大学英语精读第一册unit2

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At sixty-five Francis Chichester set out to sail single-handed round the world. This is the story of that adventure.

Sailing Round The World

Before he sailed round the world single-handed, Francis Chichester had already surprised his friends several times. He had tried to fly round the world but failed. That was in 1931.

The years passed. He gave up flying and began sailing. He enjoyed it greatly. Chichester was already 58 years old when he won the first solo transatlantic sailing race. His old dream of going round the world came back, but this time he would sail. His friends and doctors did not think he could do it, as he had lung cancer. But Chichester was determined to carry out his plan. In August, 1963, at the age of nearly sixty-five, an age when many men retire, he began the greatest voyage of his life. Soon, he was away in this new 16-metre boat, Gipsy Moth.

Chichester followed the route of the great nineteenth century clipper ships. But the clippers had had plenty of crew. Chicheater did it all by himself, even after the main steering device had been damaged by gales. Chichester covered 14, 100 miles before stopping in Sydney, Australia. This was more than twice the distance anyone had previously sailed alone.

He arrived in Australia on 12 December, just 107 days out from England. He received a warm welcome from the Australians and from his family who had flown there to meet him. On shore, Chichester could not walk without help. Everybody said the same thing: he had done enough; he must not go any further. But he did not listen.

After resting in Sydney for a few weeks, Chichester set off once more in spite of his friends' attempts to dissuade him. The second half of his voyage was by far the more dangerous part, during which he sailed round the treacherous Cape Horn.

On 29 January he left Australia. The next night, the blackest he had ever known, the sea became so rough that the boat almost turned over. Food, clothes, and broken glass were all mixed together. Fortunately,the damage to the boat was not too serious.Chichester calmly got into bed and went to sleep. When he woke up, the sea had become calm again.Still,he could not help thinking that if anything should happen,the nearest person he could contact by radio, unless there was a ship nearby, Would be on an island 885 miles away.

After succeeding in sailing round Cape Horn, Chichester sent the followiing radio message to London:" I feel as if I had wakened from a nightmare. Wild horses could not drag me down to Cape Horn and that sinister Southern Ocean again."

Juat before 9 o'clock on Sunday evening 28 May, 1967, he arrived back in England, where a quarter of a million people were waiting to welcome him. Queeh Elizabeth II knigthed him with the very sword that Queen Elizabeth I had used almost 400 years earlier to knight Sir Francis Drake after he had sailed round the world for the first time. The whole voyage from

England and back had covered 28, 500 miles. It had taken him nine months , of which the sailing time was 226 days. He had done what he wanted to accomplish.

Like many other adventurers, Chichester had experienced fear and conquered it. In doing so, he had undoubtedly learnt something about himself. Moreover, in the modern age when human beings depend so much on machines, he had given men throughout the world new pride.

NEW WORDS

1、single-handed a.&ad.

2、solo a.

3、transatatlantic a.

4、lung n.

5、cancer n.

1单独的（地） 2单独的 3横渡大西洋的 4肺 5癌

6、determined a./determine v./determination n.

7、retire vi.

8、voyage n.

9、clipper n.

10、crew/kru:/ n.

6下决心的 7退休 8航海，航行 9快速帆船 10全体船员，全体乘务员

11、steer vt.

12、device n. eg.steeering device n.

13、gale/geil/ n.

14、cover vt.

15、previously ad./previous a.

11、为……掌舵，驾驶 12、设备，装置 eg.操舵装置 13、大风 14、行过（一段距离） 15、以前

16、Australian n.&a.

17、dissuade/dis'weid/ vt.

18、treacherous a.

19、cape n.

20、fortunatelay ad.

16、澳大利亚人，澳大利亚居民 17、劝阻 18、暗藏危险的，奸诈的 19、海角 20、luckily幸运地，幸亏

21、contact vt.

22、nearby ad.

23、following a.

24、waken v.

25、nightmare n.

21、联系，接触 22、close by在附近 23、next接着的，下列的 24、唤醒，醒来 25、terrible dream噩梦

26、drag vt.

27、sinister a.

28、knight n.&vt.

29、sword n.

30、accomplish vt.

26、拖，拉 27、凶恶的，的 28、爵士&封……为爵士 29、剑，刀 30、完成

31、adventurer n.

32、conquer vt.

33、undoubtedly ad.

34、moreover ad.

35、being n.

31、冒险家 32、征服 33、certainly无疑的 34、in addition此外，而且 35、living thing生物，人

PHRASES&EXPRESSIONS

36、set out

37、give up

38、be determined to(do sth.)

39、(all) by oneself

40、in spite of

41、by far

42、turn over

43、can not help

36、begin a course of action着手，开始 37、stoping doing放弃 38、决心（做某事） 39、（completely）alone独自地 40、尽管，虽然 41、……得多 42、upset（使）翻到，（使）倾覆 43、禁不住

PEOPER NAMES

Francis Chichester 　弗朗西斯. 奇切斯特

Gipsy Moth　　吉普赛. 莫斯

Sydney 悉尼（澳大利亚城市）

Cape Horn 合恩角（智利）

London 伦敦

Elizabeth 伊丽莎白（女子名）

Drake 德雷克（姓氏）