新概念英語第二冊詳解第56課:Faster than sound!

Lesson 56:Faster than sound!

比聲音還快!

First listen and then answer the question.

聽錄音，然后回答以下問題。

How fast did the winning car go?

Once a year, a race is held for old cars. A lot of cars entered for this race last year and there was a great deal of excitement just before it began. One of the most handsome cars was a Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost. The most unusual car was a Benz which had only three wheels. Built in 1885, it was the oldest car taking part. After a great many loud explosions, the race began. Many of the cars broke down on the course and some drivers spent more time under their cars than in them! A few cars, however, completed the race. The winning car reached a speed of forty miles an hour -- much faster than any of its rivals. It sped downhill at the end of the race and its driver had a lot of trouble trying to stop it. The race gave everyone a great deal of pleasure. It was very different from modern car races but no less exciting.

New words and expressions 生詞和短語

sound n. 聲音

excitement n. 激動，興奮

handsome adj. 漂亮的;美觀的

Rolls-Royce 羅爾斯--羅伊斯

Benz n. 奔馳

wheel n. 輪子

explosion n. 爆炸，轟響

course n. 跑道;行程

rival n. 對手

speed v. 疾駛

downhill adv. 下坡

參考譯文

舊式汽車的比賽每年舉行一次。去年有很多汽車參加了這項比賽。比賽開始之前，人們異常激動。最漂亮的汽車之一是羅爾斯--羅伊斯生產的銀靈汽車，而最不尋常的一輛則要屬只有3只輪子的奔馳牌汽車了。該車造于1885年，是參賽車中最老的一輛。在好一陣喧鬧的爆炸聲之后，比賽開始了。很多汽車在途中就拋了錨，而有些駕駛員花在汽車底下的時間比坐在汽車里面的時間還長。然而還是有幾輛汽車跑完了全程。獲勝的那輛車達到了時速40英里--遠遠超過任何對手。它在接近終點時，沖下了山坡，駕駛員費了好大勁才把車停下來。這次比賽使每個人都挺開心。它雖然與現(xiàn)代汽車比賽大不相同，但激動人心的程度并不亞于現(xiàn)代化汽車大賽。