The First Bicycle
The history of the bicycle goes back more than 200 years. In 1791, Count de Sivrac (1) ______ onlookers in a park in Paris as he showed off his two-wheeled invention, a machine called the celerifere. It was basically an (2) ______ version of a children’s toy which had been in (3) ______ for many years. Sivrac’s “celerifere” had a wooden frame, made in the (4) ______ of horse, which was mounted on a wheel at either end1. To ride it, you sat on a small seat, just like a modern bicycle, and pushed (5) ______ against the (6) ______ with your legs — there were no pedals. It was impossible to steer a celerifere and it had no brakes, but despite these problems the invention very much (7) ______to the fashionable young men of Paris. Soon they were (8) ______ races up and down the streets.
Minor (9) ______ were common as riders attempted a final burst of2 (10) ______. Controlling the machine was difficult, as the only way to change (11) ______ was to pull up the front of the “celerifere” and (12) ______ it round while the front wheel was (13) ______ in the air. “Celeriferes” were not popular for long, however, as the (14) ______ of no springs, no steering and rough roads made riding them very uncomfortable. Even so, the wooden celerifere was the (15) ______ of the modern bicycle.
注釋:
1. ...which was mounted on a wheel at either end:……兩端都裝上了輪子
2. …as riders attempteda final burst of speed:……當騎手嘗試最后沖刺的時候
練習:
1.A) delighted B) cheered C) appreciated D) overjoyed
2.A) increased B) enormous C) extended D) enlarged
3.A) use B) play C) operation D) service
4.A) resemblance B) shape C) body D) appearance
5.A) fast B) deeply C) heavily D) hard
6.A) surface B) ground C) earth D) floor
7.A) attracted B) appealed C) took D) called
8.A) goi4g B) getting C) holding D) making
9.A) wounds B) trips C) injuries D) breaks
10.A) velocity B) energy C) pace D) speed
11.A) direction B) route C) heading D) way
12.A) roIl B) drive C) turn D) revolve
13.A) cycling B) circling C) winding D) spinning
14.A) mixture B) link C) combination D) union
15.A) origin B)design C) model D) introduction
答案與題解:
1.A 根據句意,西夫拉克伯爵使公園里的觀眾都感到高興,能表示“使……高興”意思的只有A和D,而D選項overjoy意思為“使……過度興奮,狂喜”,感情色彩過于強烈,這里應填,delight“使……喜悅”。
2.D 一開始發明的自行車應該是個兒童玩具的擴大版,increased“增加的”,enormous“巨大的”,extended“延伸的”均不合題意。
3. A 此處有三個選項都可以與in搭配,in use“在使用中”,in operation“生效,運行中”,in service“服務中”,只有in use填入此空符合邏輯,故選擇A。
4. B 最早的自行車是用木頭支架做成馬的形狀,弄懂意思后答案一目了然,resemblance意為 “相似,相似物”,appearance“外貌,外觀”。
S.D 此處意思為“用腳使勁蹬地”,故選hard。heavily意為“沉重地,猛烈地”。
6. B 四個選項都跟“地”有點關系,surface“表面”,ground“地面,土地”,earth“泥土,陸地”,floor“地板,地面”,比較之后,只有ground比較合適。
7. B appeal to意思為“吸引”,attract本身就是及物動詞“吸引”,后不需要加介詞to,take to意為“開始喜歡,開始從事”。
8. C hold races在這里是“舉行賽跑”的意思,其他選項不合題意。
9. C 人們在最后沖刺的時候,受點小傷是很常見的。只有wound和injury有“受傷,傷害”的意思,wound做名詞一般指“傷口,受傷的地方”,injury指“小傷”,為正確答案。
10.D 此處表示“最后猛一沖刺”,一定是速度很快,除了B選項之外的三個選項都有“速度” 之意,velocity“速率,速度”,為科學用語,pace“步調,步法”,speed“速度”,是常用詞,故選D。
11.A 此處的意思是“改變方向”,并不是要改變路線,只有A選項符合題意。
12.C 想要改變行車方向需要抬起車頭在空中掉轉,turn round為慣用搭配,意為“旋轉,掉轉”,roll和revolve本身就有“旋轉”的意思,后面不需加round。
13. D 這四個選項都有“轉圈”的意思,cycle“循環,騎自行車”,circle“旋轉,環繞移動”,wind“纏繞,上發條”,spin“自旋,紡紗”,此處主語為wheel,輪子在空中一定是“自旋”,因此選D。
14. C 四個選項都有“綜合”的意思,mixture表示“混合,混合物”,link“連接,結合”,combination“結合,組合,聯合”,union“聯盟,聯合”,全句意為“結合了沒有彈簧、沒有方向舵,以及遭遇不平整路段等問題,木制雙輪車騎起來十分不舒服”,只有C選項的意思放在此處最恰當。
15.A 綜合全文大意,我們得知法國人發明的木制雙輪車便是現代自行車的始祖,A選項符合題意。
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