Lesson 56
Faster than sound!
比声音还快！
First listen and then answer the question.
听录音，然后回答以下问题。
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 生词和短语
sound n,声音
excitement n,激动，兴奋
handsome adj,漂亮的；美观的
Rolls-Royce 罗尔斯--罗伊斯
Benz n,奔驰
wheel n,轮子
explosion n,爆炸，轰响
course n,跑道；行程
rival n,对手
speed v,疾驶
downhill adv,下坡
参考译文
旧式汽车的比赛每年举行一次。去年有很多汽车参加了这项比赛。比赛开始之前，人们异常激动。最漂亮的汽车之一是罗尔斯--罗伊斯生产的银鬼汽车，而最不寻常的一辆则要属只有3只轮子的奔驰牌汽车了。该车造于1885年，是参赛车中最老的一辆。在好一阵喧闹的爆炸声之后，比赛开始了。很多汽车在途中就抛了锚，而有些驾驶员花在汽车底下的时间比坐在汽车里面的时间还长。然而还是有几辆汽车跑完了全程。获胜的那辆车达到了时速40英里--远远超过任何对手。它在接近终点时，冲下了山坡，驾驶员费了好大劲才把车停下来。这次比赛使每个人都挺开心。它虽然与现代汽车比赛大不相同，但激动人心的程度并不亚于现代化汽车大赛。
