考研英语阅读指导：比声音还快

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Faster than sound！ 比声音还快！
    Oncea year， a race is held for old cars. A lot of carsentered for this race last year and there was a great deal of excitement justbefore 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 loudexplosions， the race began. Many of the cars broke downon 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 milesan 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 生词和短语
    soundn. 声音
    excitementn. 激动，兴奋
    handsomeadj. 漂亮的；美观的
    Rolls-Royce罗尔斯——罗伊斯
    Benzn. 奔驰
    wheeln. 轮子
    explosionn. 爆炸，轰响
    coursen. 跑道；行程
    rivaln. 对手
    speedv. 疾驶
    downhilladv. 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。