美国小学英语教材6:第84课 波茨挽救夜行快车(5)

 Without warning there followed a terrific crash. The freight train came together, 突然发生了严重碰撞，货车撞在了一起，

and far in the air a great splash of fire glowed bright against the black sky. 在远处的天空中，一团明亮的大火映衬在黑夜中。

Halfway¹ down, as the exploded tank car fell, hissing² with flame, it met another and another. 在下行途中，随着爆炸的油槽车被摧毁，火焰还发出了嘶嘶声，之后又发生了两次相撞。

The explosions shook the earth, blew great holes in the road bed, 爆炸让大地震颤起来，路基形成了许多大洞，

tore away the sanded rails over which the passenger had just thundered, hurled³ the sleepers⁴ from their berths⁵, 磨砂钢轨被炸断了，乘客之前还在上面大喊大叫，熟睡的乘客从卧铺中猛扔了出来，

jarred out the lights, and swayed the fifty-ton Pullmans as if they had been cardboard playhouses. 灯光颤动了起来，让50吨的铂尔曼摇晃起来，好似硬纸板游戏屋。

Potts, dripping with perspiration⁶, sank weakly to his seat. The train had come to a standstill. 波茨出了很多汗，虚弱地瘫在了椅子上，这列火车停了下来。

The engine breathed as if exhausted⁷ with its race. The conductor came up on the run, white of face, and held up his lantern. 引擎好似在竞赛后精疲力尽，喘着粗气，操作员跑了过来，脸色煞白，手里提着灯笼。

It was a narrow escape, he said. Potts, the engineer, smiled in his face. 他说惊险逃脱，工程师波茨笑了起来。

He laid his hand caressingly⁸ on the huge black side of the engine as though he feared it had been strained. 他的手亲切地放在了引擎的黑色部分，他很害怕引擎显得过于紧张。

We're behind two minutes, now, he said calmly, as if being on time was the most important thing in the world. 我们晚了两分钟，他镇定地说，好似准时是这个世界最重要的事情。

A mile back the tank train was going up, car after car, like a bunch of giant firecrackers. 往回看一英里处是油槽车在前行，一辆接着一辆，好似一堆巨型鞭炮。

The oil was blazing on the houses of the town, and the panic-stricken engineer of the freight train 汽油在城镇房屋燃起了火焰，货车工程师惊慌失措，

was escaping up the track with his detached engine and a few of the box cars. In all, thirteen tanks of oil were exploded, 他的火车和分离引擎逃脱，以及几列棚车，总共有十三列油槽车爆炸，

two buildings were burned, and a man was killed. But the Chicago express was saved. 两栋建筑被烧毁，一人遇难，但芝加哥快车得救了。

 

1 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

2 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

3 hurled   

v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂

参考例句：

• He hurled a brick through the window. 他往窗户里扔了块砖。
• The strong wind hurled down bits of the roof. 大风把屋顶的瓦片刮了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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

5 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》

6 perspiration   

n.汗水；出汗

参考例句：

• It is so hot that my clothes are wet with perspiration.天太热了，我的衣服被汗水湿透了。
• The perspiration was running down my back.汗从我背上淌下来。

7 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

8 caressingly   

爱抚地，亲切地

参考例句：

• His voice was caressingly sweet. 他的嗓音亲切而又甜美。