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.
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(xiàng)比賽。比賽開始之前，人們異常激動(dòng)。最漂亮的汽車之一是羅爾斯--羅伊斯生產(chǎn)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(shí)間比坐在汽車?yán)锩娴臅r(shí)間還長(zhǎng)。然而還是有幾輛汽車跑完了全程。獲勝的那輛車達(dá)到了時(shí)速40英里--遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超過任何對(duì)手。它 在接近終點(diǎn)時(shí)，沖下了山坡，駕駛員費(fèi)了好大勁才把車停下來(lái)。這次比賽使每個(gè)人都挺開心。它雖然與現(xiàn)代汽車比賽大不相同，但激動(dòng)人心的程度并不亞于現(xiàn)代化汽 車大賽。

New words and Expressions生詞和短語(yǔ)
sound
n. 聲音

excitement
n. 激動(dòng)，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(duì)手

speed
v. 疾駛

downhill
adv. 下坡

Lesson 56 自學(xué)導(dǎo)讀First things first

　　課文詳注 Further notes on the text
　　1. once a year,每年一次。
　　once+表示時(shí)間的名詞可以表示“每...一次”:
The postman calls once a day.
郵遞員每天來(lái)一次。

　　2. A lot of cars entered for this race last year...去年有很多汽車參加了這項(xiàng)比賽...
enter for表示"報(bào)名參加"。(cf.第8課詞匯學(xué)習(xí))

　　3. Built in 1885,it was the oldest car taking part.該車造于1885年，是參賽車中.老的一輛。
built引導(dǎo)的過去分詞短語(yǔ)起狀語(yǔ)的作用，說(shuō)明動(dòng)作發(fā)生的背景或情況。主句可以補(bǔ)全為it was the oldest car taking part in the race.

　　4. Many of the cars broke down on the conrse…很多汽車在途中就拋了錨……
break down為固定短語(yǔ)，其含義之一是“(機(jī)械等)出故障”、“出毛病”:
This morning I was late for work,beceuse my car broke down twice.
今天上午我上班遲到了，因?yàn)槲业能噳牧藘纱巍?br />
　　5. The winning car reached a speed of forty miles an hour-much faster than any of its rivals.獲勝的那輛車達(dá)到了時(shí)速40英里—遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超過任何對(duì)手。
　　(1) winning為現(xiàn)在分詞作定語(yǔ):
Those of the winning team jumped happily.
獲勝隊(duì)的隊(duì)員們高興地跳著。
　　(2)表示速度為多少時(shí)可用a speed of+數(shù)量詞這個(gè)結(jié)構(gòu):
You must have been driving at a speed of seventy miles an hour.
你剛才一定是以每小時(shí)70英里的速度在開車。
　　(3)破折號(hào)后面的部分補(bǔ)充說(shuō)明這個(gè)速度。much是用得較多的與比較級(jí)連用的修飾語(yǔ):
House are much more expensive these days.
如今的房?jī)r(jià)貴多了。

　　6. It sped downhill at the end of the race and its driver had a lot of trouble trying to stop it.它在接近終點(diǎn)時(shí)。沖下了山坡，駕駛員費(fèi)了好大勁才把車停下來(lái)。
　　(1)speed作不及物動(dòng)詞時(shí)可以表示“疾駛”、“急行”等含義:
The police car sped past us.
警車從我們身邊疾駛而過。
The two men sped out of the room.
那兩個(gè)人快步走出了房間。
　　(2)表示“在...的末尾/最后部分”時(shí)可以用at the end of這個(gè)短語(yǔ):
I'll return the books to you at the end of the week/mouth.
我周/月末時(shí)把書還給你。
He spoke a few words at the end of the meeting.
會(huì)議結(jié)束時(shí)他說(shuō)了幾句話。
　　(3)表示“做某事遇到麻煩/困難”時(shí)可以用have trouble doing sth:
They had some trouble finding out the cause of the fire.
他們?cè)诓檎移鸹鹪驎r(shí)遇到了一些困難。

　　語(yǔ)法 Grammar in use
1.使用the same as和different from的比較結(jié)構(gòu)
在第32課的語(yǔ)法中，我們學(xué)習(xí)了用as... as和not so/as...as表示比較;在第8課的語(yǔ)法中，我們學(xué)習(xí)了形容詞和副詞的比較級(jí)和最高級(jí)的構(gòu)成及用法:
Are you as strong as John.
你和約翰一樣強(qiáng)壯嗎?
I don't think so.I think John's a little stonger than me.
我想不一樣。我認(rèn)為約翰比我要稍微更強(qiáng)壯些。(注意比較級(jí)前可加much,far,a lot,alittle等修飾語(yǔ))
表示比較的另外兩種方法是用短語(yǔ)the same(...)as 和different from.the same(...)as 表示“與...相同/同樣”：
Our TV is the same as yours.
我們的電視和你們的一樣。
You've made the same mistake as Tom.
你和湯姆犯了同樣的錯(cuò)誤。
有時(shí)the same可以單獨(dú)使用，不帶as:
Those two dresses are the same.
那兩件衣服一樣。
different from 表示“與...不同”，different前面可加very,much,a little等修飾語(yǔ):
We're planning something different this year from waht we did last year.
我們今年計(jì)劃做些與去年不同的事。
German cars are quite different from Japanese cars.
德國(guó)(造的)汽車與日本(造)的很不一樣。

2. much與many的其他表達(dá)方式
在第32課的語(yǔ)法中，我們學(xué)習(xí)了little和few的用法，知道在口語(yǔ)中多用not much , not many代替;
There isn't much sugar/aren't many sweets,but you can have a little/few.
糖/糖果不多了，不過你可以來(lái)一點(diǎn)/吃幾塊。
(1)much和many通常用于否定句和疑問句(正式文體除外)。在日常談話中，我們通常避免在肯定句中使用much和many，而用別的數(shù)量詞。口語(yǔ)中用得最多的表示“許多”的數(shù)量詞是a lot of(常被認(rèn)為不宜用在正式的場(chǎng)合)，它既可以與復(fù)數(shù)可數(shù)名詞連用也可以與不可數(shù)名詞連用，后而的動(dòng)詞用單數(shù)還是復(fù)數(shù)取決于名詞:
A lot of time is needed to do this work.
做這項(xiàng)工作需要很多時(shí)間。
A lot of books have been stolen.
許多書被盜了。
比a lot of正式一些的表達(dá)方式有:a great/good deal of+不可數(shù)名詞，a great/good/large number of+復(fù)數(shù)名詞，a great/good many of+復(fù)數(shù)名詞。
A great/good deal of money is spent on food.
在食物上花了很多錢。
A great/good number of our students are Americans.
我們的學(xué)生中有許多是美國(guó)人。
Tom doesn't read much,but Ian reads a great deal/a lot.
湯姆讀書不多，但伊恩讀得很多。
(2)在waht引導(dǎo)的感嘆句中不用much/many:
What a lot of sweets Tom's bought!
湯姆買了這么多糖果!
Yes, he's bought many more than he did yesterday.
是的，他比昨天買得多得多。

　　詞匯學(xué)習(xí)Word study
1 .handsome,beautiful,pretty與good-looking
這些單詞都可以表示“美”。但含義和用法各不相同。handsome通常用來(lái)形容男子，表示“漂亮的”、“英俊的”;beautiful表示“美的”、“給人美感的”、“令人愉悅的”、“完美的”等含義。多用于形容女子之孩童、花草、服飾等，不用來(lái)形容男子的長(zhǎng)相;pretty表示“漂亮的”、“可愛的”、“令人憐愛的”等含義，多用于女子、孩子等;good-looking表示容貌“標(biāo)致的”、“美貌的”、“好看的”，男女均適用，它所表示的美通常不及beautiful所表示的:
Dan is a handsome/good looking young man.
丹是個(gè)英俊的/很帥的小伙子。
Mary is abeautiful /good looking / pretty girl.
瑪麗是個(gè)美麗的/好看的/漂亮的姑娘。

2. reach 與 arrive in/at
(1)reach表示“到達(dá)”、“達(dá)到”。表示抵達(dá)某地時(shí)通常為及物動(dòng)詞，比arrive in/at要正式:
When did you reach London?
你們何時(shí)抵達(dá)倫敦的?
reach適用的范圍比較廣，不僅僅限于地點(diǎn)，作不及物動(dòng)詞的情況較少:
When you reach my age,you'll be able to understand it.
等你到我這個(gè)年齡時(shí)，你就可以理解了。
Can you get that book down for me please?I can't reach it.
請(qǐng)你幫我把那本書拿下來(lái)好嗎? 我夠不著。
(2)arrive為不及物動(dòng)詞，表示“到達(dá)”、“抵達(dá)”。它既可以單獨(dú)使用，也可以與介詞連用。在表示到達(dá)某個(gè)較大的地方時(shí)用arrive in，到達(dá)某個(gè)較小的地方/場(chǎng)所用arrive at，這由說(shuō)話者決定：
When I arrived at the station,the train had already gone.
我到車站時(shí)，那列火車已經(jīng)開走了。

3.take part與take place
(1)固定短語(yǔ)take part(in)表示“參加”、“參與”:
It was the oldest car taking part.
它是參賽車中最老的一輛。
How many of you are taking part in the play?
你們當(dāng)中有多少人參加了這個(gè)劇的演出?
I didn't take part in their conversation.
我沒有加入他們的談話。
(2)take place也是個(gè)固定短語(yǔ)，表示“發(fā)生”、“進(jìn)行”、“舉行":
All these took place before you were born.
所有這些都發(fā)生在你出生之前。
The Olympic Game will take place in our country in four years' time.
4年以后，奧林匹克運(yùn)動(dòng)會(huì)將在我們國(guó)家舉辦。

Lesson 56 課后練習(xí)和答案Exercises and Answer