美国小学英语教材6:第80课 波茨挽救夜行快车(1)

 HOW POTTS SAVED THE NIGHT EXPRESS Ray Stannard Baker¹ 波茨挽救夜行快车 雷·斯坦纳德·贝克尔

The men who command our ships, pilot our airplanes, and run the great locomotives that pull our trains cannot be weaklings. 操纵帆船，驾驶飞机，操作火车头的人决不能软弱。

They must be able to think and act with quickness and courage, for the lives of others depend upon them. 他们要能够思考和行动，而且要动作敏捷，有勇气，人们的生命依靠他们。

Many a brave deed that these men do never gets into the newspapers, because such deeds are all in the day's work for them. 这些人的英勇事迹从未上过报纸，因为这些事迹是他们的日常工作。

It was past midnight when Potts came out of Galesburg, Illinois, pulling the Chicago express from Burlington. 那是后半夜，波茨离开了伊利诺伊州盖尔斯堡，他驾驶着芝加哥快车从伯灵顿出发。

There was a full moon, making the whole country almost as bright as day; 月亮很圆，将整个国家照亮地就像白天一样光明，

the September air was warm and sweet with the smell of the woods. 九月的天气温暖和煦，有树木的气味。

Harrison, the fireman, was swinging the black door of the fire-box and shoveling in the coal. 消防员哈里森摇摆着火箱的黑门，火箱正在消耗煤。

Potts, with his left hand resting carelessly on the throttle² lever, 波茨的左手惬意地放在节流杆上，

leaned out of the cab window and wished that all night runs might be made in nights like this one. 他向驾驶窗外倾斜，希望所有夜晚都能像今晚一样。

Under him quivered the great steel giant that he had grown to love as a friend, and behind him trailed the long, dark, voiceless train. 他的下面是颤抖的巨大钢铁巨人，他早就爱上了它，并把它当做朋友，它后面拖拽着长长的，暗色无声列车。

There were eleven cars in all, four baggage cars, three day coaches, three sleepers³, and a mail car, one of the heaviest trains on the road. 总共有11节车厢，四节行李厢，三节硬座车厢，三节软卧车厢，一节邮政，这也是公路上最重的火车之一。

Packed away inside of them were two hundred fifty persons or more, bound eastward⁴ from Burlington, Omaha, Denver, and the Far West. 车厢中有250多名乘客，他们从伯灵顿、奥马哈、丹佛以及远西地区，前往东部地区。

They dozed⁵, secure in their faith that the steady but unknown hand that guided the engine would bring them safe into Chicago. 他们在打盹，并坚信这双稳重但未知的双手将操纵引擎，安全地将他们带入芝加哥。

At the blinking of the Altona semaphore Potts drew down on the whistle lever, and the engine gave one long cheer for the little town 在阿尔托纳信号标的闪烁下，波茨向下拉汽笛杆，引擎在小镇上发出了长长的轰鸣声，

which it intended to pass with no other notice. As the train slowed to schedule speed, a few straggling buildings came up suddenly into the moonlight, 它本来想在不注意的情况下通过，随着火车减慢到规定速度，几栋零星的建筑突然出现在月光中，

stood for a moment in plain view, and then darted⁶ backward again into the darkness. 在清晰的背景下矗立了一会，之后又快速往回进入了黑暗中。

Altona was passed with a clear track and a long upgrade ahead. 我们越过了阿尔托纳，前面还有很长的向上斜坡。

A mile eastward blinked a semaphore, white and safe, and to its left, close down to the track, 向西一英里处亮起了白色信号，在它的左边，靠近铁轨处，

there were three other lights, a large one and two small ones. Tramp freight, said Potts to himself, 还有三盏灯，一个大的两个小的，波茨对自己说不定期航船，

as he saw the lights of the stranger slowly brighten. There was no need of further reducing speed. 他看到信号灯逐渐变亮，无需再次减速。

It was a double track all the way, and the passenger must make time. 一路上都是双轨，乘客必须留出时间。

The two trains would slip by each other with the usual shrieks⁷ of friendly greeting. 两辆火车将擦肩而过，发出刺耳的问候声。

 

1 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

2 throttle   

n.节流阀，节气阀，喉咙；v.扼喉咙，使窒息，压

参考例句：

• These government restrictions are going to throttle our trade.这些政府的限制将要扼杀我们的贸易。
• High tariffs throttle trade between countries.高的关税抑制了国与国之间的贸易。

3 sleepers   

n.卧铺（通常以复数形式出现）；卧车( sleeper的名词复数 )；轨枕；睡觉（呈某种状态）的人；小耳环

参考例句：

• He trod quietly so as not to disturb the sleepers. 他轻移脚步，以免吵醒睡着的人。 来自辞典例句
• The nurse was out, and we two sleepers were alone. 保姆出去了，只剩下我们两个瞌睡虫。 来自辞典例句

4 eastward   

adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部

参考例句：

• The river here tends eastward.这条河从这里向东流。
• The crowd is heading eastward,believing that they can find gold there.人群正在向东移去，他们认为在那里可以找到黄金。

5 dozed   

v.打盹儿，打瞌睡( doze的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He boozed till daylight and dozed into the afternoon. 他喝了个通霄，昏沉沉地一直睡到下午。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• I dozed off during the soporific music. 我听到这催人入睡的音乐，便不知不觉打起盹儿来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 darted   

v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔

参考例句：

• The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect. 蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The old man was displeased and darted an angry look at me. 老人不高兴了，瞪了我一眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 shrieks   

n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• shrieks of fiendish laughter 恶魔般的尖笑声
• For years, from newspapers, broadcasts, the stages and at meetings, we had heard nothing but grandiloquent rhetoric delivered with shouts and shrieks that deafened the ears. 多少年来， 报纸上， 广播里， 舞台上， 会场上的声嘶力竭，装腔做态的高调搞得我们震耳欲聋。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》