way. 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 traveled 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. these is no doubt that if she had not lost her rudder she would have won the race easily.

new words and expressions 生词和短语

impressive

adj. 给人深刻印象的

steamship

n. 蒸汽轮船

vessel

n. 轮船，大木船

era

n. 时期，时代

java

n. 爪哇（印度尼西亚一岛）

rudder

n. 舵

roll

v. 颠簸，摇摆

steer

v. 掌握方向

temporary

adj. 临时的

plank

n. 大块木板

fit

v. 安装

equator

n. 赤道

delay

n. 耽误

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。

比赛开始后，“赛姆皮雷”号率先抵达爪哇岛。但在印度洋上，“卡萨萨克”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，“赛姆皮雷”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， “卡帝萨克”号肯定能在比赛中轻易夺冠。

lesson 26

wanted: a large biscuit tin

征购大饼干筒

listen to the tape then answer the question below.

听录音，然后回答以下问题。

listen who the prize for biggest biscuit?

no one can avoid being influenced by advertisements. much as we may pride ourselves on our good taste, we are no longer free to choose the things we want, for advertising exerts a subtle influence on us. in their efforts to persuade us to buy this or that product, advertisers have made a close study of human nature and have classified all our little weaknesses.

advertisers discovered years ago that all of us love to get something for nothing. an advertisement which begins with the magic word free can rarely go wrong. these days, advertisers not only offer free samples, but free cars, free houses, and free trips round the world as well. they devise hundreds of competitions which will enable us to win huge sums of money. radio and television have made it possible for advertisers to capture the attention of millions of people in this way.

during a radio programme, a company of biscuit manufacturers once asked listeners to bake biscuits and send them to their factory. they offered to pay $10 a pound for the biggest biscuit baked by a listener. the response to this competition was tremendous. before long, biscuits of all shapes and sizes began arriving at the factory. one lady brought in a biscuit on a wheelbarrow. it weighed nearly 500 pounds. a little later, a man came along with a biscuit which occupied the whole boot of his car. all the biscuits that were sent were carefully weighed. the largest was 713 pounds. it seemed certain that this would win the prize. but just before the competition closed, a lorry arrived at the factory with a truly colossal biscuit which weighed 2,400 pounds. it had been baked by a college student who had used over 1,000 pounds of flour, 800 pounds of sugar, 200 pounds of fat, and 400 pounds of various other ingredients. it was so heavy that a crane had to be used to remove it from the lorry. the manufacturers had to pay more money than they had anticipated, or they bought the biscuit from the student for $24,000.

new words and expressions 生词和短语

influence

v. 影响

pride

v. 骄傲

taste

n. 鉴赏力

exert

v. 施加

subtle

aj. 微妙的，难以捉摸的

advertiser

n. 做广告的人

classify

v. 分类

magic

adj. 有奇妙作用

sample

n. 样品

devise

v. 设计，想出

capture

v. 吸引，赢得

manufacturer

n. 生产厂家，制造商

wheelbarrow

n. 独轮手推车

boot

n. （汽车尾部的）行李箱

ingredient

n. 配料

crane

n. 起重机

anticipate

v. 预期，预料

参考译文

没有人能避免受广告的影响。尽管我们可以自夸自己的鉴赏力如何敏锐，但我们已经无法独立自主地选购自己所需的东西了。这是因为广告在我们身上施加着一种潜移默化的影响。做广告的人在力图劝说我们买下这种产品或那种产品之前，已经仔细地研究了人的本性，并把人的弱点进行了分类。

做广告的人们多年前就发现我们大家都喜欢免费得到东西。凡是用“免费”这个神奇的词开头的广告很少会失败的。目前，做广告的人不仅提供免费样品，而且还提供免费汽车，免费住房，免费周游世界。他们设计数以百计的竞赛，竞赛中有人可赢得巨额奖金。电台、电视使做广告的人可以用这种手段吸引成百万人的注意力。

有一次，在电台播放的节目里，一个生产饼干的公司请听众烘制饼干送到他们的工厂去。他们愿意以每磅10美元的价钱买下由听众烘制的最大的饼干。这次竞赛在听众中引起极其热烈的反响。不久，形状各异，大小不一的饼干陆续送到工厂。一位女士用手推车运来一个饼干，重达500磅左右。相隔不一会儿，一个男子也带来一个大