In 1909 an English newspaper offered £ 1,000 to the first man to fly across the English Channel in an aeroplane. Today, modern jets cross it in minutes. But at that time it still seemed a good distance. The race to win the money soon became a race between two men. Both were very colourful.

　　1909一个英国报纸提供£1000到第一个飞越飞机的英文频道。今天，现代飞机横在几分钟内。但那时它还似乎是一个很好的距离。比赛赢来的钱很快就变成了一个种族之间的两个男人。都是非常丰富多彩的。

　　One was Louis Bleriot. He owned a factory in France that made motor car lamps. He was already well known as a pilot (飞行员) because he had had accidents several times. Some people laughed at him. One man said, “He may not be the first to fly across the Channel but he will certainly be the first to die in an accident!” But Bleriot was really a good and brave pilot. He also had many good ideas about aeroplane design.

　　一个是路易斯Bleriot。他在法国拥有一个工厂，汽车灯。他已经是知名的作为一个飞行员(飞行员)因为他已经几次事故。有些人嘲笑他。有人说，“他不可能飞越海峡的第一但他肯定会死于一场车祸，第一!“但开始确实是一个很好的和勇敢的飞行员。他也有飞机设计的许多很好的主意。

　　The other man was Hubert Latham. He was half French and half English. He took up flying when his doctors told him he had only a year to live. “Oh, well,” he said, “if I’ m going to die soon, I think I shall have a dangerous and interesting life now.” Latham was the first to try the flight (飞行) across the Channel. Ten kilometres from the French coast, his plane had some trouble. It fell down into the water and began to sink under the water. A boat reached Latham just in time. He was sitting calmly on the wing and was coolly lighting a cigarette (香烟). Bleriot took off six days later. He flew into some very bad weather and very low cloud. He somehow got to the English side and landed in a farmer’s field. When he did so, a customs (海关) officer rushed up to his plane. Planes have changed since then, but customs officers have not. “Have you anything to declare?” The officer demanded.

　　另一个人是休伯特Latham。他是英法混血儿。他拿起了飞行时，他的医生告诉他只有一年的生命。“哦，好的，”他说，“如果我快死了，我想我将有一个危险的和有趣的生活了。”后来有尝试飞行第一(飞行)海峡。从法国海岸十公里，他的飞机上就有一些麻烦。它掉到了水，开始在水中下沉。船到莱瑟姆只是时间。他平静地坐在机翼上，冷静地点燃一支烟(香烟)。布莱里奥起飞六天后。他飞到一些非常恶劣的天气和非常低的云。他到了英国一边，降落在一个农民的田地。当他这么做的时候，海关(海关)官冲到他的面。飞机已经改变自那时以来，但海关人员不。“你有什么要申报的吗?“长官。