英语小达人 232 The Excuse Never Heard

 　　The Excuse Never Heard

　　没听说过的理由

　　A fellow bought a new Benz and was out on the interstate for a nice evening drive. The top was down, the breeze was blowing through what was left of his hair and he decided¹ to open her up.

　　一个人买了一辆新奔驰车，晚上开到州际公路去兜风。车顶篷放了下来，清风吹得他忘乎所以，他决定提起速度来跑一跑。

　　As the needle jumped up to 80 mph he suddenly saw a flashing red and blue light behind him.

　　当车速表的指针指向时速80英里的时候，他突然发现红蓝色的警灯一闪一闪地跟在后面。

　　"There's no way they can catch a Mercedes," he thought to himself and opened her up further. His needle hit 90, 100, 110 and finally 150. Then the reality of the situation hit him.

　　“他们怎么可能赶上大奔呢，”他想着，又加快了速度。指针指到了90，100，110，直到150。最后他终于意识到了现实情况。

　　"What the hell am I doing?" he thought and pulled over.

　　“我这到底是在干什么？”他想着把车停到路边。

　　The cop came up to him, took his license² without a word, and examined it and the car.

　　警察走上来，一声不吭地拿走他的驾照查看，又看了看他的车。

　　Finally he came to the window looking steadily³ at the driver and said, "I've had a tough shift and this is my last pull over. I don't feel like more paperwork so if you can give me an excuse for your speeding that I haven't heard before, you can go!"

　　终于警察走到车窗前，沉静地看着他说：“你是我下班前拦的最后一辆车了，我这个班很辛苦，我现在也不想开罚单了，所以如果你能给我一个我从没听过的超速理由，我就放了你。”

　　The driver blinked only once while his brain scrambled⁵ for a reply.

　　那个人只惊奇了一下就开始搜肠刮肚地想如何回答。

　　"Last week my wife ran off with a cop," he said, "and I was afraid you were trying to give her back!"

　　“上个星期，我的妻子跟一个警察跑了，”他说，“我怕你追过来是要把她还回来！”

　　"Off you go," said the officer.

　　“你可以走了。”

　　重点讲解：

　　1. what the hell...

　　口语常用，（用以加强语气或咒骂）究竟，到底；

　　eg. What the hell are you doing?

　　你到底搞什么？

　　eg. Kay blazed out at him. "What the hell does that mean?

　　恺憋了一肚子闷气，突然向他爆发出来：“这话到底是什么意思？

　　2. pull over

　　车）驶向路边停下；（驾车者）靠路边停车；（通常因司机危险驾驶，警察）令（驾车者或车辆）停靠路边；

　　eg. He noticed a man behind him in a blue Ford⁶ gesticulating to pull over.

　　他注意到身后一个开蓝色福特车的男人正打手势要靠边停车。

　　eg. The officers pulled him over after a high-speed chase.

　　警察们一路狂追后截住了他。

　　3. scramble⁴ for sth.

　　争夺；抢夺；

　　eg. More than three million fans are expected to scramble for tickets.

　　预计会有超过 300 万的球迷抢购门票。

　　eg. In course of the Turkish empire declining rapidly, the great powers of Europe started to scramble for the empire's heritage.

　　在土耳其帝国日薄西山的过程中，欧洲列强开始了争夺帝国遗产的斗争。

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

3 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

4 scramble   

v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料

参考例句：

• He broke his leg in his scramble down the wall.他爬墙摔断了腿。
• It was a long scramble to the top of the hill.到山顶须要爬登一段长路。

5 scrambled   

v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。