新概念美音版第三冊 Lesson 25 The Cutty Sark“卡蒂薩克”號帆船

 
Lesson 25 The Cutty Sark“卡蒂薩克”號帆船
         
Listen to the tape then answer the question below.

聽錄音，然後回答以下問題。

What piece of bad luck prevented the Cutty Sark from winning the race?

    One of the most famous sailing ships of the nineteenth century, the Cutty Sark, can still be seen at Greewich. 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 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 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 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 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 a danger that if she traveled 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. These is no doubt that if she had not lost her rudder she would have won the race easily.

New words and expressions 生詞和短語

     impressive
adj. 給人深刻印象的

     steamship
n.   蒸汽輪船

     vessel
n.   輪船，大木船

     era
n.   時期，時代

     Java
n.   爪哇（印度尼西亞一島）

     rudder
n.   舵

     roll
v.   顛簸，搖擺

     steer
v.   掌握方向

     temporary
adj. 臨時的

     plank
n.   大塊木板

     fit
v.   安裝

     Equator
n.   赤道

     delay
n.   耽誤

參考譯文

    人們在格林威治仍可看到19世紀最有名的帆船之一“卡蒂薩克”號。它停在陸地上，每年接待成千上萬的參觀者。它給人們留下深刻的印象，使人們回憶起曆史上的巨型帆船，在蒸汽船取代帆船之前。“卡蒂薩克”號之類的帆船被用來從中國運回茶葉，從澳大利亞運回羊毛。“卡蒂薩克”號是帆船製造史上建造的最快的一艘帆船。唯一可以與之一比高低的是“塞姆皮雷”號帆船。兩船於1872年6月18日同時從上海啟航駛往英國，途中展開了一場激烈的比賽。這場比賽持續了整整4個月，是這類比賽中的最後一次，它標誌著帆船偉大傳統的結束與一個新紀元的開始。

    比賽開始後，“賽姆皮雷”號率先抵達爪哇島。但在印度洋上，“卡薩薩克”號駛到了前麵。看來，它首先返抵英國是確信無疑的了，但它卻在比賽中連遭厄運。8月份“卡蒂薩克”號遭到一場特大風暴的襲擊，失去了一隻舵。船身左右搖晃，無法操縱。船員用備用的木板在船上趕製了一隻應急用的舵，並克服重重困難將舵安裝就位，這樣一來，大大降低了船的航速。因為船不能開得太快，否則就有危險，應急舵也會被刮走。因為這個緣故，“卡蒂薩克”號落到了後麵。跨越赤道後，船長將船停靠在一個港口，在那兒換了一隻舵。但此時，“賽姆皮雷”號早已在500多英裏之遙了。盡管換裝新舵時分秒必爭，但“卡蒂薩克”號已經不可能取勝了，它抵達英國時比“塞姆皮雷”號晚了1個星期。但考慮到路上的多次耽擱，這個成績也已很不容易了。毫無疑問，如果中途沒有失去舵， “卡帝薩克”號肯定能在比賽中輕易奪冠。