精美英文欣赏:改变高度

Change altitude

改变高度

Rebecca had decided¹ that her best chance of getting hired by a company doing geological survey work in the Alaskan wilderness² was to earn a private license³ to fly twin-engine planes.

丽贝卡觉得，要想进入在阿拉斯加荒原做地质研究的公司，最好的方式就是拥有操纵双引擎飞机的私家执照。

A few days later she began taking lessons from a wise old bush pilot,highly respected throughout the region for his cool and collected ways of dealing⁴ with the worst possible situations.

几天后她便从师于一位年长而智慧的丛林飞行员。这位丛林飞行员一向以冷静和善于处理极端事件而在这一地区闻名。

After the mandatory⁵ ground schooling⁶, at which Rebecca excelled, and during her fourth lesson in the sky,the flight instructor⁷ gave her what she thought was a special treat:

丽贝卡在地面控制训练方面做得十分出色。之后，在她第四堂空中飞行课上，飞行指挥员给了她一次她所认为的特殊待遇：

Taking his hands off the yoke⁸, he turned the flight controls over to her.

他将全部飞行指挥权交给了她。

There she was, just as she had dreamed, sitting tall in the copilot's seat with the flight stick firmly in her hands.

于是，如同丽贝卡所梦寐以求的那样，她高高地坐在副驾驶的位置上，双手紧紧握着操纵杆。

Rebecca felt as though she was literally⁹ on cloud at least, until a scant¹⁰ moment later when she found herself rudely awakened¹¹ from her dream.

丽贝卡觉得自己至少已经升上云端了，但紧接着她便从梦幻中惊醒了。

In the distance, through the windshield, right in the path of the plane, and seeming to have appeared out of nowhere, a huge snow-capped mountain lay dead ahead.

她从挡风玻璃里看见，就在飞机的航线里，远处一座白雪覆盖的大山不偏不倚地出现在正前方。

Transfixed by its sheer mass, Rebecca found herself as frozen at the stick as were the iced and craggy peaks stretched out before her.

丽贝卡完全被这座大山惊呆了，她感觉自己怔怔看着陡峭的冰山在眼前铺开，身体僵在操纵杆前动弹不得。

She was headed straight for them!

她正向群峰冲去！

All along the wise old instructor was watching her closely, studying her reactions.

整个过程中，那位年长睿智的驾驶员一直在仔细观察她的反应，

In fact, he had turned the controls over to her for just this test now taking place.

事实上，他让她操作驾驶，正是为了用眼前这一幕来进行测试。

He waited until the last moment he could, and was just about to take over again, when Rebecca snapped out of her fear-induced trance.

他尽己所能地等待着，就在他准备重新掌控飞行时，丽贝卡结束了她那恐惧所致的精神恍惚。

Sir, said a voice so trembling and timid that it even scared her, Please take over the controls.

先生，她的声音颤抖着，几乎连她自己都吓到了。她嗫嚅着说：还是您来驾驶吧，

I'm afraid we are about to crash!

我怕我们快要撞上了！

His reply stunned¹² her.

他的回答则令她震惊。

No, he spoke¹³ quietly, I don't think I will. After all, it's your flight.

不， 他十分平静，我不这么觉得。不管怎样，这是你的飞行。

Then what should I do? Please, tell me what to do! Rebecca said with a struggling to control her voice.

那我应该怎样做？求求你，告诉我该怎么办！丽贝卡尽力克制着自己的声音。

She managed to look over at her instructor, and was surprised to see virtually no worry at all upon his face.

她专注地看着她的教练，十分惊异地发现他脸上居然没有半点焦虑恐慌。

His calm demeanor¹⁴ helped to steady her nerves.

他的镇定让她也平静了下来。

She took a deep breath and relaxed her hands that had just about choked the life out of the control yoke.

她深吸一口气，那双关乎生命存亡的双手终于松了下来。

The next moment he gave her a short three-word instruction, and she knew everything would soon be all right.

这时，他给了她一句简短的指令，然后她便知道一切都会好起来的。

He simply said, Change your altitude.

他只是简单说了句：改变你的高度。

Of course, her own mind echoed back to his command, and a split second later she pulled firmly back on the yoke;the craft responded by rising, and mere¹⁵ moments later the icy peak passed beneath her and out of sight.

当然了，她在意识里回应着他的指令，几秒钟之后她便牢牢拉回了操纵杆，飞机随之上攀，一会儿便飞过了冰雪覆盖的峰顶。

As Rebecca sat there, relieved by the results of her actions, she was struck by two things at once:

丽贝卡坐了下来，她用自己的行为改变了结果，因而感到如释重负。这时，她意识到了两件事：

How could she have forgotten that the controls were in her hands, and at least as important, why had she been unable to remember this on her own?

第一，怎么能忘记控制权是在自己手中呢？第二点同样重要，为什么自己就想不起来这一点呢？

She could choose her own altitude.

她可以决定自己的高度。

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

3 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

4 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

5 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

6 schooling   

n.教育；正规学校教育

参考例句：

• A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
• Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。

7 instructor   

n.指导者，教员，教练

参考例句：

• The college jumped him from instructor to full professor.大学突然把他从讲师提升为正教授。
• The skiing instructor was a tall,sunburnt man.滑雪教练是一个高高个子晒得黑黑的男子。

8 yoke   

n.轭；支配；v.给...上轭，连接，使成配偶

参考例句：

• An ass and an ox,fastened to the same yoke,were drawing a wagon.驴子和公牛一起套在轭上拉车。
• The defeated army passed under the yoke.败军在轭门下通过。

9 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

10 scant   

adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略

参考例句：

• Don't scant the butter when you make a cake.做糕饼时不要吝惜奶油。
• Many mothers pay scant attention to their own needs when their children are small.孩子们小的时候，许多母亲都忽视自己的需求。

11 awakened   

v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到

参考例句：

• She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。
• The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

13 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

14 demeanor   

n.行为；风度

参考例句：

• She is quiet in her demeanor.她举止文静。
• The old soldier never lost his military demeanor.那个老军人从来没有失去军人风度。

15 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。