美国小学英语教材4:第44课 城市里安全第一(3)

 "What's traffic?" George asked Arthur, as the boys walked through the station just ahead of Mr. Wilson. “什么是交通？”当男孩们走出车站，走到威尔逊先生前面时，乔治问亚瑟。

"Why," explained Arthur, "that means the wagons¹ and street cars and automobiles² and trucks and things like that, “诶呀，”亚瑟解释道，“人们正在从这边的行人道穿过马路到另一边，

all moving here and there among the crowds of people who are crossing from one sidewalk to the other. 而此时马车、电车、汽车和卡车等诸如此类的车辆从这儿到那儿不停地在人群中穿行。

Street traffic is what causes the danger to people who are walking. 街道交通给行人造成了危险，

It seems to be getting worse every year. 而且似乎变得一年比一年糟糕。

You have to watch your step pretty carefully." 你走路时必须非常小心。”

BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY 安全好于遗憾

Mr. Wilson and the boys stood at the corner waiting for the street car that would take them home. 威尔逊先生和男孩们站在拐角处，等待可以把他们带回家的电车。

Cars were passing in four directions, 汽车从四面八方涌来，

and the clanging of gongs and the noise of wheels on the tracks sounded very loud in the ears of the country boy. 鸣锣般的声响和车轮与轨道摩擦发出的噪音在这个乡下男孩听来如此刺耳。

"Oh!" cried Uncle Robert, suddenly. "There has been an accident." “呀！”罗伯特叔叔突然喊道，“那边出事故了。”

He was pointing to a woman who had tried to step down from a street car, while facing backward. 他正指着一位脸朝后，试图从电车上下来的女人。

She had fallen in the street and her bundles³ were scattered⁴ all around her. 这个女人摔倒在街道上，行李散落在她的周围。

George saw a man dart⁵ from the crowd and help her to her feet. 乔治看到人群中冲出一个男人，扶她站了起来。

Luckily the woman was not injured, but the fall had given her a bad fright. 幸运的是，这个女人没有受伤，但这次摔倒让她非常害怕。

"Many people get off the wrong way, George," said his uncle. “乔治，许多人以错误的方式下车，”他的叔叔说，

"If they could only learn always to face forward when getting off the car, there wouldn't be so many accidents. “如果他们知道下车时一定要面朝前的话，就不会有这么多事故了。

If you get off facing backward and the car starts before you have your feet firmly planted on the street, 如果你下车时面朝车内，车在你的脚还没站稳之前就启动的话，

you will get a fall nearly every time. 你几乎每次都会跌倒。

It's almost impossible to keep your feet when you are jerked⁶ backward. 你在被往后猛拉时，几乎不可能站稳脚跟。

But, if you face forward, in the direction the car is going, 但是如果你面朝车外，朝着车将要出发的方向，

you can almost always keep from falling even if the car starts before you get your footing." 即使电车在你站稳之前启动，你也不会摔倒。”

1 wagons   

n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 )；铁路货车；小手推车

参考例句：

• The wagons were hauled by horses. 那些货车是马拉的。
• They drew their wagons into a laager and set up camp. 他们把马车围成一圈扎起营地。

2 automobiles   

n.汽车( automobile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• When automobiles become popular,the use of the horse and buggy passed away. 汽车普及后，就不再使用马和马车了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Automobiles speed in an endless stream along the boulevard. 宽阔的林荫道上，汽车川流不息。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 Bundles   

n. 捆, 束, 一批, 一大笔钱 vt. 捆, 匆匆送走, 附赠 vi. 匆忙

参考例句：

• The goods are done up in bundles for shipment. 货物已打包以备装船。
• The books were tied up in bundles of twenty. 那些书被捆成20本一捆。

4 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

5 dart   

v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲

参考例句：

• The child made a sudden dart across the road.那小孩突然冲过马路。
• Markov died after being struck by a poison dart.马尔科夫身中毒镖而亡。

6 jerked   

猛拉( jerk的过去式和过去分词 )； （使…）猝然一动[颤动]

参考例句：

• He jerked the phone away from her. 他猛然一下从她那儿把电话抢走。
• When she heard the news, she jerked upright in surprise. 当听到这则消息时，她惊讶得跳了起来。