A Nation on Wheels
美音、自然拼读、分级阅读与词汇复习
Table of Contents Introduction.
导言表。
4 The Early Days.
4"早期日报".
5 How Cars Are Made.
5车是如何制造的。
7 Companies That Make Cars.
7个制造汽车的公司。
11 Problems Caused by the Automobile.
11个问题 由汽车制造。
13 The Future of the Automobile.
13"汽车的未来".
14 Glossary.
14 词汇表。
16 Introduction The world is full of cars and trucks.
导言 世界充满了汽车和卡车.
There are over 600 million of them!
他们有超过6亿!
They are in even the smallest town in the smallest country.
它们甚至位于最小国家的最小城镇。
There are over 200 million cars and trucks just in the United States.
美国有超过2亿辆汽车和卡车。
Most of these vehicles are automobiles.
这些车辆多为汽车.
We are a nation moving on wheels!
我们是一个前进的民族!
The Early Days People have always needed to travel.
早期的日子 人们总是需要旅行。
At first, people walked everywhere— even long distances.
起初,人们到处行走,甚至长途跋涉。
Then they tamed animals to ride and taught some to pull wagons.
然后他们驯服了动物骑马 并教了一些拉马车。
Horses, camels, and even elephants helped people make trips and carry things.
马,骆驼,甚至有大象帮助人们出行并携带物品.
Imagine riding to school on an elephant!
想象一下骑大象去学校!
Using animals was better than walking—but it was still slow.
使用动物比走路好,
Inventors tried to build a machine with wheels to carry people faster.
发明者试图用轮子来制造一台机器来更快地载人.
They thought of building an engine to run it.
他们想建造一个引擎来运行它。
They tried running engines with steam or with electricity.
他们尝试用蒸汽或用电来运行发动机.
But neither engine worked well enough.
但引擎都不够有效
In the late 1880s, people made engines that could run on gasoline, or gas.
1880年代后期,人们制造出可以运行于汽油,或汽油的发动机.
These engines were small but powerful.
这些引擎虽小但很强大.
They could travel faster and go farther.
他们可以走得更快,走得更远
Today, most cars use gas engines.
今天,大多数汽车使用燃气发动机.
Do You Know?
你知道吗?
Which word came first— car or automobile?
哪个字是先来的——汽车还是汽车?
Car was first used in 1301 to describe a Celtic war chariot.
车厢最早于1301年被用来描述一款凯尔特人战争战车.
Automobile was first used by a Frenchman in 1883 to describe electric cars.
汽车最早被一位法国人于1883年用来描述电动汽车.
How are they used now?
现在怎么用?
One of the first steam vehicles, built in 1770 Elephants in India help carry people and goods still today.
印度最早于1770年建造的蒸汽机车之一,帮助载人和货物至今.
A Camel taxi takes people where they want to go in India, too.
骆驼计程车也会把人们带到他们想去的印度。
How Cars Are Made The first cars did not look like the ones you see today.
汽车是如何制造的 最初的车看起来不像你今天看到的
They looked like carriages without horses.
他们看起来像没有马的马车
People even called them horseless carriages!
人们甚至称它们为无马车!
At first, cars were made one at a time by hand.
起先由一手制成汽车.
It took a long time.
久之而来.
They were expensive.
他们很昂贵。
Not everyone could afford a handmade car.
不是每个人都能买得起一辆车
People tried ways to manufacture cars faster and at a lower cost.
人们试图以更快和更低的成本制造汽车.
In 1896, one early company could make only 13 cars in a year.
1896年,一个早期的公司一年只能制造出13辆汽车.
But by 1899, a company could make over 2,000!
但是到1899年,一家公司可以赚到两千多!
In 1903, Henry Ford started the Ford Motor Company in Detroit, Michigan.
1903年,亨利·福特在密歇根州底特律创办了福特汽车公司.
Detroit would soon become the center of car making.
底特律很快会成为汽车制造的中心.
Ford’s company sold a car called the Model T.
福特公司出售了一辆叫"模型T"的汽车.
Ford wanted to make cars that cost less—so more people could buy them.
福特想制造成本更低的汽车,这样更多的人可以购买.
This meant he had to manufacture more cars and do it faster.
这意味着他必须制造出更多的汽车并更快地完成.
Henry Ford’s company made more than 15 million Model Ts over almost twenty years.
亨利·福特的公司在将近20年的时间里制造出超过1500万辆Model T.
Carmaker Henry Ford sits in the first car he made in 1896.
车匠亨利 福特坐在他于1896年制造的第一辆汽车上.
What Is an Assembly Line?
什么是集会线?
On an assembly line, a car is assembled—put together—one piece at a time.
在一条编组线上,一辆车被组装成一整块。
Machines pull unfinished cars through the factory in a long line.
机器将未完成的汽车拖入了长线的工厂.
As each car moves along the line, parts are added to it.
随着每节车厢沿线路行走,也增加了零件.
At the end of the line, the car is complete.
线路末段通车.
For years, people did all the work on an assembly line.
多年来,人们在一条装配线上做了所有的工作.
But today, machines called robots often do this work.
但今天,称为"机器人"的机器经常做这项工作.
These robots are not like the ones in movies.
这些机器人不像电影里的机器人
These are special machines that work the same way that an arm and hand work.
这些是特殊的机器, 工作方式与手臂和手一样。
Robots can work without getting tired.
机器人可以工作而不会累.
A modern assembly line One of the earliest assembly lines Ford thought about all the ways he could do this.
现代装配线 最早的装配线之一 福德思惟一切法能作如是事.
In 1913, he invented the assembly line.
1913年他发明了装配线.
It was a faster and cheaper way to make a car.
这是一个更快和便宜的方式 制造一辆车。
Soon, other companies made their cars this way.
很快,其他公司也用这种方式制造了他们的汽车.
Now almost everyone could buy a car.
现在几乎每个人都可以买一辆车。
By 1929, over 3.
至1929年,超过3个.
5 million cars were on the road.
500万辆汽车在路上。
There were so many cars that people had to build more roads!
这么多的车,人们不得不建造更多的道路!
Companies That Make Cars Three big companies have been making cars in the United States for a long time: General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford.
制造汽车的公司 三家大公司长期在美国制造汽车:通用汽车,克莱斯勒和福特.
Since cars first hit the streets, American companies have led the world in car production.
自汽车首次上街起,美国公司就已经领导了世界的汽车生产.
In the 1960s and ’70s, a Japanese company named Toyota began offering cars that were built to last longer and break down less often than most American-made cars.
20世纪60至70年代,一家名为丰田的日本公司开始提供所建造的能维持更长时间并比大多数美国制造的汽车更不频繁地破损的汽车.
But the American car manufacturers still sold the most cars.
但美国汽车制造商仍然销售了最多的汽车.
Then in 2007, the pattern changed.
随后在2007年,模式发生了变化.
Toyota, the first foreign company to do so, sold more cars and trucks than any other company in the world.
丰田是第一个这样做的外国公司,比世界上任何其他公司卖出更多的汽车和卡车.
Toyotas are not the only cars made outside the United States.
丰田不是美国以外制造的唯一汽车.
Volkswagen and BMW are imported from Germany.
大众汽车和宝马从德国进口.
But the countries of Japan and South Korea have brought the highest numbers of cars into the United States.
但日本和韩国国家将汽车数量最多带入美国.
Chrysler makes the Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep.
克莱斯勒制造了克莱斯勒,道奇和吉普.
Ford makes the Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Mazda and Volvo.
福特制造出福特,林肯,水星,马兹达和沃尔沃.
BMW makes the BMW, MINI, and Rolls-Royce.
BMW制造出"BMW","MINI"和"劳斯莱斯".
Volkswagen makes the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Skoda, and SEAT.
大众制造出"奥地","本特利","布加蒂","兰博基尼","斯可达","SEAT".
Honda makes the Honda and Acura.
本田使本田与阿cur多罗三藐三菩提.
Nissan makes the Nissan and Infiniti.
尼相使出尼相与入涅盘.
Problems Caused by the Automobile Automobiles are helpful, but they can also cause serious problems for people.
问题 由"汽车"汽车公司引起的问题很有帮助,但也会给人们造成严重的问题.
Exhaust (burning gases from a car’s tailpipe) gets in the air.
排气(从汽车尾管燃烧气体)进入空气。
That means unhealthy chemicals get in the air that we breathe.
这意味着不健康的化学品 进入空气中,我们呼吸。
These chemicals can make people sick.
这些化学品会使人们生病.
Every year, car companies try to reduce the amount of chemicals their cars make.
每年,汽车公司都试图减少汽车所制造的化学品的数量.
Have you ever been in a traffic jam?
你被堵过车吗?
All the cars on the road just sat still, and you couldn’t go anywhere.
路上所有的车都静静地坐着,
So many cars are on the road today that it causes problems.
今天有很多汽车在路上, 造成问题。
Remember—there are about 200 million cars in the United States.
记住,美国大约有两亿辆汽车
That’s almost as many cars as people.
这几乎和人一样多的车。
In fact, the number of cars has grown faster than the number of people.
事实上,汽车数量的增长快于人.
The Future of the Automobile Years ago, most cars were unsafe in accidents.
汽车的未来 几年前,大多数汽车 在事故中不安全。
Today, special car parts help to protect people.
今天,特殊的汽车零件有助于保护人们.
Cars have seat belts.
车厢设有安全带.
Babies and small children ride in safety seats.
婴儿和小孩坐在安全座椅上。
Newer cars have big airbags that inflate— fill with air—in accidents.
较新型的汽车有巨大的气囊,充斥着空难。
What do you think would make cars even safer?
你觉得什么能让汽车更安全?
Car companies are also working on new kinds of engines.
汽车公司也在研究新型发动机.
One type of car, called a hybrid, uses both a gas engine and an electric motor.
一种车型被称作混合动力车,既使用燃气发动机也使用电动机.
Hybrids use less gas.
混合体使用的气体较少.
This might cut down on the unhealthy chemicals in the air.
这可能会减少空气中的不健康化学品。
Carmakers see how well airbags work by using crash test dummies that look like humans.
汽车制造者通过使用看起来像人类的坠机测试哑弹来观察气囊的功用.
We will always be a nation that travels from one place to another.
我们将永远是一个从一个地方到另一个地方的国家。
But will it always be on wheels?
但它会永远是轮子?
How will cars look in the future?
汽车将来会怎么样?
How will they work?
他们怎么工作?
Perhaps your ideas will shape the future.
也许你的想法会塑造未来
Glossary automobiles vehicles with four wheels that (n.)
4个车轮的汽车术语表(不详)
have an engine and travel on roads (p.
拥有一款发动机并乘坐公路(p.
4) chemicals (n.)
4)化学品(不详)
substances that are produced by or used in a chemical process (p.
由化学工艺生产或用于化学工艺的物质(p.
13) distances (n.)
13)相距(n.
the amounts of space between things or places (p.
事物或地点之间的空格(p.
5) engine (n.)
5) 发动机 (n.
a machine with moving parts that uses power to create motion (p.
具有可移动部件的机器,使用能产生运动(p.
6) expensive (adj.)
6) 昂贵(adj.
costly; having a high price (p.
成本高;价格高(第5页)。
7) foreign (adj.)
7) 外国(adj.
of or from a different country or language (p.
或来自另一个国家或语言(p.
11) imported (v.)
11) 进口(五.
brought in and bought goods from another country or state (p.
从另一个国家或国家运来并购买货物(p.
11) inventors (n.)
11) 发明家 (n.
people who create, design, or build something that did not exist before (p.
创造、设计或建造以前不存在的东西的人(p.
6) manufacture to make finished goods, (v.)
6)制造成品, (五.
especially using industry (p.
特别是利用工业(p.
7) production (n.)
7) 生产(n.
the process of combining resources to make a product for sale (p.
合并资源以制作产品供销售的过程(p.
11) A company called ZAP made these electric cars to help cut down on bad chemicals in the air.
11)一家叫ZAP的公司制造了这些电动汽车来帮助削减空气中的坏化学品.