70、80年「黃金時代」
Air travel is now the most popular mode of long-distance transportation.
航空旅行現在是最受歡迎的長途運輸方式。
mode(n.)模式、方法、做法、方式=means
It has come a long way since the first passenger flight took place in 1908, when Wilbur Wright’s aircraft “carried Charles Furnas just 2000 feet across a beach at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.”
自1908年威爾伯·萊特的飛機「載著查理·馮納斯在北卡羅萊納州基蒂霍克鎮的海灘上飛行了2000英尺」首次載客飛行以來，航空旅行已經取得了很大的進步。
come a long way有很大的進步=make great stridesacross(prep.)橫越through(prep.)穿越
Despite this first successful attempt of an airplane taking flight, it would not be until the mid-20th century that commercial air travel became extremely popular for the masses.
儘管這是飛機首次成功飛行，但直到20世紀中葉，商業航空旅行才開始受到大眾的極度歡迎。
despite(prep.)儘管=in spite ofit would not be until... that...直到...才...the masses大眾
Early efforts to create passenger service were very localized, like Tony Jannus’ “airboat” service that flew travelers 17 miles between the Florida cities of St. Petersburg and Tampa in 1914.
早期的客運服務非常受限，例如1914年托尼·詹納斯提供的「飛船」服務，讓旅客在佛羅里達州的聖彼得堡市和坦帕市之間飛行17英里。
effort(n.)努力make every effort to VR竭盡所能
Within the next decade, though, commercial airlines began to be established all over the world, including carriers such as KLM in the Netherlands and Qantas in Australia, which are both still around today.
不過，在接下來的十年裡，商業航空公司開始在世界各地成立，包括荷蘭皇家航空和澳洲航空在內（這兩家航空公司至今仍在營運）。
decade(n.)十年establish(v.)成立、建立=set up=foundin existence存在
Due to the increasing number of airlines, the aviation industry began seeing “nearly half a million” passengers per year by 1934.
由於航空公司的數量不斷增加，到了1934年，航空業每年的乘客人數已「接近50萬」。
due to因為=owing to=as a result ofaviation(n.)航空(學)、飛行(術)、航空工業
Despite advances in airplane technology, early commercial air travel remained extremely expensive and dangerous as planes needed to fly at low altitudes due to their lack of pressurized cabins.
儘管飛機技術不斷進步，但早期的商業航空旅行仍然非常昂貴和危險，因為飛機機艙沒有加壓，只能在低海拔地區飛行。
advance(n.)進步remain(v.)保持;維持altitude(n.)海拔、海拔高度pressurize(v.)使加壓pressurized(adj.)加壓的
Over the next few decades, however, this began to change thanks to developments in the 1940s — when pressurized cabins allowed aircraft to fly at higher altitudes — and in the 1950s and 1960s — when jet engine passenger airplanes started to be used.
然而，在接下來的幾十年裡，由於1940年代的發展——加壓機艙使得飛機能夠在更高的海拔飛行——以及1950年代和1960年代的發展——噴射民航機開始使用，這種情況開始發生變化。
thanks to由於jet engine噴射引擎
According to Airways Magazine, it was during these latter two decades that passenger airlines really took off in popularity.
根據《世界民航雜誌》的報導，在1970年代至1980年代，客運航空公司真正開始流行起來。
it was...that...分裂句(強調用法)take off 起飛、變得很受歡迎、成功
As the “golden age” of commercial air travel, these were the years that aviation innovation finally led to the masses being able to enjoy cheaper airfare, more choices of carriers and faster international travel.
作為商業航空旅行的「黃金時代」，在這二十年裡，航空業的創新終於使大眾能夠享受到更便宜的機票、更多的航空公司選擇和更快捷的國際旅行。
innovation(n.)創新fare(n.)車費、票價airfare(n.)飛機票價