How fast did the winning car go?

Once a year, a race is held for old cars. A lot of cars entered for thisrace 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 unusualcar was a Benz which had only three wheels. Built in 1885, it was the oldest cartaking part. After a great many loud explosions, the race began. Many of thecars broke down on the course and some drivers spent more time under their carsthan in them! A few cars, however, completed the race. The winning car reached aspeed of forty miles an hour -- much faster than any of its rivals. It speddownhill at the end of the race and its driver had a lot of trouble trying tostop it. The race gave everyone a great deal of pleasure. It was very differentfrom modern car races but no less exciting.

New words and expressions 生词与短语

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. 疾驶新概念二册

downhill adv. 下坡

本文参考译文

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--罗伊斯生产的银灵汽车，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。

(兼职编辑：张博)