1)Exhilarating Rides-Top 2)Roller Coasters in Europe

¹⁾Exhilarating Rides-Top ²⁾Roller Coasters in Europe

 

Number 3, it’s Shock Wave, Europe’s only stand up roller coaster. It’s in the English Midlands. 

Shock Wave is a ³⁾cracking 90 seconds. First you get settled into your positions, then you get smoothly¹ taken up the lift hill, giving you an opportunity to prepare for what’s to come. And that’s a one hundred foot drop towards the earth. You hit the first loop at high speed. It’s the world’s largest stand-up ⁴⁾loop. The rest of the ride is no picnic. Shock Wave turns you upside down a further three times and every one is a winner.

Number 2, Colossos!

One hundred and twenty-five thousand pieces of timber, a height of over one hundred and ninety-five feet, speeds of over 75 miles an hour. It’s no exaggeration to say that Colossos is a giant among roller coasters. 

Hamburg is the nearest city. Colossos gives the smoothest ride of any coaster up this one hundred and ninety-six-foot lift hill. You turn around to see the enormous terror that awaits. Then you head down this huge drop-three seconds that feels like a lifetime. Before you can recover, you rise again to a huge height and another terrifying drop awaits. Colossos then banks all the way back around, to bring you face to face with some more giant hills. Colossus sure is a must for wooden coaster fans.  

It’s time to reveal Europe’s number one coaster king. And it’s two for one-⁵⁾Nemesis² and ⁶⁾Oblivion. From London, take a two-hour train journey to Alton Towers, a giant theme park that’s a big draw with everyone.

Riders climb 70 feet above the ground and get a great view of the magnificent, ⁷⁾stately home. Then Oblivion stops for three terrifying seconds. You’re filled with fear, and then the ride drops you down. But this is no simple drop. This is drop is ⁸⁾vertical³. It plunges⁴ you one hundred feet down into oblivion. Oblivion is the world’s steepest roller coaster, ⁹⁾manipulating every emotion to make the ride as thrilling, and downright terrifying, as possible. Then, the drop takes you to a speed of 68 miles an hour and the rider feels like it’s never going to end.

Nemesis is Oblivion’s neighbour. It’s a minute and a half of ¹⁰⁾intense thrills. The first drop takes you into a ¹¹⁾mammoth^{5 12)}barrel roll at a speed of fifty miles an hour. The ride then dives down into a bend under a walkway, before going up into a tremendous loop that rises above the station. But the ride isn’t over here. It turns around in the trees, dives back down into the ground, followed by another giant loop and a final inversion⁶. It’s an exhilarating ride that will leave you wanting more and more.

Where lesser⁷ coasters cruise leisurely⁸ back into the station, Nemesis has your heart in your mouth from start to stop. Nemesis and Oblivion make perfect partners and earn a place at number one in our countdown.

 

欧洲最刺激的云霄飞车

 

老三当属欧洲唯一的直立式云霄飞车“冲击波”了。它位于英格兰的中部地区。

乘坐“冲击波”的过程是激动人心的90秒钟。在座位上坐好之后，你被平稳地带到山头，为即将来临的离地100英尺的俯冲做好准备。你先是要高速冲进一个世界上最大的直立式回旋圈道。余下的旅程也不轻松，“冲击波”将再把你头脚颠倒翻转三次，每一次都会让你满意。

排行老二的是“巨人”！

十二万五千根的木料，超过195英尺的高度，超过75英里的运行时速。相对其它云霄飞车而言，称之为“巨人”毫不为过。

距离它最近的城市是汉堡。巨人能比其他任何云霄飞车更为平稳地攀上196英尺的山头。一转身你便能感觉到无比的恐惧即将来临。之后你开始一直往下冲，虽只有三秒钟的时间，却好像一生般漫长。你还没回过神来，就又升到了一个极高处，等待着你的又是一个恐怖的俯冲。之后“巨人”才歪歪扭扭地一路返回，沿途你有机会与一些巨大的山丘“亲密接触”。对于木制云霄飞车的发烧友来说，“巨人”是绝对不可错过的。

现在该来揭晓欧洲云霄飞车的头号老大了。它们是并列称王的两兄弟：“复仇女神”和“湮没”。从伦敦坐两个小时的火车就来到了爱尔顿塔，这是一个对每个人都有吸引力的超大型主题乐园。

乘客们被“湮没”带到离地70英尺的高处，一览爱尔顿塔宏伟壮丽的美景。接下来是让人透不过气来的长达三秒钟的静止，这时，你内心充满恐惧，这时，“湮没”突然带着你向下俯冲。这可不是一般的俯冲，而是垂直的降落。它陡然把你抛下100英尺，仿佛湮没到了无知无觉的世界。“湮没”是世界上最陡的云霄飞车，能够调动你的所有情绪，体验极致的刺激和彻底的惊惧。下降时速高达68英里，车上的乘客只觉得仿佛不会有终点。

“复仇女神”与“湮没”比邻。这是一次一分半钟让人高度紧张，又倍感刺激的过程。它第一次俯冲将以每小时50英里的速度让你横滚旋下，接着“复仇女神”飞奔而下穿进一条人行道下的弯道，随后又向上攀到高耸在车站上方的一个巨大的回旋圈道。这还不算完，它在树丛中调过头来，冲回到地面上，最后再来一个大回旋和翻转。这趟兴奋的乘车经历，让你不由地希望多来几次。

有一些较小的云霄飞车是悠哉游哉地回到车站的，而“复仇女神”却让你的心自始至终都悬在嗓子眼里。“复仇女神”与“湮没”的搭档如此完美，从而在我们的统计排名中赢得了头把交椅。

 

注释:

1) exhilarating [i^5zilEreitiN] a. 令人振奋的   

2) roller coaster 过山车

3) cracking [5krAkiN] a. 发出劈啪声响的             

4) loop [lu:p] n. 筋斗，环道

5) Nemesis [ni5misis] n. 复仇女神             

6) oblivion [E5bliviEn] n. 湮没

7) stately [5steitli] a. 雄伟的            

8) vertical [5vE:tikEl] a. 垂直的                                                

9) intense [in5tens] a. 紧张的

10) manipulate [mE5nipjuleit] v. 操纵，摆布          

11) mammoth [5mAmEW] a. 巨大的，庞大的

12) barrel roll 横滚，即在保持前进方向不变的情况下作出水平滚转动作。此指过山车在向下冲时随轨道旋转而下。

 

 

1 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

2 nemesis   

n.给以报应者，复仇者，难以对付的敌手

参考例句：

• Uncritical trust is my nemesis.盲目的相信一切害了我自己。
• Inward suffering is the worst of Nemesis.内心的痛苦是最厉害的惩罚。

3 vertical   

adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置

参考例句：

• The northern side of the mountain is almost vertical.这座山的北坡几乎是垂直的。
• Vertical air motions are not measured by this system.垂直气流的运动不用这种系统来测量。

4 plunges   

n.跳进，投入vt.使投入，使插入，使陷入vi.投入，跳进，陷入v.颠簸( plunge的第三人称单数 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• Even before he plunges into his program, he has his audience in his pocket. 他的节目甚至还没有出场，就已控制住了观众。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• 'Monseigneur, he precipitated himself over the hill-side, head first, as a person plunges into the river.' “大人，他头冲下跳下山坡去了，像往河里跳一样。” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

5 mammoth   

n.长毛象；adj.长毛象似的，巨大的

参考例句：

• You can only undertake mammoth changes if the finances are there.资金到位的情况下方可进行重大变革。
• Building the new railroad will be a mammoth job.修建那条新铁路将是一项巨大工程。

6 inversion   

n.反向，倒转，倒置

参考例句：

• But sometimes there is an unusual weather condition called a temperature inversion.但有时会有一种被称作“温度逆增”的不平常的天气状态。
• And finally,we made a discussion on the problems in the cooperative inversion.最后，对联合反演中存在的问题进行了讨论。

7 lesser   

adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地

参考例句：

• Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
• She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。

8 leisurely   

adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的

参考例句：

• We walked in a leisurely manner,looking in all the windows.我们慢悠悠地走着，看遍所有的橱窗。
• He had a leisurely breakfast and drove cheerfully to work.他从容的吃了早餐，高兴的开车去工作。