Have you ever been on a roller coaster? If you have, you must have screamed when the roller coaster was running at the fastest speed. What an exciting way to have fun!
People have enjoyed the excitement of roller coasters for hundreds of years. Roller coaster rides began in Russia. Over 300 years ago, Russians made slides(滑梯) out of wood and ice for winter festivals. They just needed to keep watering wooden ramps(坡道) and the ramps would become huge and smooth ice slides. Then they carved(雕刻) ice seats to make sleds(雪橇) that could be used on slides. In the end, they climbed up a set of stairs at the back of the slides. This is the prototype(雏形) of roller coasters.
Gradually, people wanted to enjoy sliding all year round. In 1817, a company in Paris began to develop a facility(设备) that could lock(固定) cars on the track. The first roller coaster officially came out.
The Switchback Railway was built at Coney Island, New York, in 1884. To ride it, people had to climb a tower. At the top of the tower, they would get into a small train which took them down a 200-meter slope(斜坡). At the bottom, people got out and the driver took the train back up to the top. It wasn't much of an exciting ride because its top speed was only 10 kilometers an hour.
Today, roller coasters come in all shapes and sizes. One of the fastest is the Top Thrill Dragster in Cedar Point, Ohio. It can "reach speeds of 190 kilometers per hour, But it may not be the fastest after a while because there will always be faster and more exciting roller coasters coming out.