[00:01.14]Lesson 10
[00:02.92]The loss of the Titanic
[00:10.52]What'd have happened if only two of the 16 water-tight compartments had been flooded?
[00:19.25]The great ship, Titanic sailed for New York from Southampton on April 10th, 1912.
[00:27.22]She was carrying 1, 316 passengers and a crew of 891.
[00:35.33]Even by modern standards, the 46, 000 ton Titanic was a colossal ship.
[00:42.72]At that time, however, she was not only the largest ship that had ever been built, but was regarded as unsinkable, for she had sixteen water-tight compartments.
[00:55.71]Even if two of these were flooded, she would still be able to float.
[01:00.83]The tragic sinking of this great liner will always be remembered, for she went down on her first voyage with heavy loss of life.
[01:11.82]Four days after setting out, while the Titanic was sailing across the icy waters of the North Atlantic,
[01:19.22]a huge iceberg was suddenly spotted by a lookout.
[01:23.88]After the alarm had been given, the great ship turned sharply to avoid a direct collision.
[01:31.18]The Titanic turned just in time, narrowly missing the immense wall of ice which rose over 100 feet out of the water beside her.
[01:42.60]Suddenly, there was a slight trembling sound from below,
[01:47.57]and the captain went down to see what had happened.
[01:51.73]The noise had been so faint that no one thought that the ship had been damaged.
[01:57.36]Below, the captain realized to his horror that the Titanic was sinking rapidly,
[02:03.98]for five of her sixteen watertight compartments had already been flooded!
[02:10.00]The order to abandon ship was given and hundreds of people plunged into the icy water.
[02:17.23]As there were not enough life-boats for everybody, 1, 500 lives were lost.
巨轮“泰坦尼克”号1912年4月10日从南安普敦起锚驶向纽约。船上载有1,316名乘客与891名船员。却使用现代标准来衡量，45,000 吨的“泰坦尼克”号与算得上一艘巨轮了。当时，这艘轮船不仅是造船史上建造的最大的一艘船，而且也被认为是不会沉没的。因为船由16个密封舱组成，即使有两个舱进水，仍可漂浮的水面上。然而，这艘巨轮首航就下沉，造成大批人员死亡。人们将永远记着这艘巨轮的沉没惨剧。
“泰坦尼克”起航后的第4天，它正行驶在北大西洋冰冷的海面上。突然，了望员发现一座冰山。警报响过不久，巨轮急转弯，以避免与冰山正面相撞。“泰坦尼克”这个弯拐得及时，紧贴着高出海面100英尺的巨大的冰墙擦过去。突然，从船舱下部传来一声微颤音，船长走下船舱去查看究竟。由于这个声音非常轻，没人会想到船身已遭损坏。在下面，船长惊恐的地发现“泰坦尼克”号正在急速下沉，16个密封舱已有5个进水。于是，他发出弃船的命令，几百人跳进了冰冷刺骨的海水里。由于没有足够的救生艇运载所有乘客，结果，1,500 人丧生。