3. Motor Sports赛车

A:The best part about motor sports is when they prang.
B:You’re a bit of a sadist if that’s where you get your thrills.

A:Why do you think the TV programs always show the smashes over and over again? It’s because that’s what the audience wants.
B:So, I suppose, you are a fan of stock car racing?

A:Not really. There’s plenty of crashes in that but, I don’t much like those sorts of races where they go round, and round, on small, oval, race tracks.
B:Then you don’t go for the Indianapolis 500? That’s on a big, concrete, oval track.

A:No. The Formula One races are better. There’s a lot more skill involved with them and they race on properly designed tracks.
B:What about the Indy road race competitions? They are just as good.

A:Nowhere near as good. What I have seen of them; the roads are too narrow and the drivers have very few chances for passing.
B:That’s, probably, why there always seems to be more prangs with the Indy races than Formula One.

A:The trouble with both those competitions is the variations allowed in the cars. A driver in the better car will, invariably, beat the better driver in an inferior car.
B:The variations are all part of progress. That’s why they have a manufacturer’s Championship to recognise the better car maker.

A:I suppose you’re right. It just seems unfair to me. If you have a more powerful car you have a better chance to win.
B:There are some classes where all the cars have to have the same type of engines or, at least, the same size of engine.

A:That’s right. Then it really comes down to the skill of the drivers. Those competitions are run on an equal basis.
B:Motor bike races are done by engine size. The 500 cc bikes race against each other and the 1000 cc bikes are all in the one class.

A:And that’s good. The manufacturers are allowed to make modifications to the mechanics, and streamlining, provided they comply with the safety guidelines.
B:Speaking of safety; that’s one of the amazing things about those modern racing cars; the way some of the drivers walk away from some horrendous crashes.

A:It surely is. Especially when you think of the speed those vehicles are doing.
B:That’s just proof of how well the cars are designed these days.

A：看赛车运动最爽的时候就是当看到它们相撞的时候。
B：如果那也让你兴奋的话，那你可有点儿施虐倾向啊。

A：你知道为什么电视节目总是重播汽车相撞的画面吗？那是因为观众就喜欢这个。
B：这么说，我想你是一名赛车爱好者啦？

A：那倒不是，我是因为看多了赛车撞击，看它们一圈一圈绕着小型椭圆的赛道比赛的样子，我不是很喜欢这类比赛。
B：那你不看印第安纳波利斯500赛事了？那是在一个大型的混凝土椭圆轨道上的比赛。

A：不喜欢。我更喜欢F1。这项比赛赛道是特别设计的，而且比赛也需要很多技术技巧。
B：那你觉得Indy比赛怎么样？是不是也挺好的？

A：一点儿都不好。我以前看的时候觉得，路太窄，选手很难有机会超越。
B：这可能就是为什么它总是比F1比赛有更多的撞击的原因吧。

A：这两个赛事的问题是在赛车的变化改装上。如一个技术好的赛车手，如果用的车较差，那他肯定就赢不了一个使用了好车的选手。
B：赛车的改装是赛车制造技术进步的源动力啊。这就是为什么他们专门有一个汽车厂商锦标赛，来评选谁是最佳汽车制造厂商。

A：我想你这么说有道理。不过，我觉得似乎很不公平。因为如果你有一辆性能更好的车，你当然就有更大的机会赢。
B：所以赛车是有分类的。比如，所有的车必须有同类型的发动机，或者，至少是同尺寸大小的发动机。

A：这就对了，这就真的要依靠选手的技术了，这样的比赛才是公平竞争。
B：摩托车比赛要依靠发动机的大小来划分为不同的等级。比如，500cc规格的摩托车是一个级别，而1000cc的摩托车则在另一个级别。

A：那也不错。可以允许制造商对汽车的结构和流线外观做适当的修改，只要符合安全生产的要求。
B：说到安全，现代赛车的质量真是让人惊叹，看看那些赛车在撞得面目全非了之后，赛车手依然能好好地走出来！

A：的确，特别是当你想想那些赛车极高的行驶速度。
B：这也正好证明了当今赛车的设计质量真是让人佩服。