英语听力：劫机.Skyjack! Chapter 5

　　Chapter FiveThe black car stopped outside the airport building and a police officer opened the door. Helen ___ got out and went quickly inside. Upstairs in the control room, the chief airport police inspector¹ Holm was waiting with a soldier. Helen’s secretary-----Michael was there, too.

　　“Good evening, Prime² Minister,” said inspector Holm, “This is Colonel³, Court, of the special command section.”

　　“Good evening, colonel.” Helen shook hands with the soldier and looked at him. He was a thin tough-looking man about forty years old with a brown face. His hand was hard and strong.

　　“I hope you know your job,” she thought, “I may need you.”

　　She looked out of the window. There was a large plane on the tarmac about two hundred meters away. All its lights were on.

　　“Is that the plane?” she asked.

　　“That’s it! Prime Minister!”

　　“Right, give me the facts. How many people are on it?”

　　Inspector Holm answered, “108 passengers, 5 crew⁴.”

　　“What nationalities⁵ are they?”

　　“There are 29 Americans, 15 British, 2 Brazilians⁶, 2 Indians, 1 Chinese. The others are from this country.”

　　“I see! There are a lot of Americans and British then,” said Helen quietly, “That means⁷ trouble.”

　　“Yes, Prime Minister,” said Michael, “I’m afraid their ambassadors⁹ are on their way here now.

　　Helen smiled at him quickly. He was a good secretary. He usually knew what she was thinking. Both American ambassador⁸ and British ambassador were difficult people. She turned back to Inspector Holm, “Tell me about the hijackers. What do they want?”

　　“We don’t know how many hijackers there are, Prime Minister. But they have guns, we know that. And they want three things.” Inspector Holm paused¹⁰ and looked down at her. He was a very tall man and he looked very important in his uniform. Helen didn’t like him much.

　　“Yes, well, what are three things?” she asked quickly.

　　“Firstly, they said we must set free their two brothers from the prison. You remember, Prime Minister? Two men tried to put a bomb on a plane last year. They are in prison near here.”

　　“I remember,” Helen answered softly¹¹, “They are in prison for thirty years, aren’t they?”

　　“I think so, something like that,” the man paused, “Secondly, they said we must refuel the plane because they want to fly to another country. Thirdly, they said we must put this all on the newspaper. It says they are fighting for freedom for their people. They are freedom fighters. They want to liberate¹² their people.”

　　He gave her a sheet of paper. Helen put it on the table. She did not read it. “And what about the passengers?” she asked, “When will the hijackers set them free?”

　　“They said they will set most of passengers free when their brothers are on the plane. But they want 10 passengers to fly away with them. They will set them free when they arrive.”

　　“I see.”

　　“There is one another thing, Prime Minister,” Colonel Court spoke¹³ for the first time. His voice was very quiet, almost gentle. “They say we must bring the two brothers in two hours. If not, they will kill a passenger. They said this one hour ago.”

　　“So we have one hour left?”

　　That’s right! Prime Minister, just one hour. Then they will kill a first passenger.”

　　“I see.” Helen walked slowly to the window and stared out at the plane. It was still raining and a strong wind was blowing. She turned around. “Thank you, gentlemen! I will have to talk to them. But first I need a few minutes to think. Colonel Court and Inspector, please go to the other room. Tell the hijackers I will talk to them in five minutes. Michael, stay here.”

　　“But… Yes madam!”

　　Inspector Holm looked unhappy, but he went out slowly with the Colonel. Michael sat quietly looking at her. He knew what she was thinking. “Have you got the passenger list, Michael?”

　　“Yes, Prime Minister, here you are.”

　　She picked up the list of names and looked at it carefully. “Oh, my god! His name was near the beginning.” She dropped the list and sat down at the table and ran her hand through her hair. For long minute, she said nothing. Then she looked up. “This is going to be very difficult, isn’t it, Michael?”

　　“I’m afraid so, Prime Minister, very difficult indeed.”

　　Helen stood up and walked to the window, thinking hard. Outside in the rain, the American ambassador’s car stopped by the door.

本文本由Bryan1984网友听写，非常感谢他的分享。如有错误，欢迎指出。

1 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

2 prime   

adj.首要的，主要的；最好的，第一流的

参考例句：

• The prime minister spoke of the general insecurity in the country.总理谈到了全国普遍存在的不安全。
• He met with the Prime Minister of Japan for an hour.他和日本首相会见了一个小时。

3 colonel   

n.(英国陆军、美国陆空军及海军陆战队)上校

参考例句：

• It's a pity we didn't mend our fences with the colonel.可惜我们还没有和上校先生调整好关系。
• An army major ranks between a captain and a colonel.陆军少校的军阶在上尉与中校之间。

4 crew   

n.全体船员，全体乘务员；vi.一起工作

参考例句：

• A captain controls his ship and its crew.船长管理他的船和船上的船员。
• The captain kept his crew at a distance.船长与他的船员总保持一段距离。

5 nationalities   

n.国籍( nationality的名词复数 )；民族群体

参考例句：

• The minority nationalities account for six per cent of the population. 少数民族占人口的百分之六。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock. 中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 Brazilians   

n.巴西人( Brazilian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Brazilians know oil can be a curse as well as a blessing. 巴西人知道石油可以是祸根，也可以是恩赐。 来自互联网
• This name is now welcomed by both Ronaldo and the Brazilians. 现在这个名字得到名为罗纳尔多的人及所有巴西人的喜爱。 来自互联网

7 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

8 ambassador   

n.大使，特使，（派驻国际组织的）代表

参考例句：

• He took up office as an ambassador for ten years continuously.他连任十年大使。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

9 ambassadors   

大使( ambassador的名词复数 )； （派驻联合国等国际组织的）代表； 特使； [比喻]使者

参考例句：

• Kennedy, greatly admiring, rated him very high among his ambassadors. 肯尼迪十分赏识他，在所有大使中对他评价很高。
• Many countries were represented by their ambassadors at the Independence Day celebrations. 庆祝美国独立纪念日时，许多国家都派其大使代表参加。

10 paused   

v.停顿( pause的过去式和过去分词 )；暂停；（按暂停键）暂停放音；暂停放像

参考例句：

• We paused for the red light at State College Street. 我们在州立大学大街上因遇到红灯而停了一下。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The joggers paused to catch their breath. 慢跑者们暂停下来以便喘口气。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 softly   

adv.柔和地，静静地，温柔地

参考例句：

• He speaks too softly for her to hear.他讲话声音太轻，她听不见。
• She breathed her advice softly.她低声劝告。

12 liberate   

v.解放，使获得自由，释出，放出；vt.解放，使获自由

参考例句：

• They did their best to liberate slaves.他们尽最大能力去解放奴隶。
• This will liberate him from economic worry.这将消除他经济上的忧虑。

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。