Lesson 56 Faster than sound! 比声音还快！

1.原文

2. 参考译文

3. New words and expressions

★sound n. 声音
① n. 声音 任何声音都可以
voice人的声音noise 和周围不和谐的声音, 躁音
② v. 听起来
③ adj. 合理的(等于reasonable adj.合理的, 有道理的, 通情达理的, 讲道理的)
soundly adj. 香甜的sleep soundly
★excitement n. 激动, 兴奋
to one’s excitement… 令某人激动的是……
The most exciting thing is that 最令人激动的是……
The most surprising thing about it is that 最令人惊讶的事情是It excited me that 让我激动的是……
★handsome adj. 漂亮的, 美观的形容男孩, 英俊, 一般与男孩子连 .handsome与人连用有阳刚的美，与物相连表示美观大方，并表示制作精良；handsome跟女性连用的时候就表示这个女孩子有阳刚气，类似女侠的概念beautiful形容人的时候表示内在和外在美的统一, 完美的概念
pretty adj. 美丽(用于女孩或小孩)，有柔美的意思pretty跟男性连用就表示没有阳刚气，女性化
nice adj. 美好的(人，天气, 食物, 物品的品质等)
lovely adj. 可爱的good-looking adj. 很好看的
smart adj. 小巧而美丽的(物)或时髦而美丽的(人)
cute adj.漂亮, 常用来形容小孩
★explosion n. 爆炸, 轰响
explosive n. 爆炸物,炸药；adj. 爆炸(性)的, 爆发(性)的, 暴露explode vt. 使爆炸；vi. 爆炸, 爆发, 破除, 推翻, 激发bomb n. 炸弹；vt. 投弹于, 轰炸
★course ① n. 跑道，行程
on the course 按照轨道运行off course 偏离轨道
of course 当然② n. 课程
★rival n. 对手competition n. 竞争, 竞赛
The person who takes part in the competition.
competitor n. 竞争者, 对手
opposite n. 相反的事物；adj. 相对的, 对面的, 对立的, 相反的, 对等的, 对应的
opponent n. 对手, 反对者(持反对意见的人, 如辩论赛上的和政治上的) enemy n. 敌人
rival adj. 势均力敌的；n. 势均力敌的对手
★speed(sped，sped) ① v. 疾驶，急行
The two men sped out of the room.
② n. 速度at the speed of 以……的速度
在车后的3 speed/4 speed表示档位
speed up 速度的增加, 加速；slow down 减速
blow up 风力的增加
★downhill adv. 下坡
downstairs 下楼；upstairs 上楼
go down stairs/go downhill 下山
downtown n.&adj.&adv. 市中心的商业区(反意词uptown 远离商业区)

4. 课文讲解

1、Once a year, a race is held for old cars.
=Old car race is held once a year.
once +表示时间的名词 每……一次
be held for 比赛为……而举行
2、A lot of cars entered for this race last year and there was a great deal of excitement just before it began.
enter for 报名参加
a great deal of +不可数名词 大量的……
a great number of/a great many +可数名词 许多……
a large amount of +不可数名词
just before =just 起强调作用
3、One of the most handsome cars was a Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost.
one of 直接作主语的时候, 它是做单数看待的.如果在定语从句中出现了one of作为先行词，它后边的关系代词指代的是后面的复数名词；如果在one of前面还有一修饰词only，那么后边的关系代词将指代one这个词，才作单数看
4、Many of the cars broke down on the course and some drivers spent more time under their cars than in them! many cars 许多车子；many of the cars 车子当中的许多
break down 车子抛锚，(机械等)出故障，出毛病
under the car指在车下面修理；in the car指正常驾驶。句中的under和in都是斜体，英文中的斜体字起强调作用
5、The winning car reached a speed of forty miles an hour – much faster than any of its rivals.
the wining car 获胜车
a speed of +数量词 速度为……
much faster 快得多；a little faster 快一点
any of its rivals＝any rival 任何一个
any 在比较级中一旦出现, 它往往要加可数名词的单数Beijing is bigger than any other city. (注意 “other” 不能丢)如果是不定代词, 可以说someone else, anyone else；如果不是不定代词, 要在名词前加other.
6、It sped downhill at the end of the race and its driver had a lot of trouble trying to stop it.
at the end of… 在……的末尾/最后部分
have trouble (in) doing sth. 干……有麻烦，做……很困难(trouble既可数又不可数)
7、The race gave everyone a great deal of pleasure.
give sb.+n. 给某人……
give sb. pleasure
It will give sb. a great deal of pleasure.
=There was a great deal of excitement.
give sb a fright / a surprise 吓了一跳/给某人惊喜
8、It was very different from modern car races but no less exciting. be different from 和……不同
no more和no less都表示“和……一样”, 相当于only, the same no less exciting 一样的激动
no more than you 和你一样
表示“和……不相同”用not more= more；not less= less not less exciting 更令人激动

5. Letter writing

常用开头语：
I am sorry it has taken me so long to write, but…
I was glad to hear from you at last and to learn that…

6. Key structures

比较关系的句型
as…as 和……一样the same (…) as 与……相同/同样.有时the same可以单独使用：
My mother is much younger than yours.
She isn’t! They’re about the same age.
Those two dress are the same.
not so…as / not as…as 不如……
different from 与……不同(different前面可加very，much，a little等修饰语)
litte和few在口语中多用not much，not many代替：
There isn’t much sugar/aren’t many sweets, but you can have a little/few.
much和many通常用于否定句和疑问句(正式文体除外)。在日常谈话中，通常避免在肯定句中使用much和many，而用别的数量词。口语中用得最多的表示“许多”的数量词是a lot of，它既可以与复数可数名词连用也可以与不可数名词连用，后面的动词用单数还是复数取决于名词。比a lot of正式一些的表达方式有：a great/good deal of+不可数名词，a great/good/large number of+复数名词，a great/good many of+复数名词。
在what引导的感叹句中不用much/many：
What a lot of sweets Tom’s bought!
I am less lucky. 我还不如他们幸运.
more exciting 更激动 = not less exciting.

7. Special difficulties

Handsome, Beautiful, Pretty, Good-looking
handsome adj. 漂亮的，英俊的，一般用来形容男子，也可以指东西的制作精良beautiful 美丽的，给人美感的，令人愉悦的，完美的，强调内在和外在的结合，用来形容女子、孩童、花草、服饰等，一般不用来形容男子的长相pretty漂亮的，可爱的，令人怜爱的，强调女孩和小孩的外表美丽good-looking 好看的标致的，美貌的，男女均适用
Reach and Arrive in/at
reach vt. 到达，达到(适用的范围比较广，不仅仅限于地点)When you reach my age, you’ll be able to understand it.
arrive vi. 到达，抵达