Bungy
獨一無二的挑戰
驚險刺激的體驗
輪滑蹦極 熱氣球蹦極
大膽創意 新鮮花樣
Jumping for joy
Flying high
本期關鍵詞
bungy 蹦極
單詞及詞彙
acrophobia 恐高症
spine-tingling 又驚又喜的
face one’s fears 面對自己的恐懼
do battle with one’s mind 和自己的思想作鬥爭
butterflies in your stomach 緊張的
cold feet 臨陣畏縮
exhilaration 非常興奮
scaredy-cat 膽小鬼
the Eiffel Tower 艾菲爾鐵塔
controversial 有爭議的
配音 關於蹦極的起源 以及風靡世界的狀態
The legend of Bungee jumping spans three generations. It all began with the natives of Vanuatu in the Pacific Ocean. Around 500 AD, a Vanuatu woman, in order to escape her abusive husband, climbed to the top of a koko tree and attached a kind of very elastic vine to her ankle. She threatened her husband, saying she was going to leap from the tree. Her idiotic husband climbed up the tree as well, claiming he was going to follow her down.
The result was that the elastic vine saved the woman’s life, whereas her abusive husband fell to his death. In order to remember this brave wife, the tribe constructed a 20-30 meter high tower made from tree trunks bound together with vines. Young men would jump down from the top, allowing the vine to stretch far enough for their heads to just barely touch the earth. This symbolized their courage and maturity. And this became their traditional rite of passage into adulthood, as well as their way of praying to their totem gods for safety and good harvests.
The Oxford University Dangerous Sports Club experimented with elastic cords in the 1970’s, and a video of this inspired Kiwi, AJ. Hackett to create the world’s first commercial bungee site in Queenstown.
The jumper hobbles to the edge of the platform, takes a deep breath and swan dives into space, free falling until the cord is fully extended.
Those who choose to jump push beyond and extend their personal limits. It’s an opportunity to experience something completely safe, yet utterly spine-tingling!
The unique thrill of bungee jumping quickly made it popular world wide.
配音 蹦極開山鼻祖 AJ Hackett 阿倫?約翰?哈克特
It was AJ Hackett who developed the sport of bungee jumping into the modern phenomenon it is today.
In 1988, thanks to his effort, the world’s first public bungee jumping site opened in Queenstown, New Zealand. Hackett tried bungee jumping in different locations, temperatures and heights throughout the world. For example, he tried bungee jumping from a helicopter, and from a ski lift in ?20 C. temperatures. In 1987, he even bungee jumped off the Eiffel Tower, and from this point on Hackett captured the attention of the world.
It would be impossible to obtain official permission for this particular bungee jump, so they had to sneak into the tower, avoiding the security personnel and electronic monitoring devices. They spent a great deal of time secretly observing the tower and learning about the security system. How did the supervisors monitor the tower? Where were the cameras located? What time did the lights come on? Who would be in charge of covering up the lenses of the skylight cameras? Who would distract the security personnel? And how could they sneak the bulky bag of bungee equipment up to the top?
After meticulous planning, Hackett was able to realize a perfect jump off the tower. The magnificent bungee jump at the Eiffel Tower not only gained Hackett a great deal of fame and notoriety, but also gained him many advertising contracts, including some for internationally known brands. One ad that was particularly striking was for the camera brand Minolta. The scene was an eagle flying over a canyon, and at the same time I was holding a camera while bungee jumping, and photographing the eagle while bungee jumping. The result was a great promotional effect for the sport of bungee jumping, and after this bungee jumping became an important aspect of tourist areas and became a popular craze.
責編：蘭華