19 Fast The Need for Speed

CHAPTER 1 What's Fast? THINK ABOUT THE WORD "FAST." WHAT DO YOU SEE? WHAT ARE THE FASTEST THINGS IN THE WORLD? Think about a group of horses running across green grass. Then think about a bird soaring through a blue sky. Now think about racecars speeding around a track. What is the same about these things? It's speed. They all move very, very fast. When you think about the horses, the bird, or the racecars, how do you feel? Maybe you feel excited. Maybe you feel happy. We love to watch things that move fast. We also love to run fast, drive fast, and swim fast. It is exciting and fun. What do you know about the fastest things in the world? Take the quiz! 1. The fastest animal in the world is a fish. True False 2. The fastest train in the world is in China. True False 3. The fastest insect can fly at 15 km/hour 35 km/hour 55 km/hour 4. In the world's fastest car, you can drive at 330 km/hour 430 km/hour 500 km/hour

第一章什么是快？想想“快”这个词。 你看到了什么？世界上最快的东西是什么？ 想象一群马在绿草地上奔跑。 然后想象一只鸟在蓝天上翱翔。 现在想想在赛道上飞驰的赛车。 这些东西有什么相同之处？ 它的速度。它们都移动得非常非常快。 当你想到马、鸟或赛车时，你有什么感觉？ 也许你会感到兴奋。也许你感到快乐。 我们喜欢看快速移动的东西。 我们也喜欢跑得快，开车快，游泳快。 这是令人兴奋和有趣的。你知道世界上最快的东西吗？ 做测试吧！1. 世界上跑得最快的动物是鱼。 2.正确答案世界上最快的火车在中国。 3.正确答案。最快的昆虫能飞15公里/小时35公里/小时55公里/小时4。 在世界上最快的汽车中，你可以以330公里/小时430公里/小时500公里/小时的速度行驶

CHAPTER 2 Fast in the Water IT IS DIFFICULT TO RUN IN WATER. YOUR LEGS FEEL SLOW AND HEAVY. BUT SOME PEOPLE, FISH, AND THINGS CAN MOVE VERY QUICKLY IN THE WATER. The fastest animal in the water is the sailfish. It swims at 110 kilometers an hour. It is called a sailfish because it has a long fin along its back. This fin looks like a sail on a boat. But the sailfish doesn't use its "sail" to swim fast. When the sailfish wants to go fast, it puts its fin flat on its back. Then it can move easily and quickly through the water. The fastest sea mammal is the orca, or killer whale. Orcas can swim at a speed of 48 kilometers an hour. Their speed helps them catch their food. Another fast animal in the water is not a fish— it's a person! In the 2004 Olympics in Athens, US swimmer Michael Phelps won six gold medals. In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Phelps was the fastest man in the water. He won eight gold medals. And in the 2012 Olympics, Phelps won four more gold medals. He has more Olympic gold medals than anyone in the world— 18 in all! Why is he so fast? He has unusually long arms. From the fingertip on one hand to the fingertip on his other hand is 203 centimeters. This long wingspan helps him swim faster. His feet are very big, and his legs are very long and strong. He can get more power with every kick than most swimmers. Also, his heart is two times stronger than most other men's hearts.

第二章在水里跑得快在水里跑很难。 你的腿感觉缓慢而沉重。 但是有些人、鱼和其他东西可以在水中快速移动。 水中跑得最快的动物是旗鱼。 它以每小时110公里的速度游泳。 它被称为旗鱼，因为它的背部有一个长长的鳍。 这个鳍看起来像船上的帆。 但是旗鱼不使用它的“帆”来游得快。 当旗鱼想要快速游动时，它会把鳍平放在背上。 这样它就可以在水中轻松快速地移动。 最快的海洋哺乳动物是逆戟鲸或虎鲸。 逆戟鲸能以每小时48公里的速度游泳。 它们的速度帮助它们捕捉食物。 另一个在水里跑得快的动物不是鱼，而是人！在2004年雅典奥运会上，美国游泳运动员迈克尔·菲尔普斯赢得了6枚金牌。 在2008年北京奥运会上，菲尔普斯是水中最快的人。 他赢得了八枚金牌。在2012年奥运会上，菲尔普斯又赢得了四枚金牌。 他是世界上获得奥运金牌最多的人——总共18枚！他为什么跑得这么快？ 他的胳膊特别长。 从一只手的指尖到另一只手的指尖是203厘米。 长长的翼展帮助他游得更快。 他的脚很大，他的腿又长又壮。 他每次打腿都能比大多数游泳运动员获得更大的力量。 而且，他的心脏比大多数人的心脏强壮两倍。

Most people can't swim like a sailfish, like a killer whale, or like Michael Phelps. But, we can all move very fast in or on the water. How? We can move fast on the water by hydrofoiling. Hydrofoiling is a sport like water skiing. A person sits on a kind of ski behind a very fast boat. The person on the hydrofoil jumps and flips. F1 powerboats move very fast on the water, too. F1 powerboats are like Formula One cars. They go around a 350-meter course in the water. The powerboats speed around this course for about 45 minutes. They can go 240 kilometers an hour. Some people don't want to race. They just want to move fast on the water and have some fun. That's why many people enjoy riding on a jetski. They can speed across the water at about 100 kilometers an hour. Other people want to move fast across the water, but they don't want to get wet For these people, there is the Queen Mary 2, the fastest cruise ship in the world. It moves at a speed of about 55 kilometers an hour. That's not as fast as a jetski, but it has restaurants, stores, and lots more!

大多数人不能像旗鱼一样游泳，像虎鲸一样游泳，也不能像迈克尔·菲尔普斯那样游泳。 但是，我们都可以在水中或水上快速移动。 如何?我们可以通过水翼在水面上快速移动。 水翼运动和滑水运动一样。 一个人坐在一艘非常快的船后面的一种滑雪板上。 人在水翼上跳跃和翻转。 F1汽艇在水面上的移动速度也非常快。 F1动力艇就像一级方程式赛车。 它们在水里游350米。 汽艇在这条航线上行驶了大约45分钟。 它们每小时能跑240公里。 有些人不想参加比赛。 他们只是想在水上快速移动，找点乐子。 这就是为什么许多人喜欢乘坐水上摩托艇。 它们能以每小时100公里的速度穿越水面。 另一些人想在水面上快速移动，但他们不想被弄湿。对这些人来说，有玛丽女王2号，世界上最快的游轮。 它以每小时55公里的速度移动。 虽然没有水上摩托艇那么快，但它有餐馆、商店等等！

CHAPTER 3 Fast on Land ARE YOU FAST ON YOUR FEET? OR DO YOU LIKE FAST CARS? LIKE MANY ANIMALS, PEOPLE CAN ALSO MOVE FAST ON LAND. One of the fastest runners in the world is Jamaica's Usain Bolt. When he was a young boy, he loved playing football. When he played, Usain's teachers saw that he was very fast. They wanted him to run in races. He came in second in his first school race in 2001, and in 2002 he became the world champion in his age group. In the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Usain won gold medals in the 100-meter race, the 200-meter race, and the 4x100-meter race. And he set a world record in all three races! Four years later, in the 2012 Olympics in London, he won all three races again. He is the first man in the world to win all three races in two Olympics. How fast is Bolt? Very. He can run the 100 meters at a speed of 44.72 kilometers an hour. That's why he is called "Lightning Bolt"! Usain Bolt is fast, but there are land animals that are much faster. The cheetah is the fastest land animal. It can run 112 kilometers an hour. But that's not all. The cheetah can accelerate faster than any other animal. It can accelerate from 0 to about 100 kilometers an hour in only three seconds. That is faster than the fastest cars. The cheetah is really fast, but only for very short distances. For long distances, the pronghorn antelope is the champion of the animal world. It can run at more than 86 kilometers an hour for short distances and at about half that speed for many miles. In a marathon, the pronghorn antelope will finish the 42 kilometers in less than an hour.

第三章在陆地上走得快吗？ 还是你喜欢快车？像许多动物一样，人类也能在陆地上快速移动。 世界上跑得最快的运动员之一是牙买加的尤塞恩·博尔特。 当他还是个小男孩的时候，他喜欢踢足球。 当他打球时，尤塞恩的老师发现他非常快。 他们想让他参加赛跑。 他在2001年的第一次学校比赛中获得第二名，并在2002年成为他所在年龄组的世界冠军。 在2008年北京奥运会上，尤塞恩赢得了100米、200米和4x100米的金牌。 他在所有三项比赛中都创造了世界纪录！四年后，在2012年伦敦奥运会上，他再次赢得了所有三项比赛。 他是世界上第一个在两届奥运会上赢得三项比赛的人。 博尔特有多快？非常。他能以每小时44.72公里的速度跑百米。 这就是为什么他被称为“闪电”！尤塞恩·博尔特跑得很快，但有些陆地动物跑得更快。 猎豹是跑得最快的陆地动物。 它每小时能跑112公里。 但这还不是全部。猎豹的加速速度比其他任何动物都快。 它可以在3秒内从0加速到每小时100公里。 这比最快的汽车还快。 猎豹跑得很快，但只能跑很短的距离。 就长距离而言，叉角羚是动物界的冠军。 在短距离内，它的时速可以超过86公里，在长距离内，它的时速只有这个速度的一半。 在马拉松比赛中，叉角羚将在不到一小时的时间内跑完42公里。

It doesn't take legs or feet to be fast. The death adder snake does not have legs or feet to run. It hides and waits for its food. When a bird or other animal comes close, the snake moves its head really fast. The death adder can move its head and bite an animal in less than 0.15 seconds. That's lightning fast. It's so fast that people can't see it bite! The death adder is one of the fastest, if not the fastest, snake in the world. Do you need to go somewhere really fast? For $2,400,000, you can have the fastest car in the world. It's the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, and its fastest speed is 430 kilometers an hour. Or maybe you don't want to drive. There are many super fast trains in the world. The fastest one is in China. It takes only 3 hours and 58 minutes to travel between Shanghai and Beijing— a trip of 1,305 kilometers. The average speed of this train is 329 kilometers an hour. If you take this train, don't bring a long book!

跑得快不需要腿和脚。 死蝰蛇没有腿和脚来奔跑。 它躲起来等待食物。 当鸟或其他动物靠近时，蛇会迅速移动它的头。 死亡蝰蛇可以移动它的头，在不到0.15秒的时间内咬一口动物。 这是闪电般的速度。它是如此之快，以至于人们看不到它咬人！死亡蝰蛇是世界上最快的蛇之一，如果不是最快的话。 你需要去一个非常快的地方吗？ 只要40万，你就能拥有世界上最快的车。 它是布加迪威龙超级运动，它的最快速度是每小时430公里。 或者你不想开车。 世界上有很多超高速列车。 最快的是中国。 从上海到北京，全程1305公里，只需要3小时58分钟。 这列火车的平均速度是每小时329公里。 如果你坐这趟火车，不要带一本很长的书！

CHAPTER 4 Fast in the Air PEOPLE TRY DIFFERENT WAYS TO SOAR LIKE BIRDS IN THE SKY. Many people fly in airplanes every day. What other ways do people fly? One way is called speed flying. What is speed flying? It's a cool new sport that people around the world are doing. You need skis, a type of parachute called a "wing," and a snowy mountain. Speed fliers begin skiing down a mountain. When they are going fast enough, they can use the wing to fly over parts of the mountain. Speed flying is an exciting sport that lets youski and fly. You can go fast on land and in the air! Speed fliers fly very, very fast. A speed flyer can fly down a mountain at up to 145 kilometers an hour. Speed fliers can go very fast, but they are much slower than the fastest bird in the world— the peregrine falcon. The peregrine falcon lives in many places on Earth. It hunts and eats other smaller birds. It can catch these birds at a speed of 322 kilometers an hour. That's three times faster than the cheetah! How can they go so fast? They have very, very strong wings. They also have really strong hearts and lungs.

在空中飞翔人们尝试不同的方法像鸟儿一样在空中飞翔。 每天都有许多人坐飞机。 人们还用什么其他方式飞行？ 一种方法被称为高速飞行。 什么是速度飞行？这是一项很酷的新运动，全世界的人都在做。 你需要滑雪板，一种叫做“翼”的降落伞，还有一座雪山。 速度飞行者开始从山上滑下来。 当它们飞得足够快时，它们可以用翅膀飞过部分山脉。 速度飞行是一项令人兴奋的运动，可以让你飞起来。 你在陆地和空中都能跑得很快！飞人飞得非常非常快。 高速飞行者能以每小时145公里的速度从山上飞下来。 飞禽可以飞得很快，但它们比世界上飞得最快的鸟——游隼要慢得多。 游隼生活在地球上的许多地方。 它捕食其他较小的鸟类。 它能以每小时322公里的速度捕捉这些鸟。 这比猎豹快三倍！他们怎么能走得这么快？ 它们的翅膀非常非常结实。 它们的心脏和肺也很强壮。