New Concept English Two 27 73

新概念一:对应小学水平，重在口语和基础。是不可多得的学习教材，全本144课，可以给孩子(hello world 级别的我)学半年。新概念二:对应高中水平，重在听力和场景对话，共96课，学后，听懂歪果仁说话没问题。新概念三:对应大学四级水平，重在实用，有阅读和写作，对应工作中的邮件和专业英语，学后，可适应全英语工作环境。新概念四:对应6级水平，加强听说读写，语速达到欧美标准，句子复杂复变高，学成，可去考雅思了。

$课文71  一个著名的大钟

752. When you visit London, one of the first things you will see is Big Ben, the famous clock which can be heard all over the world on the B.B.C.

当你游览伦敦时，首先看到的东西之一就是“大本”钟，即那座从英国广播公司的广播中全世界都可以听到它的声音的著名大钟。

753. If the Houses of Parliament had not been burned down in 1834, the great clock would never have been erected.

如果不是国会大厦在1834年被焚毁的话，这座大钟永远也不会建造。

754. Big Ben takes its name from Sir Benjamin Hall who was responsible for the making of the clock when the new Houses of Parliament were being built.

“大本”钟得名于本杰明.霍尔爵士，因为当建造新的国会大厦时，他负责建造大钟。

755. It is not only of immense size, but is extremely accurate as well.

此钟不仅外型巨大，而且走时也非常准确。

756. Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day.

格林尼治天文台的官员们每天两次派人矫正此钟。

757. On the B.B.C. you can hear the clock when it is actually striking because microphones are connected to the clock tower.

当大钟打点的时候，你可以从英国广播公司的广播中听到，因为钟塔上接了麦克风。

758. Big Ben has rarely gone wrong.

“大本”钟很多出差错。

759. Once, however, it failed to give the correct time.

然而有一次，它却把时间报错。

760. A painter who had been working on the tower hung a pot of paint on one of the hands and slowed it down!

在钟塔上干活的一位油漆工把一只油漆桶挂在了一根指针上，把钟弄慢了！

$课文72  “蓝鸟”汽车

761. The great racing driver, Sir Malcolm Campbell, was the first man to drive at over 300 miles per hour.

杰出的赛车选手马尔科姆.坎贝尔爵士是第一个以每小时超过300英里的速度驾车的人。

762. He set up a new world record in September 1935 at Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah.

他于1935年9月在犹他州的邦纳维尔盐滩创造了一项新的世界纪录。

763. Bluebird, the car he was driving, had been specially built for him.

他驾驶的“蓝鸟”牌汽车是专门为他制造的。

764. It was over 30 feet in length and had a 2,500-horsepower engine.

它的车身长30英尺，有一个2,500 马力的发动机。

765. Although Campbell reached a speed of over 304 miles per hour,

尽管坎贝尔达到了每小时超过304英里的速度，

766. he had great difficulty in controlling the car because a tyre burst during the first run.

但他很难把汽车控制住，因为在开始的行程中爆了一只轮胎。

767. After his attempt, Campbell was disappointed to learn that his average speed had been 299 miles per hour.

比赛结束后，坎贝尔非常失望地得知他的平均时速是299英里。

768. However, a few days later, he was told that a mistake had been made.

然而，几天之后，有人告诉他说弄错了。

769. His average speed had been 301 miles per hour.

他的平均时速实际是301英里。

770. Since that time, racing drivers have reached speeds over 600 miles an hour.

从那时以来，赛车选手已达到每小时600英里的速度。

771. Following in his father's footsteps many years later, Sir Malcolm's son, Donald, also set up a world record.

很多年之后，马尔科姆爵士的儿子唐纳德踏着父亲的足迹，也创造了一项世界纪录。

772. Like his father, he was driving a car called Bluebird.

同他父亲一样，他也驾驶着一辆名叫“蓝鸟”的汽车。

$课文73  纪录保持着

773. Children who play truant from school are unimaginative.

逃学的孩子们都缺乏想像力。

774. A quiet day's fishing, or eight hours in a cinema seeing the same film over and over again, is usually as far as they get.

他们通常能够做到的，至多也就是安静地钓上一天鱼，或在电影院里坐上8个小时，一遍遍地看同一部电影。

775. They have all been put to shame by a boy who, while playing truant, travelled 1,600 miles.

而有那么一个小男孩，他在逃学期间旅行了1,600英里，从而使上述所有逃学的孩子们都相形见绌了。

776. He hitchhiked to Dover and, towards evening, went into a boat to find somewhere to sleep.

他搭便车到了多佛，天快黑时钻进了一条船，想找个地方睡觉。

777. When he woke up next morning, he discovered that the boat had, in the meantime, travelled to Calais.

第二天早上他醒来时，发现船在这段时间已经到了加。

778. No one noticed the boy as he crept off.

当男孩从船里爬出来时，谁也没有发现他。

779. From there, he hitchhiked to Paris in a lorry.

从那里他又搭上卡车到了巴黎。

780. The driver gave him a few biscuits and a cup of coffee and left him just outside the city.

司机给了他几块饼干和一杯咖啡，就把他丢在了城外。

781. The next car the boy stopped did not take him into the centre of Paris as he hoped it would, but to Perpignan on the French-Spanish border.

男孩截住的下一辆车，没有像他希望的那样把他带到巴黎市中心，而是把他带到了法国和西班牙边界上的佩皮尼昂。

782. There he was picked up by a policeman and sent back to England by the local authorities.

他在那儿被一个警察抓住了，之后被当局送回了英国。

783. He has surely set up a record for the thousands of children who dream of evading school.

他无疑为成千上万梦想逃避上学的孩子们创造了一项纪录。