By Louise
A photograph of the original Benz Patent Motor wagen, first built in 1885 and awarded the patent for the conceptThe automobile as we know it was not invented in a single day by a single inventor. The history of the automobile reflects an evolution that took place
worldwide. It is estimated that over 100,000 patents created the modern automobile. However, we can point to the many firsts that occurred along the way. Starting with the first theoretical plans for a motor Karl Benz's \entered into an early vehicle that had been drawn up by both automobile raceLeonardo da Vinci and Isaac Newton.Back in the early 1900s when Henry Ford first started producing cars in the United States, he only offered one color, black. His first car was the “Model A” and in 1908 he introduced a new and improved version called the “Model T.”
In June 1895, the Chicago Times-Herald newspaper announced the very first motor car race. In1895 in Europe, there had been some earlier success but a gasoline-powered vehicle was far from being a normal thing to see on the streets. The required criteria for the vehicles were that they have at least 3 wheels and could carry at least 2 people. Each vehicle had to carry the driver and an umpire selected by the judges to make sure that the driver and the vehicle were not cheating.
The racecourse route ran about 54 km. Because of some reasons, the race was rescheduled. The big day arrived welcomed by a fresh dusting of snow on the ground. This made for slippery road conditions and frigid temperatures. Keep in mind that the roads were dirt and none of these vehicles had roofs. They were completely open and subject to the elements. At the starting line were only 6 cars. Two were electric and powered by batteries, three were gasoline-powered and built by the German maker Benz and one was gasoline-powered and built by American Frank Duryea.
The icy temperature combined with the extremely poor road conditions were too much for some of the cars and 4 out of the 6 had to drop out. Topping a high speed of 7.5 miles per hour, it took the winner, Frank Duryea 9 hours to win first place! The second contestant rolled in 2 hours later. Duryea’s winnings were $2,000 and worldwide acknowledgement for beating the famous
Benz automobile. With his winnings, he started the Duryea Motor Wagon Company and became the first manufacturer of automobiles.
I.New words and expressions
激动，兴奋excitevt.使兴奋, 使激动?excitement n.This announcement greatly excited us.这个通知使我们大为激动。激发, 引起The professor's lecture excited our interest.那个教授讲的课引起了我们的兴趣。excitedadj. 感到兴奋的, 激动的He was getting excited just thinking about the trip.一想到那次旅行他就兴奋。excitingadj.令人兴奋的，激动的He concentrated his pupils and declared the exciting news.他把他的学生集中在一起, 宣布了这条令人兴奋的消息。?rival n. 对手同义词：opponent, competitor, adversary?once a year每年一次once + 表示时间的名词可以表示“每……一次”The postman comes once a day. 邮递员每天来一次。