In 1908 Lord Northcliffe offered a prize of $1000 to the first man who would fly across the English Channel. Over a year passed before the first attempt was made, on July 19th, 1909, in the early morning, Hubert Latham took off from the French coast in his plane the ‘Antonetee IV’.
    在1908年诺斯克利夫勋爵悬赏1000美金征集第一个飞跃英吉利海峡的人。一年过去，在1909年7月19日，胡伯特·拉赞开着‘安东尼四号’从法国海岸起飞，才进行了此次尝试。
    PS：offer a prize of $… to …，悬赏多少钱去做什么事。

    He had travelled only 7 miles across the Channel when his engine failed and he was forced to land on sea. The ‘Antoinette’ floated on the water until Latham was picked up by a ship.
    他横跨海峡只飞了七英里，发动机就坏了。他只能进行海上迫降。直至他被救上船，“安东尼号”都一直浮在水面上。
    PS：be forced to land on sea，进行海上迫降。

    Two days later, Louis Bleriot arrived near Calais with a plane called ‘No. XI’. Bleriot had been making planes since 1905 and this was his latest model. A week before, he had completed a successful overland flight during which he covered twenty-six miles.
    两天之后，路易斯·布莱里奥驾驶一架名为“11 号”的飞机来到加来附近。布莱里奥从 1905年起便开始研制飞机，“11 号”飞机是他制作的新型号。一周以前，他完成了一段26英里的陆上飞行。

    Latham, however, did not give up easily. He, too, arrived near Calais on the same day with a new ‘Antoinette’. It looked as if there would be an exciting race across the Channel.
    但是拉赞不会轻言放弃。他也在同一天驾驶者新“安东尼号”来到加莱。看起来好像会有异常激烈的穿越海峡的比赛。
    PS：as if做虚拟语气，后边表示将来可能发生的事，故使用would be。

    Both planes were going to take off on July 25th, but Latham failed to get up early enough, After making a short test flight at 4:15 a.m., Bleriot set off half an hour later. His great flight lasted thirty-seven minutes.
    两架飞机都打算在7月25日从加莱出发，但是拉赞起床晚了。布莱里奥在凌晨4点15分进行了简短的测试，然后半小时后起飞。他伟大的飞行持续了37分钟。

    When he landed near Dover, the first person to greet him was a local policeman. Latham made another attempt a week later and got within half a mile of Dover, but he was unlucky again. His engine failed and he landed on the sea for the second time.
    当他在德文郡附近降落时，第一个和他打招呼的是当地的警察。一周后，拉赞又试了一次，飞到离德文郡不到半英里的地方，但那时他还是很不幸。他的引擎因再次坏掉第二次降落在水面上。
    PS：for the second time，第二次。