New Concept English there （25）

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One of the most famous sailing ships of the nineteenth century, the Cutty Sark, can still be seen at Greenwich. She stands on dry land and is visited by thousands of people each year. She serves as an impressive reminder of the great ships of the past. Before they were replaced by steamships, sailing vessels like the Cutty Sark were used to carry tea from China and wool from Australia. The Cutty Sark was one of the fastest sailing ships that has ever been built. The only other ship to match her was the Thermopylae. Both these ships set out from Shanghai on June 18th, 1872 on an exciting race to England. This race, which went on for exactly four months, was the last of its kind. It marked the end of the great tradition of ships with sails and the beginning of a new era.  The first of the two ships to reach Java after the race had begun was the Thermopylae, but on the Indian Ocean, the Cutty Sark took the lead. It seemed certain that she would be the first ship home, but during the race she had a lot of bad luck. In August, she was struck by a very heavy storm during which her rudder was torn away. The Cutty Sark rolled from side to side and it became impossible to steer her. A temporary rudder was made on board from spare planks and it was fitted with great difficulty. This greatly reduced the speed of the ship, for there was danger that if she travelled too quickly, this rudder would be torn away as well. Because of this, the Cutty Sark lost her lead. After crossing the equator, the captain called in at a port to have a new rudder fitted, but by now the Thermopylae was over five hundred miles ahead. Though the new rudder was fitted at tremendous speed, it was impossible for the Cutty Sark to win. She arrived in England a week after the Thermopylae. Even this was remarkable, considering that she had had so many delays. There is no doubt that if she had not lost her rudder she would have won the race easily.

notes:

1Cutty Sark 是历史有名的帆船，速度最快，用来运送货物。

2与Thermopylae的一场长途远洋比赛，Cutty Sark 出了点事故（在一场风暴中舵坏了），中途开始落后，最后落后一星期到达终点。

Translation

19世纪最著名的帆船之一“卡蒂萨克”号，仍然可以在格林威治看到。她站在陆地上，每年都有成千上万的人来参观。她给人以深刻的印象，让人想起过去的伟大船只。在被蒸汽船取代之前，像卡蒂萨克号这样的帆船被用来从中国运回茶叶，从澳大利亚运回羊毛。“卡蒂萨克”号是有史以来建造的最快的帆船之一。唯一一艘与她匹配的船是“热皮莱”。这两艘船于1872年6月18日从上海出发，在一场激动人心的英国比赛中。这场持续了4个月的比赛，是最后一场比赛。它标志着船帆的伟大传统和新时代的开始。两艘船在比赛开始后到达爪哇岛的第一艘是“塞莫皮莱”，但在印度洋上，“卡蒂萨克”领先了。她似乎是第一个回家的船，但在比赛中，她运气不好。8月，她被一场非常猛烈的暴风雨袭击，当时她的舵被撕掉了。“卡蒂萨克”从一边滚到一边，使她无法驾驭。船上用备用的木板做了一个临时的舵，这是很困难的。这大大降低了船的速度，因为有危险，如果她走得太快，这个舵也会被撕掉。因此，卡蒂萨克失去了她的领先优势。过了赤道之后，船长在一个港口叫了一个新的舵，但是现在，“热皮莱”号已经超过了500英里。虽然新舵的速度非常快，但卡蒂萨克却不可能获胜。她在“热皮莱”一星期后到达英国。考虑到她有这么多的延误，这一点也不奇怪。毫无疑问，如果她没有失去舵，她就会轻而易举地赢得比赛。

录音: 听错的句子

1  She serves as an impressive reminder of the great ships of the past

2It marked the end of the great tradition of ships with sails and the beginning of a new era。

3The first of the two ships to reach Java after the race had begun was the Thermopylae, but on the Indian Ocean, the Cutty Sark took the lead.