一、课文内容

Lesson 56 Faster than sound!
Once a year, a race is held for old cars.
A lot of cars entered for this race last year and there was a great deal of excitement just before 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 loud explosions, the race began.
Many of the cars broke down on 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 miles an hour -- much faster than any of its rivals.
It sped downhill at the end of the race and its driver had a lot of trouble trying to stop it.
The race gave everyone a great deal of pleasure.
It was very different from modern car races but no less exciting.

二、课文译文

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。