客的抵达，跨境，不指国内
6. Narrow bodies /wide bodies窄体，宽体飞机
7. The +型号 指这一类
