The Cutty Sark

原文

Lesson 25

The Cutty Sark

What piece of bad luck prevented the Cutty Sark from winning the race?

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 the 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.

译文

第25课

“Cutty Sark”是一艘著名的帆船，以其独特的船型和卓越的航海性能而闻名于世。

是什么倒霉的事情导致“Cutty Sark”号没能赢得这场比赛呢？

作为19世纪最著名的帆船之一，“Cutty Sark”至今仍可以在格林尼治博物馆看到。

她站在陆地上，每年都有成千上万的人前来参观她。

她仿佛是一面令人印象深刻的镜子，让人们想起过去那些宏伟的船只。

在它们被蒸汽船取代之前，

像“Cutty Sark”这样的帆船曾被用来从中国运输茶叶，从澳大利亚运输羊毛。

“Cutty Sark”是有史以来建造的最快的帆船之一。

唯一能与她相媲美的船只就是“Thermopylae”号了。

这两艘船都于1872年6月18日从上海出发，参加了一场前往英国的激动人心的竞赛。

这场比赛持续了整整四个月，也是这类比赛中的最后一场比赛。

这标志着帆船这一伟大传统的终结，以及一个新时代的开始。

在比赛开始后，最先抵达爪哇的两艘船只中，第一艘是“Thermopylae”号。

但在印度洋上，库蒂·萨克号（Cutty Sark）却取得了领先地位。

看起来她肯定会成为第一个返回家的“船只”（即第一个完成任务的成员）。

但在比赛中，她遭遇了很多不幸（或者说：她遇到了很多麻烦或困难）。

八月份，她遭遇了一场猛烈的风暴，风暴中她的舵被彻底损坏（即被风暴中的力量扯掉了）。

“Cutty Sark”号开始左右摇晃，根本无法再控制它的航向了。

他们在船上用多余的木板制作了一个临时舵，并且安装这个临时舵的过程非常困难。

这大大降低了船的速度，因为如果船行驶得太快，就存在危险。

这个舵也会被扯掉的。

正因如此，Cutty Sark失去了领先优势。

在越过赤道后，船长停靠在一个港口，更换了船上的舵。

但那时，Thermopylae号已经领先了五百多英里。

尽管新的舵被迅速安装上了，Cutty Sark号还是无法赶上它。

Cutty Sark号在Thermopylae号之后一周才抵达英格兰。

考虑到途中经历了许多延误，这一成绩已经非常了不起了。

毫无疑问，如果她没有失去舵，她本可以轻松赢得比赛。

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词汇表

sailing

名词, 形容词, verb (gerund)

英:/ˈseɪlɪŋ/

美:/ˈseɪlɪŋ/

定义

1. 航海；帆船运动 - The activity of traveling on water using sails.

例子: Sailing requires skill and knowledge of the wind.

例子: He enjoys sailing on weekends with his friends.

2. 使用帆的 - Related to ships or vessels that use sails.

例子: The sailing ship crossed the ocean in record time.

例子: Sailing vessels were common before steam engines.

近义词

navigation: 更泛指任何水上或空中导航，强调技术而非帆船特定。

boating: 侧重于任何船只活动，不限于帆船，常用于休闲语境。

yachting: 特指豪华或竞技性的帆船运动，与休闲娱乐相关，比 'sailing' 更正式。

反义词:

flying, driving, walking

用法

常用于描述海上旅行或船只类型，语境多为历史或休闲活动，常搭配如 'sailing ship' 或 'go sailing'，在航海文化中常见。

形式:

复数: sailings (as noun referring to trips), 过去式: sailed, 形容词形式: sailable

关键句型 "one of the + superlative + that + clause"

定义

此句型用于强调某事物在同类中处于最高级或最极端状态，常用于描述独一无二的特征。结构为：one of the + superlative adjective（最高级形容词）+ noun + that + clause（that引导的从句）。例如，文章中的 "The Cutty Sark was one of the fastest sailing ships that has ever been built." 根据《剑桥英语语法》教材，这种句型帮助表达比较和独特性，that从句提供额外细节，强化描述。

它常用于正式叙述或历史描述中，让句子更精确和生动。

用法

此句型主要用于比较场景，如历史事件、人物成就或物品特点，强调某物在群体中的突出位置。规则：one of the 后跟最高级形容词和名词，然后用 that + clause 扩展信息，that从句通常用现在完成时或一般过去时描述持续或过去情况。

在语法体系中，它属于复杂句型，涉及形容词的比较级和从句结构，与简单比较句型（如 "the fastest ship"）相比，更添加了独特性元素。横向比较：与 "the + superlative"（如 "the fastest ship"）不同，此句型强调 "one of" 的复数含义，表示不止一个但非常突出；与 "as + adjective + as" 相比，它更侧重绝对最高而非平等比较。同时，它可链接到相对从句的学习，建立从句在句子中的作用。

例如，在文章中，它连接历史背景，学生可将其与条件句型结合使用，增强叙述深度。

注意事项

学生易犯的错误包括：误用最高级形式，如将 "fast" 误写为 "faster"；或遗漏 that，导致句子不完整（如 "one of the fastest ships has ever been built"，这会显得awkward）。纠正建议：练习时，确保最高级形容词正确（如 "fastest" 而非 "fast"），并用逗号分隔主句和从句。

另一个常见偏误是时态不一致，例如在that从句中使用一般过去时而非完成时（如 "that was ever built" 而非 "that has ever been built"），这会改变含义。提供例句：

错误示例：The Cutty Sark was one of the fast ships that built.
正确示例：The Cutty Sark was one of the fastest sailing ships that has ever been built.

记住，that从句应保持独立，避免主句时态干扰。

练习

原创例子：假设描述一位历史人物，你可以说："Einstein was one of the greatest scientists that has ever lived." 学生可以替换关键词，如将 "greatest scientists" 改为 "most talented athletes that has ever played"，并创建自己的句子，例如在讨论现代科技时说："This phone is one of the most advanced devices that has ever been invented."

通过这种替换，学生能将句型应用到日常生活或学习场景中，增强灵活性并加深记忆。

额外内容

背景知识：这种句型源于英语中强调卓越的传统，常在19世纪文学和历史叙述中出现，如狄更斯的作品。文化对比：与中文的 "是最…之一" 类似，但英语通过结构（如that从句）添加细节，提供更丰富的表达。与法语的 "l'un des plus..." 相比，英语版本更灵活，因为that从句允许扩展信息，帮助学生理解跨语言的比较表达方式。这不仅丰富了语言学习，还能提升写作水平，尤其在描述历史或成就时。

关键句型 "If + past perfect, would have + past participle"

定义

此句型用于表达与过去事实相反的假设情景，常称作第三类条件句，结构为：If + past perfect tense（如果 + 过去完成时）+ would have + past participle（本该 + 过去分词）。例如，文章中的 "if she had not lost her rudder she would have won the race easily." 据《牛津现代英语语法》定义，它表示对过去事件的遗憾或假设结果，强调条件不成立导致的后果。

这种句型在叙述历史或个人经历时特别有用，帮助表达虚拟现实。

用法

此句型主要用于讨论过去可能但未发生的情况，如历史事件或个人决策的后果。规则：If从句使用过去完成时（had + 过去分词），主句使用would have + 过去分词。位置：在语法体系中，它属于条件句型的一部分，与第一类（真实未来）和第二类（虚拟现在）条件句形成对比。横向比较：与第二类条件句 "If + simple past, would + verb"（如 "If I were rich, I would travel"）相比，此句型更侧重过去，无法改变；与第一类 "If + present, will + verb" 不同，它表达遗憾而非可能。

跨语法联系：它涉及过去完成时和情态动词would，与相对从句或其他假设结构结合时，能构建复杂叙述。例如，在文章中，它与过去事件描述相连，学生可扩展到其他情态表达，如 "might have" 表示可能性。

注意事项

学生常犯错误是时态混淆，例如用简单过去时替换过去完成时（如 "If she did not lose her rudder"），这会使句型变成第二类条件句，改变含义。纠正建议：始终使用had + 过去分词在If从句中，并确保主句的would have正确。另一个偏误是遗漏助动词have，导致句子错误（如 "she would have won easily" 变为 "she would won easily"）。提供例句：

错误示例：If she not lost her rudder, she would win the race.
正确示例：If she had not lost her rudder, she would have won the race easily.

此外，学生可能过度使用此句型，导致语言过于正式；建议在口语中结合实际情境练习。

练习

原创例子：谈论历史事件时，你可以说："If the captain had repaired the rudder faster, the Cutty Sark would have arrived first." 学生可以替换关键词，如将 "repaired the rudder" 改为 "avoided the storm"，并创建新句，例如："If I had studied harder last year, I would have passed the exam easily."

这种练习鼓励学生应用到个人经历中，增强对虚拟情景的理解和表达能力。

额外内容

背景知识：此句型起源于18世纪英语语法演变，常见于文学如莎士比亚的作品中，用于表达命运或遗憾。文化对比：与中文的 "要是…就好了" 类似，但英语通过具体时态结构（如过去完成时）精确表达。与西班牙语的 "si + pluperfect, habría + past participle" 相比，英语更简洁，帮助初学者避免复杂变位。这类句型能提升批判性思考，鼓励学生反思历史事件，如文章中的帆船赛，丰富语言与文化交融的理解。