英语音频杂志：摩托车

 　　Motorcycles

　　By Nik Peachey

　　It had the standard BSA chrome petrol tank with the BSA insignia on each side. It was already older than I was. It had been built in the early 60s at a time when the British motorcycle industry was at its peak. By the 80's though when I bought my BSA everyone else was riding Hondas, Yamahas or Kawasakis and names like Royal Enfield, Sunbeam, Norton and Matchless were a thing of the past. Triumph was the only remaining producer left to continue Britain's history of motorcycle manufacturing and it was having serious financial problems. The bikes it was producing were slow and unreliable compared to Japanese models and only die-hard British bikers were prepared to buy them.

　　At that time in Britain every biker's hero was Barry Sheene. He had become famous by winning the World 500cc Motor Cycle Championship two years running in 1976 and 1977, but that wasn't all. He was young and handsome and despite some terrible accidents on the track he always came back to racing¹. In Daytona, Florida, he crashed at 175mph. He broke his thigh², wrist and collarbone, but he was riding again within six weeks. At one point he had metal plates in both knees, 28 screws in his legs and a bolt in his left wrist, but none of this could keep him away from the sport and the motorcycles that he loved. He later had a career as a TV presenter³ and even managed to shrug⁴ off his biker image to sing in the opera Tosca at Covent Garden alongside⁵ Maria Callas and Tito Gobbi.

　　After riding my BSA to work for a few weeks I discovered why the British motorcycle industry had collapsed⁶. It broke down almost every week and I was eventually forced to buy a Japanese bike, but, despite this, I still kept the BSA for another fifteen years, although it spent most of that time in my garage.

　　I haven't ridden a motorbike for many years now, but it was with real sadness that I heard that Barry Sheene had died of cancer. Within days of this I also read that there had been a fire at the Triumph factory in Leicestershire and that much of the production equipment along with many of the bikes had been destroyed. For a while I felt that something of my youth was gone forever, but like Barry Sheene Triumph keep coming back and they have now, after an absence of almost thirty years, returned to competitive⁷ road racing. I saw one of their new bikes a few weeks ago and it looked good. It had something of the old classic Boneville about it, but with a huge 900cc engine. I felt my heart begin to race again and I could almost imagine myself on the tarmac at Brands Hatch⁸. Somehow though I don't think I have enough of my youth left to sell my comfortable car and brave the British weather on a motorbike again. Some things are better left to younger men, or women

1 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

2 thigh   

n.大腿；股骨

参考例句：

• He is suffering from a strained thigh muscle.他的大腿肌肉拉伤了，疼得很。
• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。

3 presenter   

n.（电视、广播的）主持人，赠与者

参考例句：

• Most people think being a television presenter is exciting.很多人认为当电视节目主持人是一件刺激的事情。
• The programme dispensed with its most popular presenter.这个节目最受欢迎的主持人被换掉了。

4 shrug   

v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等)

参考例句：

• With a shrug,he went out of the room.他耸一下肩，走出了房间。
• I admire the way she is able to shrug off unfair criticism.我很佩服她能对错误的批评意见不予理会。

5 alongside   

adv.在旁边；prep.和...在一起，在...旁边

参考例句：

• There was a butcher's shop alongside the theatre.剧院旁边有一家肉店。
• Alongside of him stood his uncle.他的身旁站着他叔叔。

6 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

7 competitive   

adj.竞争的，比赛的，好竞争的，有竞争力的

参考例句：

• Some kinds of business are competitive.有些商业是要竞争的。
• These businessmen are both competitive and honourable.这些商人既有竞争性又很诚实。

8 hatch   

n.孵化，舱口；vt.孵，孵出，策划；vi. 孵化

参考例句：

• No one knows how the new plan will hatch out.谁也不知道这新方案将怎样制订出来。
• The bird mistook the pebble for egg and tried to hatch it.这只鸟错把卵石当蛋，想去孵它。