美国小学英语教材6:第81课 波茨挽救夜行快车(2)

 An ordinary engineer might have rested on his arm pad and left the throttle¹ wide open; 普通工程师或许已经靠着臂垫上休憩，让节流阀完全敞开；

but Potts leaned suddenly farther out, peering with wrinkled face up the track. 但波茨突然向外探去，满脸皱纹的脸凝视铁道。

Behind the headlight of the freight he saw the dark hulks of the box cars half shrouded² in smoke from the engine stack. 在这列货运列车前灯后面，他看到引擎发出的浓烟已经覆盖了棚车的一半。

Behind them a long chain of tank cars, filled with gasoline, naphtha, and kerosene³, 棚车后面是长长的油槽车，里面是汽油，轻油和煤油，

was dimly outlined in the moonlit distance. To the engineer they looked, as they moved, like a continuous black cylinder⁴. 在月光下隐隐约约看到了它的轮廓，工程师看着不断转动的火车，认为它很像不断转动的黑色圆筒。

It's a long train, he muttered. Then, as his quick eye traveled again from the yellow headlight back to the green lantern on the faraway caboose, 他嘟囔道这列火车很长，当他敏捷的眼睛从黄色头灯再次回到守车的绿色灯光时，

he saw with a sudden sinking of his heart that the train was much too long. 他突然心一沉，发现这列火车的确很长。

He knew that somewhere in the middle a coupling had broken, 他知道中间不知道什么地方，车钩断裂了，

and the front end of the train with the engine was roaring down the grade with the rear end pursuing it. 前端最尾部的火车引擎在斜坡上发出轰鸣声，而后端尾部正在追赶。

Sooner or later, unless the freight crew manned the brakes, there must be a terrible collision. 除非货运列车员人工操作刹车，早早晚晚将发生重大相撞事故。

In the face of sudden danger an engineer's first impulse is to stop his train. Potts sprang back to his place. 在危险来临之际，工程师的第一个念头就是停车，波茨跑回了他的位置。

He jammed the throttle forward and drew back the quivering reverse lever. 他将节流阀向前推，将颤抖的倒车杆向后推。

Then his hand closed on the brass⁵ handle that controlled the air brake. 之后，他的手即将触摸到控制风闸的铜制杆。

There was a deafening⁶ hissing⁷ and crackling, and the needle on the air pressure indicator⁸ dropped from 70 to 65 to 60 pounds in two seconds. 之后发出了震耳欲聋的嘶嘶声和噼啪声，气压计上的指针在两秒内从70降到65，降到60磅。

The wheels underneath⁹ whipped up a fountain of sparks, and the sleepers¹⁰ in their berths¹¹ turned and grumbled¹² at being disturbed. 下面的轮胎产生了大量火花，卧铺乘客因被打扰而埋怨起来。

Most difficult to believe, all these events had taken place within the bounds of a long breath. 很难相信，所有这些事件是在一口长呼吸中发生的。

Now there were three biting shrieks¹³ of the whistle, Potts's cry of warning to the freight engineer that his train was broken. 火车发出了三声刺耳的汽笛声，波茨叫嚷着警告货车工程师，他的火车损坏了。

Harrison, the fireman, who well knew the meaning of the signal, sprang to his window on the left. 消防员哈里森熟悉这个信号，他跳到了左边的窗户旁。

His hair blew loose in the back draft. The break is among the tanks, he shouted, as he saw the approaching freight. 在逆风中，他的头发迎风飘扬，他叫嚷到刹车在油槽车，这时他看到了不断接近的货运车。

The cab was dark except for the shaded light at the indicator, 驾驶室很黑，除了指示器上的阴影，

but Harrison saw the engineer nod grimly, and again the three warning whistles cut the night air. 但哈里森看到工程师严肃地点着头，之后火车在夜空上又发出了三声警告笛声。

He must do his best to warn the crew of the freight. But the tank train continued to advance. 他必须尽可能地来警告火车上的员工，但油槽车继续向前。

Its engineer either failed to hear the signal or else its fearful meaning did not impress him. 车上的工程师或者是没有听到信号声，或是信号发出的可怕内容没有影响到他。

He would have known well enough, had he stopped to think, that a collision meant an explosion such as would put to shame a powder mill. 他应该早就清楚，如果他没有想到撞击产生的爆炸将让炸药厂相形见绌。

 

1 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。

2 shrouded   

v.隐瞒( shroud的过去式和过去分词 )；保密

参考例句：

• The hills were shrouded in mist . 这些小山被笼罩在薄雾之中。
• The towers were shrouded in mist. 城楼被蒙上薄雾。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 kerosene   

n.(kerosine)煤油，火油

参考例句：

• It is like putting out a fire with kerosene.这就像用煤油灭火。
• Instead of electricity,there were kerosene lanterns.没有电，有煤油灯。

4 cylinder   

n.圆筒，柱(面)，汽缸

参考例句：

• What's the volume of this cylinder?这个圆筒的体积有多少？
• The cylinder is getting too much gas and not enough air.汽缸里汽油太多而空气不足。

5 brass   

n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器

参考例句：

• Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。

6 deafening   

adj. 振耳欲聋的, 极喧闹的 动词deafen的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The noise of the siren was deafening her. 汽笛声震得她耳朵都快聋了。
• The noise of the machine was deafening. 机器的轰鸣声震耳欲聋。

7 hissing   

n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The steam escaped with a loud hissing noise. 蒸汽大声地嘶嘶冒了出来。
• His ears were still hissing with the rustle of the leaves. 他耳朵里还听得萨萨萨的声音和屑索屑索的怪声。 来自汉英文学 - 春蚕

8 indicator   

n.指标；指示物，指示者；指示器

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• His left-hand indicator is flashing.他左手边的转向灯正在闪亮。

9 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

10 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

11 berths   

n.（船、列车等的）卧铺( berth的名词复数 )；（船舶的）停泊位或锚位；差事；船台vt.v.停泊( berth的第三人称单数 )；占铺位

参考例句：

• Berths on steamships can be booked a long while in advance. 轮船上的床位可以提前多日预订。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Have you got your berths on the ship yet? 你们在船上有舱位了吗？ 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 grumbled   

抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声

参考例句：

• He grumbled at the low pay offered to him. 他抱怨给他的工资低。
• The heat was sweltering, and the men grumbled fiercely over their work. 天热得让人发昏，水手们边干活边发着牢骚。

13 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》