【英文夜读】Flying Higher

Everyonestandingtherewaswearingsafetyhelmetsandfacingthesamedirection.Asthesmallrocketsdashedintothesky,leavingadissipatingtrailofwhitefog,everyonecheered.

SuchwastheimpressivesceneofthesolidmodelrocketlaunchandrecoveryprojectwewatchedonTV.Todesignandmakearocket,andthenflyitintheair,wasalsoourdream.

Notwillingtobeby-standersonly,wedecidedtojoinintherocket-buildingcompetition.Thefive-memberteamincludedZiYang,XuemeiLi,YifanXiao,FengHanandme.Weallsharethesameinterestsforrocketsandweretemptedandmotivatedbythesmallgadgetwithflyingpower.

Twolecturesweregivenbytheorganizer,andeachgroupwouldreceivehelpfromonecoach.Wediscussedthevariouspartsandsystemswithourcoachbeforecompletingthewrittenreport.Itwasacoldnightwhenwefirstmettodiscussourplan,butcoldwindcouldn'textinguishourburningpassion.Wedividedtheworkintofivesections,andwithonlyoneweekbeforethedeadline,everyonesparednoeffortstogettheirjobdone.

FengHanandYifanXiaoimmediatelydownloadedtworequiredapplicationstoassisttheminanalyzingthemodelrocketdata.ZiYangdesignedtheprogramwhichcontrolledtheflightpathofourrocket,accordingtothecompetitionrequirements.XuemeiandIwereresponsibleforthewrittenreport,whichwasthefinalversionofourwork.Tomyexcitement,YifanXiaosenthisfirstdiagramoftherockettoourWeChatgroupwithintwohours.Thisfirststepinourprogressencouragedusall,andwebegantospeedupourwork,sharinginformationandcooperatingtomeetourcommongoal.Inordertogetthebestdesign,wewouldoccasionallyholddiscussionstilltwoo'clockinthemorning.

Theweekbeforethedeadline,wespentthatSaturdayinthelibrarytorefineourrocketdiagram.Wecoincidentallymetourcoach,andwithherassistancewepolishedourreportdowntothelastdetail.

Afterthetaskwascompleted,wefeltrelievedandrelaxed,althoughthewaitingprocesswasabitnerve-wracking.Thepreliminaryresultswereannouncedintheformofafilefourdayslater.AssoonasIsawthefile,Iopeneditwithouthesitation.Iwantedsomuchtoseethenameofourteamtoappearinthelist.But,afterdouble-checking,Irealizedthatwehadnotbeenchosen.

Thefinalsceneofthe solidmodelrocketlaunchandrecoveryprojectseemedtocometomyeyesagain.However,thedissipatingfognowrepresentedourfuture;wewouldn'tbeabletoproceedtothenextroundofcompetition.Everyonewassodisappointed.

Nevertheless,thiscompetitionwasnotwithoutgains.Itbroughtmegreatpleasuretoworkwithmyteammatesforthesamegoal.Webuiltaharmoniousteamspirit,madefriendswithothers,explorednewfields,andworkedhardforacommontarget.Meanwhile,wewillbebraverandmoreexperiencedwhentryingsomethingnew,whichwillhelpusgofurtherinothercompetitions.

Dissipatingfogwasthesymbolofasuccessfulrocketlaunch;ourpassionforthedevicewillneverdieout.Ourfailureforthepreliminarycompetitionisdefinitelythefirststeptosuccess.Weareallconfidentaboutthefuture.