Elon Musk's vision of a Hyperloop transport system that carries passengers in pressurised tubes at near-supersonic speeds is on track to hit a milestone.
伊隆·馬斯克的超級(jí)高鐵創(chuàng)想——加壓密封車廂以近于超音速的速度運(yùn)送乘客——即將見證里程碑式的新突破。

Musk outlined his futuristic idea in a paper released in 2013, challenging innovators to bring the dream to life.
馬斯克2013年發(fā)表了一篇論文，闡述了這一未來(lái)設(shè)想，希望有富于改革創(chuàng)新精神的人將夢(mèng)想變?yōu)楝F(xiàn)實(shí)。

Hyperloop Technologies, one of the startups that picked up the gauntlet thrown by Musk, is hosting a "sneak preview of the future of transportation technology" during a two-day event billed as involving a demonstration at a test site outside Las Vegas.
初創(chuàng)企業(yè)“超級(jí)高鐵技術(shù)公司”接過(guò)了馬斯克拋出的挑戰(zhàn)。該公司近日將于拉斯維加斯郊外一處試驗(yàn)場(chǎng)進(jìn)行為期兩天的展示，給外界一個(gè)“未來(lái)交通技術(shù)預(yù)演”。

A series of tweets fired from the Twitter account @HyperloopTech teased "big announcements you don't want to miss".
公司推特賬號(hào)@HyperloopTech連發(fā)數(shù)條推文，直呼“將有重大事項(xiàng)宣布，你肯定不想錯(cuò)過(guò)”。

- Kitty Hawk moment -
基蒂霍克時(shí)刻

Late last year, Hyperloop chief executive Rob Lloyd said in an online post that the team was working toward a "Kitty Hawk" moment in 2016.
去年底，“超級(jí)高鐵技術(shù)公司”CEO羅勃·勞埃德在一篇網(wǎng)帖中稱，公司團(tuán)隊(duì)將于2016年締造“基蒂霍克”時(shí)刻（背景知識(shí)：萊特兄弟1903年于北卡羅來(lái)納的基蒂霍克首次試飛飛機(jī)成功）。

The post came with word of an agreement to use an industrial park in the city of North Las Vegas to conduct a Propulsion Open Air Test of the blazingly-fast rail system.
與網(wǎng)帖同時(shí)出現(xiàn)的還有一則消息：該公司已達(dá)成相關(guān)協(xié)議，將于拉斯維加斯北部一處工業(yè)園進(jìn)行超級(jí)高鐵的“露天推進(jìn)試驗(yàn)”。

Lloyd described it at the time as a very important step on the way to realising the full potential of Hyperloop Tech.
勞埃德當(dāng)時(shí)稱，這是全面發(fā)揮“超級(jí)高鐵技術(shù)公司”潛力的重要一步。

"Our 'Kitty Hawk' moment refers to our first full system, full scale, full speed test," Lloyd said.
他表示：“我們的‘基蒂霍克’時(shí)刻將首次展示全系統(tǒng)、全規(guī)模、全速度的高鐵試驗(yàn)?！?/p>

"This will be over two miles of tube with a controlled environment and inside that tube we will levitate a pod and accelerate it to over 700 miles (1,125 kilometers) per hour."
“我們將布置超過(guò)兩英里長(zhǎng)的隧道，把控好隧道環(huán)境。隧道內(nèi)懸浮的行駛艙，時(shí)速可達(dá)700英里（約1125公里）以上”。

- Iron Man -
鋼鐵俠

The project could connect Los Angeles and San Francisco in 35 minutes in a low-cost alternative to a high-speed rail network planned for California.
該項(xiàng)目將連接洛杉磯和舊金山，全程僅需35分鐘，而且相對(duì)于加州計(jì)劃中的高鐵線路，該項(xiàng)目費(fèi)用更低。

Musk has said he has no plans to build the system but offered the "open source design" to allow others to pursue a venture.
馬斯克已表示，他無(wú)意親身參與這種項(xiàng)目，但會(huì)把他的設(shè)計(jì)變成開源資源，供其他冒險(xiǎn)家使用。

Jon Favreau, director of "Iron Man," has referred to Musk as a modern-day "Renaissance man."
《鋼鐵俠》導(dǎo)演喬恩·費(fèi)儒認(rèn)為馬斯克是一個(gè)現(xiàn)代版的“文藝復(fù)興式人物”。

In an article for Time, Favreau said he and actor Robert Downey Jr. modeled the main character in the movie -- "genius billionaire Tony Stark" -- after the Silicon Valley star.
費(fèi)儒在一篇寫給《時(shí)代》雜志的文章中稱，影片主角之一“天才富豪托尼·斯塔克”，就是他和演員小羅伯特·唐尼以這位硅谷明星為原型創(chuàng)作的。

South Africa-born Musk has become one of America's best-known innovators, having launched a payments company, electric carmaker Tesla Motors, SpaceX and SolarCity.
出生于南非的馬斯克是美國(guó)最著名的創(chuàng)新家之一。他創(chuàng)立過(guò)支付公司、電動(dòng)汽車特斯拉、太空探索公司以及“天陽(yáng)能城市”公司。

Vocabulary
pressurised：加壓的
sneak preview：預(yù)演，試映

英文來(lái)源：AFP
編譯：杜娟