Is He a Hero?

Lesson 5

                                   Is He a Hero?

                                            Text A

    "Fire! Fire! " What terrible words to hear when one wakes up in a strange house in the middle of the night! It was a large, old, wooden house-the sort that burns beautifully---and my room was on the top floor. I jumped out of bed, opened the door and stepped out into the passage. It was full of thick smoke.

    I began to run, but as I was still only balf-awake, instead of going towards the stairs I went in thc opposite direction. The smoke grew thicker and I could see flames all around. The floor became hot under my bare feet. I found an opcn door and ran into a room to get to the window.

 But bcfore I could reach it, one of my feet caught in something soft and I fell down. The thing I had fallen over felt like a bundle¹ of clothes , and I picked it up to protect my face from the smoke and heat. Just then the floor . gave way under me and I crashed to the floor below with pieces of burning wood all around me.

    I saw a flaming doorway³ in front . put the bundle over my face and ran. My feet burned me terribly, but I got through. As I reached the cold air outside, my bundle of clothes gave a thin cry. I nearly dropped it in my surprisel? Then I saw a crowd gathered in the street. A woman in a night-dress and a borrowed man's coat screamed" as she saw me and came running madly.

    "My baby ! My baby! " she cried. The crowd chcered wildly as she took the smoke-blackened bundle out of my arms. I had some difficulty⁴ in recognizing her. She was the Mayor's wife, and I had saved her baby. I was a hero!

                                              Text B

    Teresa went up to Mrs Webster's room, two stairs at a time. She was nearly at the top when she stopped and sniffed⁵. A strong smell of gas was coming from that direction. Teresa ran up the remaining stairs and threw open the door. She put her hands over her mouth to stop a  scream. Mrs Webster was lying on the floor near the sink. Her skin and lips⁶ had a pinkish colour and she appeared to be unconscious⁷. The room was full of gas.

 

                                 Additional⁸ Information

    Who doesn't love sitting beside a cosy⁹ fire on a cold winter's night? Who doesn't love to watch flames curling¹⁰ up a chimney¹¹? Fire is one of man's greatest friends, but also one of his greatest enemies. Many big fires are caused by carelessness¹². A lighted cigarette thrown out of a car or train window or a broken bottle lying on dry grass can start a fire. Sometimes,though, a fire can start on its own. Wet hay¹³ can begin burning by itself. This is how it happens: the hay starts to.rot² and begins to give off heat which is trapped¹⁴ inside it. Finally, it bursts¹⁵ into flames. That's why farmers cut and store their hay when it's dry.

    Fires have destroyed whole cities. In the l7th century, a small fire which began in a baker's shop burnt down nearly every building in London. Moscow was set on fire during the war against Napoleon. This fire continued burning for seven days. And, of course, in 64 A. D. Nero fiddled¹⁶ while Rome burned! Even today, in spite¹⁷ of modern fire-fighting methods. fire causes millions of pounds' worth of damage each year both in our cities and in the countryside. It has been wisely said that fire is a good servant but a bad master.

 

1 bundle   

n.捆，包，束；一堆，一批；v.把…扎成一捆

参考例句：

• My uncle sent me a large bundle on my birthday.我生日时叔父给我寄来一个大包裹。
• Dad found a bundle of spelling mistakes in my composition.爸爸在我作文里找出一大堆拼写错误。

2 rot   

n.腐烂，腐蚀，败坏；vi.腐烂，烂，堕落，憔悴；vt.使腐烂，使腐朽，使堕落

参考例句：

• Dead plants rot and become part of the soil again.枯死的植物腐烂，又成为土壤的一部分。
• Much rain will make the fruit rot.这么多雨会使水果腐烂。

3 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

4 difficulty   

n.困难，费劲；难事，难题；麻烦，困境

参考例句：

• If there is any difficulty,please let us know promptly.倘有困难，请迅速通知我们。
• A little difficulty like this is nothing to us.这点困难算不了什么。

5 sniffed   

v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣，吸了吸鼻子，擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 lips   

abbr.logical inferences per second 每秒的逻辑推论n.嘴唇( lip的名词复数 )；（容器或凹陷地方的）边缘；粗鲁无礼的话

参考例句：

• Her lips compressed into a thin line. 她的双唇抿成了一道缝。
• the fullness of her lips 她丰满的双唇

7 unconscious   

adj.失去知觉的，不省人事的；无意识的，不知不觉的

参考例句：

• She was unconscious but her heart was still beating.她已经不省人事，但脉搏还在跳。
• He was unconscious of his mistake.他没意识到自已的错误。

8 additional   

adj.添加的，额外的，另外的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to set down these additional rules.有必要制定这些补充规则。
• I think we can fit in an additional room.我想我们可以再加建一间房子。

9 cosy   

adj.温暖而舒适的，安逸的

参考例句：

• We spent a cosy evening chatting by the fire.我们在炉火旁聊天度过了一个舒适的晚上。
• It was so warm and cosy in bed that Simon didn't want to get out.床上温暖而又舒适，西蒙简直不想下床了。

10 curling   

n. 苏格兰的冰上掷石游戏, 头发的卷曲, 卷缩 动词curl的现在分词

参考例句：

• Curling hair styles are all the cry this year. 今年烫发的发型很流行。
• I love curling up in an armchair with a good book. 我爱在扶手椅上蜷作一团看我喜欢的书。

11 chimney   

n.烟囱，烟筒；玻璃罩

参考例句：

• The chimney blew out a cloud of black smoke.烟囱里喷出一团黑烟。
• His father is a chimney sweeper.他的父亲是一位扫烟囱的工人。

12 carelessness   

n.粗心；漫不经心

参考例句：

• You should make an apology to her for your carelessness.你应该为你的粗心大意向她赔礼道歉。
• I have been punished for my carelessness.我因粗心而被处罚。

13 hay   

n.(用作饲料或覆盖的)干草

参考例句：

• Cows feed on hay.奶牛以干草为生。
• They usually keep the hay in the barn.他们通常将干草存放在谷仓中。

14 trapped   

adj. 捕获的，被困的，截留的 动词trap的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• Two passengers are still trapped in the wreck. 有两名乘客仍被困在失事的车辆里。
• The thief was trapped by the police in an old house. 小偷被警察困在一所旧房子里。

15 bursts   

v.爆炸( burst的第三人称单数 )；突然发作；突然打开；挤满

参考例句：

• intermittent bursts of applause 一阵阵的掌声
• Her speech was punctuated by bursts of applause. 她的讲演不时被阵阵掌声打断。

16 fiddled   

v.伪造( fiddle的过去式和过去分词 )；篡改；骗取；修理或稍作改动

参考例句：

• He fiddled the company's accounts. 他篡改了公司的账目。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He began with Palestrina, and fiddled all the way through Bartok. 他从帕勒斯春纳的作品一直演奏到巴塔克的作品。 来自辞典例句

17 spite   

n.（用于短语）虽然，不顾，尽管

参考例句：

• He has modern ideas in spite of his great age.尽管他年事很高，但思想观念却很入时。
• In spite of his anger,his remarks were restrained.他尽管生气，说的话还是有节制的。