Olympic Class Ships
You probably know about the Titanic, but it was actually just noe of three state-of-the
art ocean ships back in the day.
你可能知道泰坦尼克号，但它实际上是当时最先进的三艘远洋船只之一。
The Olympic class ships were built by the Harland & Wolff ship makers in Northern Ireland
for the White Star Line company.
奥林匹克级邮轮是由呗爱尔兰的哈兰德与沃尔夫船舶制造商为白星航运公司建造的。
The Olympic class included the Olympic, the Britannic and the Titanic.
该级别的邮轮包括奥林匹克号、大不列颠号和泰坦尼克号。
What you may not know is that the Titanic wasn't even the flagship of this class.
你可能不知道的是，泰塔尼克号甚至不是奥林匹克级邮轮的旗舰。
All in all, the Olympic class ships were marvels of sea engineering, but they seemed
cursed to suffer disastrous fates.
总而言之，奥林匹克级邮轮是海上工程的奇迹，但它们似乎注定要遭受灾难性的命运。
The Olympic launched first in 1910, followed by the Titanic in 1911, and lastly the Britannic in 1914.
奥林匹克号于1910年首次起航，随后是1911年的泰坦尼克号，最后是1914年的大不列颠号。
The ships had nine decks, and White Star Line decided to focus on making them the
most luxurious ships on the water.
这些船有9层甲板，白星航运公司决定把重心放在使其成为水上最豪华的船只。
Stretching 269.13 meters, the Olympic class ships were wonders of naval technology,
and everyone thought that they would continue to be so for quite some time.
奥林匹克级邮轮长达269.13米，是舰船技术的奇迹，每个人都认为在相当长的一段时间内，
他们会继续保持这种状态。
However, all suffered terrible accidents on the open seas.
然而，这些邮轮都在公海上遭遇了可怕的事故。
The Olympic got wreaked before the Titanic did, but it was the only one to survive and
maintain a successful career of 24 years.
在泰坦尼克号沉没之前，奥林匹克号就曾失事，但它是唯一一个幸存下来并持续航行了24年
成功的航运生涯。
The Titanic was the first to sink after famously hitting a huge iceberg in 1912.
1912年，众所周知，泰塔尼克号撞上了一座巨大的冰山，成为第一艘沉没的奥林匹克级邮轮。
Following this disaster, the Britannic hit a naval mine in 1916 and subsequently sank as well.
在这场灾难后，大不列颠号于1916年触水雷沉没。
Each ship was coal-powered by several boilers constantly kept running by exhausted crews below deck.
每艘船都由几台锅炉提供燃煤动力，这些锅炉由甲板下精疲力竭的船员们不停地运转。
Most recognizable of the ship designs are the ship's smoke stacks, but the fourth stack was
actually just artistic in nature and served no functional purposes.
最容易辨认的船型设计是船上的烟囱，但实际上第四烟囱是艺术性质的，没有功能用途。
While two of these ships sank, they were all designed with double hulls believed to make
them "unsinkable", perhaps a mistaken idea that led to the Titanic's and the Britannic's tragic end.
虽然这两艘船沉没了，但它们都被设计成双船体，据说这种设计能使它们“永不沉没”，也许是这个错误
的想法导致泰坦尼克号和不列颠号的悲剧结局。
The Olympic suffered two crashes with other ships and went on to serve as a hospital ship
and troop transport in World War I.
在第一次世界大战中，奥林匹克号曾两次与其他船只相撞，后来又负责医疗和军队的运输。
Eventually, she was taken out of service in 1935, ending the ear of the luxurious Olympic class ocean liners.
最终，奥林匹克号在1935年退役，结束了豪华的奥林匹克级远洋班轮的时代。
2018年6月CET4真题
解析：
1、state-of-the-art 最先进的
2、marvel wonder 奇迹
marvel : n.奇迹
marvelous :(causing wonder)令人惊奇的
marvel : v.对、、、感到惊讶
例：He marlveled at the museum exhibits and uttered a cry of amazement.
他对博物馆的东西比较好奇，还发出了惊讶的叫声。
3、stretch : 延伸；伸展；舒展(extend,cover)
例：Her long hair stretched to her waist.
他的头发长长的，已经到了腰部。
撑大拉长（make something bigger/larger）
4、subsequently : 随后；后来；之后；接着
later on / afterwards
5、recognizable 可辨认的；可以出的
6、a mistaken idea 错误的想法
7、out of service 退役
in service(可用的) ：be able to work
ornamental : 观赏性 的
8、back in the day 当时
9、all in all /in the whole 总的来说
10、suffer disastrous fate 遭受灾难性的命运
11、maintain a successful career 持续了成功的生涯
12、serve no functional purposes 没有功能用途
13、lead to the tragic end 导致、、、的悲剧结局
| 单词 | 释意 | 单词 | 释意 |
| marvels | n.不平凡的成果，奇迹 | engineering | n.工程；工程学 |
| cursed | adj.被诅咒的 | launched | v.发射；开展 |
| technology | n.科技；技术；工艺 | naval | adj.海军的；军舰的 |
| wonder | n.奇观 | wreaked | v.诉诸（武力），施行（暴力） |
| career | n.职业；生涯；经历 | maintain | v.维持；供养 |
| disaster | n.天灾；灾难 | several | adj.各自的；分别得；det.若干 |
| boilers | 锅炉 | constantly | adv.始终；一直 |
| smoke stack | 大烟囱 | functional | adj.功能性的 |
| hulls | n.船身；外壳 | ocean liner | 远洋客轮 |
| era | n.时代；年代 | subsequently | adv.随后；后来 |