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语篇导读：本文是一篇记叙文。文章主要围绕“卡蒂萨克”号帆船展开。通过描述“卡蒂萨克”号帆船与“塞姆皮雷”号帆船的海上角逐，但因比赛途中连遭厄运而节节败退的事件，标志着帆船伟大传统的结束以及蒸汽时代的开始，同时表达出作者对“卡蒂萨克”号帆船战败的惋惜之情。
文章简短有趣，行文结构和写作手法可圈可点。本文的词汇学习主要与“船”相关，同时留意文章是如何体面地描写落败的“卡蒂萨克”号帆船。
语法重点：虚拟语气
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精读原文
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 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 a 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.
精读注解
The Cutty Sark
Cutty Sark：“卡蒂萨克”号，是19世纪一艘著名的帆船。在轮船时代以前，是那时候最快的帆船。
参考译文：“卡蒂萨克”号帆船
One of the most famous sailing ships of the nineteenth century, the Cutty Sark, can still be seen at Greenwich.Shestands on dry land and is visited by thousands of people each year. Sheserves asanimpressivereminder of the great ships of past. Before they were replaced bysteamships, sailingvesselslike 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 tomatch her was the Thermopylae.Both these ships set outfrom 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 newera.
语篇导读：开篇说明“卡蒂萨克”号帆船的历史地位、用途。接着，文章引出另一艘与之媲美的“塞姆皮雷”号帆船，随后两艘船便展开一场具有划时代意义的海上角逐。
She stands on dry land:本句中的she指Cutty Sark，为拟人用法
【熟词僻义】serve：①When you serve food and drinks, you give people food and drinks. 上 (菜、饮料)，如：Serve the cakes warm. 烤饼要趁热端上来。②If something serves as a particular thing or serves a particular purpose, it performs a particular function, which is often not its intended function. 对…有用; 能起…作用，如：I really do not think that an inquiry would serve any useful purpose. 我真的认为一场咨询不会起什么作用。③If you serve in a particular place or as a particular official, you perform official duties, especially in the armed forces, as a civil servant, or as a politician. 服役; 任职，如：They have both served on the school board. 他们俩都曾在学校董事会任职。
serve as：担任……，充当……；起……的作用，如：It serves as a lesson to him.这对他来说是个教训。
impressive /ɪm'presɪv/：something that is impressive makes you admire it because it is very good, large, important etc令人钦佩的，给人深刻印象的，如：The figures certainly look impressive. 这些数字看上去确实很可观。
steamship/'stiːmʃɪp/：A steamship is a ship that has an engine powered by steam. 汽轮，如：The steamship veered around for the port.轮船掉头返航。
vessel/'vesəl/：A vessel is a ship or large boat. 船; 舰，如：It's hard to pilot a vessel in rough weather. 在大风浪中为船舶引航是很困难的。
【熟词僻义】match：If you match something, you are as good as it or equal to it, for example in speed, size, or quality. 比得上，如：They played some fine offensive football, but I think we matched them in every department.他们踢了一些漂亮的攻势足球，但我认为我们各方面都比得上他们。
Both these ships：这两艘船。=both of these ships或both ships；文中使用these，是起强调作用
set out：When you set out, you start a journey. 启程; 出发，如：It was raining when we set out. 我们出发时正下着雨。
era /'ɪərə/：a period of time in history that is known for a particular event, or for particular qualities时代，年代，如：His death marked the end of an era. 他的去世标志着一个时代的终结。
参考译文：人们在格林威治仍可看到19世纪最有名的帆船之一“卡蒂萨克”号。它停在陆地上，每年接待成千上万的参观者。它给人们留下深刻的印象，使人们回忆起历史上的巨型帆船，在蒸汽船取代帆船之前，“卡蒂萨克”号之类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”号是帆船制造史上建造的最快的一艘帆船。唯一可以与之一比高低的是“塞姆皮雷”号帆船。两船于1872年6月18日同时从上海启航驶往英国，途中展开了一场激烈的比赛。这场比赛持续了整整4个月，是这类比赛中的最后一次，它标志着帆船伟大传统的结束与一个新纪元的开始。
The first of the two ships to reachJavaafter the race had begun was the Thermopylae, but on the Indian Ocean, the Cutty Sarktook 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 herrudderwas torn away. The Cutty Sarkrolledfrom side to side andit became impossible tosteer her. Atemporaryrudder was madeon boardfrom spareplanksand it was fittedwith great difficulty. This greatly reduced the speed of the ship, forthere was a 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 theEquator, the captain called inat a port to havea new rudder fitted, butby nowthe 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 manydelays. There is no doubt that if she had not lost her rudder she would have won the race easily.
语篇导读：本段主要记叙两艘船的比赛过程。首句直接抛出“塞姆皮雷”号帆船拿下比赛的结果，但同时表明“卡蒂萨克”号帆船在比赛过程中曾一度领先。下文接着讲述“卡蒂萨克”号帆船因遭遇风暴失去一只舵等接二连三厄运后，由领先到落后，最后输掉比赛。虽然“卡蒂萨克”号帆船未能卫冕，但从最后两句来看，作者的用词(remarkable)和虚拟语气(如果没有失去船舵，就会轻易夺冠)的运用，深深表现出惋惜之情。
Java /'dʒɑːvə/：爪哇岛，位于印度尼西亚，南临印度洋，北面爪哇海，印度尼西亚首都雅加达则位于爪哇西北。
take the lead：领先，居首位，如：India should take the lead role and responsibility for making healthcare affordable to all.印度应该在让人人负担得起卫生保健方面担任带头的角色和责任。
【难句解析】It seemed certain that she would be the first ship home, but during the race she had a lot of bad luck. ①It作形式主语，逻辑主语是that引导的从句：she would be the first ship home. ②home在本文指“英国”，副词home作定语，类似用法还有：the way ahead前面的路，a place twenty miles away二十英里以外的地方；③during：在……期间
rudder /'rʌdə/：A rudder is a device for steering a boat. It consists of a vertical piece of wood or metal at the back of the boat. 舵，如：He came up with his skin torn but well informed about the rudder. 祖父上来时，皮肤被划开了，但他已经熟知船舵的情况。
roll/rəʊl/：if a ship or plane rolls, it leans one way and then another with the movement of the water or air〔随着水流或气流〕左右摇晃，摇摆
from side to side：从一边到另一边，类似短语：from day to day：一天天；from door to door：挨门挨户
it became impossible to steer her：it作形式主语，同上
steer /stɪə/：to control the direction a vehicle is going, for example by turning a wheel驾驶 〔车、船等〕，如：He was steering with only one hand. 他只用一只手在驾驶。
temporary /ˈtɛmpərəri/：continuing for only a limited period of time暂时的，临时的，如：I’m living with my parents, but it’s only temporary. 我和父母住在一起，但这只是暂时的。
on board：adv. on a ship, train, plane or other vehicle在船（火车、飞机）上，在句中作地点状语，提前起强调作用
plank/plæŋk/：a long narrow piece of wooden board, used especially for making structures to walk on（厚）木板，板条，如：a bridge made of planks 用厚木板搭成的桥
fit/fɪt/：If you fit something somewhere, you attach it there, or put it there carefully and securely. 安装; 小心放置，如：Peter had built the overhead ladders, and the next day he fitted them to the wall. 彼得已经造好了悬挂梯，第二天他就把它们装在了墙上。
be made from…：由……制成
【语法小学堂】with great difficulty：with+抽象名词，其作用相当于一个副词，如：with delight=delightedly高兴地。
介词with用法详解，见：http://www.yygrammar.com/Article/201101/1907.html
…for there was a danger that if she travelled too quickly…：for是并列连词，对主句补充原因说明，请参考Lesson 1
loss one’s lead：失去其领先地位
Equator /ɪ'kweɪtə/：The equator is an imaginary line around the middle of the earth at an equal distance from the North Pole and the South Pole.赤道，如：Instead, they wobbled along the equator before fizzling out. 相反，它们一直在赤道附近摇晃，直到消失。
call in：If you call in somewhere, you make a short visit there.暂时访问，短暂停留，如：He just calls in occasionally. 他只是偶尔来坐坐。
have a new rudder fitted：涉及使役动词have sth. done：使某事处于完成的状态。如：I'll have my bike repaired. 我要请人修自行车。请参考Lesson 11_Not guilty
by now: 到目前为止；到如今，如：By now, we have completed the main logic of our new content assistant. 到目前为止，我们已经完成了新内容助理的主要逻辑。
considering that…：考虑到……，就……而言
delay /dɪ'leɪ/：when someone or something has to wait, or the length of the waiting time延误，耽搁；耽搁的时间，如：Sorry for the delay, Mr Weaver. 韦弗先生，很抱歉耽搁了一些时间。
【难句解析】There is no doubt that if shehadnot lost her rudder shewould havewon the race easily. ①There is no doubt that…：大概、很可能；②虚拟语气：条件从句与过去事实不一致，其句型为：If ＋主语＋had＋过去分词，主语＋should（could, would, 或might）＋ have ＋过去分词，如：If I had not studied hard, I would have failed in the exam last term.
虚拟语气参见：https://www.hjenglish.com/yufadaquan/p1144496/
参考译文：比赛开始后，“塞姆皮雷”号率先抵达爪哇岛。但在印度洋上，“卡蒂萨克”号驶到了前面。看来，它首先返抵英国是确信无疑的了，但它却在比赛中连遭厄运。8月份“卡蒂萨克”号遭到一场特大风暴的袭击，失去了一只舵。船身左右摇晃，无法操纵。船员用备用的木板在船上赶制了一只应急用的舵，并克服重重困难将舵安装就位。这样一来，大大降低了船的航速。因为船不能开得太快，否则就有危险，应急舵也会被刮走。因为这个缘故，“卡蒂萨克”号落到了后面。跨越赤道后，船长将船停靠在一个港口，在那儿换了一只舵。但此时，“塞姆皮雷”号早已在500多英里之遥了。尽管换装新舵时分秒必争，但“卡蒂萨克”号已经不可能取胜了，它抵达英国时比“塞姆皮雷”号晚了1个星期。但考虑到路上的多次耽搁，这个成绩也已很不容易了。毫无疑问，如果中途没有失去舵，“卡蒂萨克”号肯定能在比赛中轻易夺冠。
Summary writing：(last paragraph)
用不多于80个单词描述“卡蒂萨克”号与“塞姆皮雷”号从上海起航后的赛事发展。（摘自新概念英语教师用书新版3）
The Thermopylae reached Java first, but the Cutty Sark took the lead on the Indian Ocean. When the Cutty Sark was struck by a storm, her rudder was torn away. A temporary rudder was made and fitted, but the ship lost the lead. After crossing the Equator, they called in at a port to have a new rudder fitted. Even with a new rudder, the Cutty Sark arrived in England a week after the Thermopylae, which was 500 miles ahead.
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