The First Bicycle
The history of the bicycle goes back more than 200 years. In 1791，Count de Sivrac (1) ________onlookers in a park in Paris as he showed off his two-wheeled invention ，a machine called the celeriferé. It was basically an (2) ________version of a children’s toy which had been in (3) ________ for many years. Sivrac's "celeriferé had a wooden frame，made in the (4) ________ of a horse ，which was mounted on a wheel at either end. To ride it ，you sat on a small seat ，just like a modem bicycle ，and pushed (5) ________ against the (6) ________ with your legs—there were no pedals. It was impossible to steer a celeriferé and it had no brakes，but despite these problems the invention very much (7) ________to the fashionable young men of Paris. Soon they were (8) ________ races up and down the streets.
Minor (9) ________were common as riders attempted a final burst of ( 10 ) ________ . Controlling the machine was difficult ，as the only way to change (11) ________ was to pull up the front of the "celeriferé" and (12) ________it round while the front wheel was (13) ________ in the air. "Celeriferés" were not popular for long ，however ，as the (14) ________of no springs ，no steering and rough roads made riding them very uncomfortable. Even so，the wooden celeriferé was the (15) ________of the modem bicycle.
词汇：
count / kaunt / n. 伯爵 brake / breik / n. 闸，刹车
onlooker / 'ɔn,lukə / n. 观众 burst / bə:st / v. 爆发，突发，爆炸
pedal / 'pedl / n. 踏板，脚蹬子 spring / spriŋ / n. ' 弹簧
steer / stiə / v. 驾驶，操纵，控制 rough / rʌf / adj， 粗糙的，不平整的
译文：
第一辆自行车
自行车的历史可以追溯到两百多年前。1791年，西夫拉克伯爵在巴黎的一个公园里向众人展示并炫耀了自己的发明，一架被称作“celeriferé”的双轮车。它主要就是一个使用了很多年的儿童玩具的扩大版。西夫拉克的“celeriferé”有一个马形状的木框，两端分别装有一个轮子。坐上一个小座位便可以骑了，就像骑现在的自行车一样，但双脚要使劲蹬地——因为没有脚踏板。操纵方向和刹车也是不太可能的，尽管有这些问题，这个发明在当时还是吸引了许多巴黎时尚的年轻人。很快他们便举行了比赛，在街上到处骑。
当骑手尝试最后冲刺时，受到一些小伤是很普遍的事情。控制那台机器是很难的，改变行驶方向的唯一方法是拉起车前身，当前轮还在空中打转时掉转车头。然而这种木制双轮车并没有流行很长时间，结合了没有弹簧、没有方向舵，以及遭遇不平整路段等问题，木制的双轮车骑起来十分不舒服。尽管如此，这种木制的“celeriferé”还是现在自行车的始祖。
