Lesson 1 Face to Face with Hurricane Camille
全文翻译
迎战卡米尔飓风
约瑟夫·布兰克
1.小约翰·科夏克已经预料到卡米尔飓风将会来势凶猛。去年8月17号的那个星期日,当卡米尔飓风掠过墨西哥海港向西北行进时,广播和电视台整天都在播放风暴预警。科夏克一家居住的地方—密西西比的海湾港——肯定会遭到飓风的倾袭。路易斯安那、密西西比和阿拉巴马州沿海地区的居民中,近15万人已逃往内陆安全地带。但就像海岸地区其他成千上万的人一样,约翰不愿意抛弃家园,除非他的整个家庭——他的妻子珍妮丝,以及他们的7个孩子(最大的11岁,最小的3岁)——灾难临头。
2.为了寻求对抗飓风的最佳方案,约翰已经与父母商量过了,他的父母一个月前就从加利福尼亚搬进了约翰那座有十间房的屋子。他还征询过驾车从拉斯维加斯到此拜访的老朋友查理·希尔的意见。
3.约翰所有的产业都在家中(他设计、研发各种教育玩具和教育用品。他的玛格纳制造公司的一切信函、设计图和工艺模具全都放在一楼),37岁的约翰对飓风的力量并不陌生。四年前,他位于海湾港以西几英里外的那个家就被贝翠飓风摧毁了(此前,科夏克已将家人送到一个汽车旅馆过夜)。不过,那所房子仅仅高出海平面几英户。“我们现在高出海平面23英尺呢,”他告诉父亲说,“而且,我们距离海岸足有250码远。这房子建于1915年,从未受到过飓风的侵扰。我们呆在这儿恐怕是再安全不过了。”
4.今年已67岁的老科夏克是个脾气暴躁但心肠很好的熟练机械师。对儿子的看法他表示赞同。“我们能够封住风口,战胜风暴”,他说道,“如果有危险迹象,我们可以在天黑前撤离。”
5.几个男人们有条不紊地准备着飓风防御措施。水管可能会被损坏,因此他们将浴缸和水桶装满了水。也可能断电,因此他们仔细检查了手提收音机和手电筒的电池,并给提灯添了油。约翰的父亲将一台小型发电机搬到楼下的走廊,在上面接了几个灯泡,并随时准备把它与冰箱连接在一起。
6.那天下午,雨一直在下。乌云伴着越来越强烈的暴风从海湾上空席卷而来。科夏克一家早早吃过晚饭。一个邻居(她的丈夫在越南)过来问,她和她的两个孩子能否和科夏克一家待在一起,直到飓风结束。另一个邻居在逃亡内陆的途中也跑过来问科夏克一家是否介意帮忙照看一下他的狗。
7.不到7点,天就黑了。狂风暴雨拍打着屋子。约翰让大儿子和大女儿到楼上拿些床垫和枕头给年幼的孩子们。他打算将所有人集中在同一层。“别靠近窗皮他告诫道,担心被飓风吹碎的窗玻璃会飞落下来。风开始咆哮,房子开始漏雨—雨水仿佛能穿过墙壁,直往里泼。科夏克一家开始用拖把、毛巾、壶和水桶与快速蔓延的水展开斗争。八点半,断电了,科夏克老爹便启动了发电机。
8.飓风的咆哮声此刻压倒了一切。房子摇晃着,客厅的天花板一块块掉到地上。楼上一个房间的法式门“砰”的一声被风吹开了。屋里的人听到楼上玻璃窗破碎时发出的像开枪一样的劈劈啪啪的响声。水已经漫过脚踝了。
9.然后,前门开始从门框脱落。约翰和查理用肩顶住门,但一股水浪席卷过来,冲开大门,将他们掀倒在地板上。水浸湿了发电机,灯灭了。查理舔了舔嘴唇,向约翰喊道“我想我们真有麻烦了。水是咸的。”海水已经进到房屋了,水位还在不停地上涨。
10.“大家都从后门走,到车上去!”约翰喊道。“我们把孩子一个个递过去。数数,一共是九个!”
11.孩子们从大人手上像救火队的水桶一样一个个被递了过去。但车无法发动,它的电子系统已经被水破坏了。风太大,水太深,不能靠步行逃命。“回到屋子里去!”约翰又喊道“数数孩子们,一共是九个!”
12.当他们攀爬着回屋后,约翰命令道,“大家都到楼上去!”于是人们都待在由两堵内墙保护的楼梯上,个个吓得要命,气喘吁吁,浑身都湿透了。孩子们把那只叫斯普基的猫和装着她的四只幼仔的盒子放在楼梯平台上。斯普基焦虑地张望着自己的幼仔。邻居的那条狗已经蜷起身子,入睡了。
13.暴风发出的声响就像是几码外的火车疾驰而过时所发出的震耳欲聋的鸣笛声。房子在地基上抖动摇晃。一楼的外墙倒塌了,积水一寸寸漫上楼梯。没有人说话,人人都知道无路可逃,他们是死是活,都只能留在这所房子里。
14.查理·希尔对邻居的那个妇女和她的两个孩子多少尽了些义务。那妇女惊慌失措,她抓住查理的胳膊,不停地说“我不会游泳,我不会游泳……”
15.“不用游泳的,”他佯装镇定地安慰她道,“很快就会结束了。”
16.科夏克奶奶伸出一只手臂搂在丈夫肩上,将嘴贴近他耳边说,“老爷子,我爱你。”科老爹转过头,也回应道,“我爱你!”嗓音里已没有了往日的粗暴。
17.约翰望着积水拍打着楼梯,感到一阵强烈的内疚。他低估了卡米尔飓风的猛烈性。他曾以为以前没出现的事情就不会发生。他双手抱着头,默默地祈祷着:“上帝啊,请保佑我们度过这一难关吧。”
18.不久,一阵强风袭来,将整个屋顶掀起,抛向40英尺开外的地方。楼梯底部裂开了。一堵墙眼看着就要向这群无路可逃的人压倒过来。
19.弗罗里达州迈阿密的国家飓风中心主任罗伯特·辛普森博士将卡米尔飓风列为“有史以来,袭击过西半球人口居住地的最剧烈的风暴”。在飓风中心方圆70英里范围内,风速接近每小时200英里,掀起的浪头高达30英尺。海湾沿岸飓风过境之处,所有东西都被毁坏:19467所房屋和709个商铺要么被完全摧毁要么遭到严重损坏。飓风刮起了海湾港一个60万加仑的油罐,将其扔到3.5英里开外的地方。它将3艘货船搬离系泊处,掀上海滩。电线杆和20英寸粗的松树被飓风折断时,发出噼哩啪啦的爆破声。
20.海湾港以西的帕斯克里斯镇几乎被彻底摧毁。住在该镇豪华的黎赛留公寓的入位度假者举行了一次聚会,试图从他们所居住的有利地位观赏飓风的壮观景象。结果公寓仿佛被一个巨大的拳头打得粉碎,`26人因此丧生。
21.科夏克家的屋顶被吹走后,约翰喊到“快上楼去,待在我们的卧室!数数孩子们。”倾盆大雨中,孩子们蜷缩在大人们围成的圈里。科夏克奶奶哀求道:“孩子们,我们唱歌吧!”孩子们都吓坏了,没有响应。她独自唱了几句,然后声音就渐渐消失了。
22.客厅的壁炉和烟囱坍塌时,掷来片片残骸。他们栖身的那间卧室里有两面墙壁即将崩塌时,约翰立即命令道:“进电视室去!”这是离风头最远的一个房间。
23.约翰用手臂搂了一下妻子。珍妮丝明白了他的惹思。狂风暴雨和恐惧使得她不停地发抖,她将两个孩子揽进怀里,心中念叨着,仁慈的上帝啊,请赐予我力量来度过这一切。她怨恨这场飓风。我们一定不会让它得逞。
24.科夏克老爹压抑着心中的怒火,他对自己木能做任何事情来对抗卡米尔飓风感到懊恼。毫无因由地,他跑到一间卧室将一只杉木箱和一个双人床垫拖进了电视室。就在那时,暴风刮倒了一面墙,提灯也熄灭了。又一面墙开始移动摇晃,查理·希尔试图支撑住它,但墙倒在他身上,伤了他的背。房屋摇晃着,已经离开地基25英尺了。似乎要天崩地裂。
25.“我们把那个床垫竖起来!”约翰对父亲喊道。“把它斜靠着挡挡风。让孩子们待在垫子下面。我们可以用头和肩膀顶住它!”
26.大一点儿的孩子趴在地上,小一点的摞在他们上面,大人们都弯下腰罩住他们。地板倾斜了。装着四只小猫的盒子从架子上滑落下来,被风吹得无影无踪。斯普基被从一个滑柜顶部吹走,也不见了踪影。狗闭着眼睛,蜷缩成一团。又一面墙倒塌了。水浪拍打着倾斜的地板。约翰抓住一扇还连接在壁橱墙上的门。“如果地板塌了,”他对父亲喊道,“我们就把孩子们放在这上面。”
27.霎那间,风势稍稍减弱,水面也不再上涨。随后积水开始消退。卡米尔飓风的风眼过去了,科夏克一家和他们的朋友们都幸存了下来。
28.黎明时分,海湾港的居民们开始返回自己的家园。他们看见遇难者的尸体—在密西西比沿海一带就有130多名男女和儿童丧生——海滩和高速公路的某些地段到处都是死狗、死猫和死牲畜的尸体。未被吹倒的树上挂着被撕成布条的衣服,吹断的电线像黑色的意大利面一样一圈圈地盘绕在路面上。
29.返回家园的人们缓慢地行走着,没有高声说话,他们吃惊地呆站着,努力去接受眼前这骇人的景象。“我们该怎么办”他们问道,“我们该去哪儿?”
30.这时,该地区的一些组织,实际上全美人民都已经开始向受灾海岸伸出了援助之手。天还没亮,密西西比州国民警卫队和一些民间防卫组织便开始进入灾区,维持交通,保护财物,建立通讯中心,帮助清理废墟并用卡车和汽车将无家可归的人送往难民收容中心。上午10点左右,救世军的餐车和红十字会志愿队及工作人员已开往所有能够到达的地方去分发热饮、食品、衣服和被褥了。
31.全国各城镇为灾区募捐了几百万美元。日常用品和医疗用品通过飞机、火车、卡车和汽车源源不断地运送进来。联邦政府海运过来440万磅食品,还运来了流动房屋,建立了活动教室,开设了相关机构提供长期低息商业贷款。
32.其间,卡米尔飓风在席卷了密西西比州后继续北进,给弗吉尼亚州西部和南部带来了28英寸以上的降雨,致使洪水泛滥,山体滑坡,又造成111人丧生,最后才在大西洋上空逐渐消散。
33.如同其他许多海湾港家庭一样,科夏克一家很快开始重新安排生活。约翰将一家人分散在两个朋友家。邻家妇女和她的两个孩子去了一个难民收容所。查理·希尔找了一间出租房。周二,查理的背部基本康复了,他加入了海军修建营,从事最艰难的志愿工作—寻找遇难者尸体。风暴过后三天,他决心不回拉斯维加斯,而要“留在海湾港,帮助重建这一社区。”
34.风暴过去快要一周时,一位朋友将自己的公寓提供给科夏克,一家人终于又团聚了。这一经历似乎并未给孩子们造成什么心理阴影;他们仍然对飓风莫可名状的力量感到畏惧,但他们对在那个可怕的夜晚里的所见所闻津津乐道。珍妮丝对飓风后的反应来得稍稍有些缓慢。飓风过后的一个晚上,她突然在凌晨2点醒来。她悄悄起床,走到屋外。抬头望着天空,茫然不知所措,她开始抽泣。
35.与此同时,约翰,科夏克老爹和查理在家里的废墟里寻觅着一些物品。这也许本会使人感到沮丧,但事实却并非如此:每一件搜寻出来的物品都象征着对风暴的一次胜利。那只狗和猫突然出现了,它们还活着,只是饿了。
36.但沮丧的情绪时而不时仍会折磨着那些大人。一次,约翰情绪低落地对父母说,“我希望你们能留下来,这样我们一家人就能在一起了,你们就可以开心地和孩子们在一起,看着他们长大。
37.生活又恢复正常后,父亲已经拿定主意在这儿开一间焊接铺人听到儿子的话,他说道“不要再为过去那些事情悲伤了,我们一切从头再来吧!”
38.“您很伟大,”约翰说到,“这个镇上有许多像你这样伟大的人。这儿将会变得比以前更好。”
39.随后,科夏克奶奶说到,“我们几乎丧失了所有财产,但我们一家人都挺过来了。想到这一点,我认识到我们并没有损失重要的东西。”
(选自约瑟夫·加南《修辞与文学》)
练习答案
Ⅱ.
A.
1.He didn't think his family was in any real danger.His former house had been demolished by Hurricane Betsy for it only stood a few feet above sea level.His present house was 23 feet above sea level and 250 yards away from the sea.He thought they would be safe here as in any place else.Besides,he had talked the matter over with his father and mother and consulted his longtime friend,Charles Hill,before making his decision to stay and face the hurricane.
2.To avoid water mains being damaged,they filled bathtubs and pails,checked out the batteries for radio and flashlights and the fuel for the lantern since they might need them when power is cut off.
A generator was necessary because they could wire light bulbs to it and make the refrigerator in proper function.
3.They found it impossible to escape neither by car nor on foot.The electricity system of the car had been killed by water.As the first-floor outside walls collapsed,the water was rising inch by inch and was above the steps,s6 he water became too deep for them to flee on foot.
4.John Koshak felt a crushing guilt because it was he who made the final decision to stay and face the hurricane.Now it seemed近they might all die in the hurricane.5.Grandmother Koshak asked the children to sing because she thought this would lessen tension and boost the morale of everyone.
6.Vacationers held a hurricane party to enjoy the natural phenomenon-the unusual and impressive spectacle of the hurricane in the fancy Richelieu Apartments.They believed they would be safe and can observe it with a clear and broad view.But as a result,the powerful hurricane smashed the apartments apart and the Richelieu Apartments failed to be their refuge.At last these vacationers多were eventually found missing.
7.Although the hurricane caused great property loss,the whole family were still
lucky enough to survive the hurricane.Grandmother Koshak meant that human lives are more important and valuable than material possessions.
8.They managed to return their life to normal and started without delay rebuilding their community.
B.
1.This piece of narration is organized as follows:introduction,development,climax,and conclusion.
The first 6 paragraphs are introductory paragraphs,giving the time,place,and background of the conflict—man versus hurricanes.These paragraphs also introduce the characters in the story.
2.The writer focuses chiefly on action but he also clearly and sympathetically delineates the characters in the story.
3.Man and hurricanes make up the conflict.
4.The writer builds up and sustains the suspense in the story by describing in detail and vividly the incidents showing how the Koshaks and their friends struggled against each onslaught of the hurricane.
5.The writer insert paragraph 19 and 20 to prove the ravaging power of this opposing force-the hurricane,so that it will be more amazing and admirable for human beings eventually defeated such a devastating evil and gained eventual triumph.
6.The story reaches its climax in paragraph 27.
7.Yes,it is.Because,in the last paragraph,the writer states his theme or the purpose behind his story in the reflection of Grandmother Koshak:“We lost practically all our possessions,but the family came through it.When I think of that,I realize we lost nothing important."
8.Elliptical and short simple sentences generally increase the tempo and speed of the actions being described.Hence in a dramatic narration they serve to heighten tension and help create a sense of danger and urgency.Example can be found in paragraphs 10-18 and 21-26.
Ⅲ.
1.We're 23 feet above sea level.
2.The house has been here since 1915,and no hurricane has ever caused any damage to it.
3.We can make the necessary preparations and survive the hurricane without much damage.
4.Water got into the generator and put it out.It stopped producing electricity,so the lights also went out.
5.Everybody go out through the back door and run to the cars.
6.The electrical systems in the car had been put out by water.
7.As John watched the water inch its way up the steps,he felt a strong sense of guilt because he blamed himself for endangering the whole family by deciding not to flee inland.
8.Oh God,please help us to get through this storm safely.
9.Grandmother Koshak sang a few words alone and then her voice gradually grew dimmer and stopped.
10.Janis displayed rather late the exhaustion brought about by the nervous tension caused by the hurricane.
IV.
A.
1.main:a principal pipe or line in a distributing system for water,gas,electricity,etc.
2.sit out:stay until the end of
3.report:a loud,resounding noise,especially one made by an explosion
4.douse:put out(a light,fire,generator,etc.)quickly by pouring water over it
5.kill:(American English)to cause(an engine,etc.)to stop
6.litter:the young borne at one time by a dog,cat,or other animals which normally bear several young at a delivery
7.swath:the space covered with one cut of a scythe;a long strip or track of any kind
8.bar:a measure in music;the notes between two vertical lines on a music sheet
9.lean-to:a shed or other small outbuilding with a sloping roof,the upper end of which rests against the wall of another building
10.break up:to disperse;be brought to an end
11.pitch in:to join and help with an activity
12.the blues:sad and depressed feelings
B.
1.pummel:f.to beat or hit with repeated blows,especially with the fist
2.scud:h.to run or move swiftly
3.roar:a.a loud deep cry
4.scramble:i.to climb,crawl or clamber hurriedly
5.swipe:j.a hard,sweeping blow
6.skim:1.to throw in a gliding path
7.perish:m.to die,especially die a violent or untimely death
8.beach:k.to ground(a boat)on the beach
9.slash:d.to cut or wound with a sweeping stroke as with a knife
10.sprawl:b.to spread the limbs in a relaxed,awkward or unnatural position
11.vanish:g.to go or pass suddenly from sight
12.thrust:c.to push with sudden force
13.wrath:e.intense anger
V.
A.
1.Each and every plane must be checked out thoroughly before taking off.
2.The residents were firmly opposed to the construction of a waste incineration plant in their neighborhood because they were deeply concerned about the plant's emissions polluting the air.
3.Investment in ecological projects in this area mounted up to billions of yuan.
4.The dry riverbed was strewn with rocks of all sizes,
5.Although war caused great losses to this country,its cultural traditions did not perish.
6.To make space for modern high rises,many ancient buildings with ethnic cultural features had to be demolished.
7.In the earthquake the main structures of most of the poor-quality houses disintegrated.
8.His wonderful dream vanished into the air despite his hard efforts to achieve his goals.
B.
1.但就像海岸地区其他成千上万的人一样,约翰不愿意抛弃家园,除非他的整个家庭——他的妻子珍妮丝,以及他们的7个孩子(最大的11岁,最小的3岁)——灾难临头。
2.楼上一个房间的法式门“砰”的一声被风吹开了。屋里的人听到楼上玻璃窗破碎时发出的像开枪一样的劈劈啪啪的响声。
3.于是人们都待在由两堵内墙保护的楼梯上,个个吓得要命,气喘吁吁,浑身都湿透了。
4.人人都知道无路可逃,他们是死是活,都只能留在这所房子里。
5.不久,一阵强风袭来,将整个屋顶掀起,抛向40英尺开外的地方。
6.在飓风中心方圆70英里范围内,风速接近每小时200英里,掀起的浪头高达30英尺。
7.未被吹倒的树上挂着被撕成布条的衣服,吹断的电线像黑色的意大利面一样一圈圈地盘绕在路面上。
8.这也许本会使人感到沮丧,但事实却并非如此:每一件搜寻出来的物品都象征着对风暴的一次胜利。
C.
See the translation of the text.
VI.
1.This passage is a piece of narration.
2.It tells how an accident happens in the order of its occurrence.
3.The first sentence of the first paragraph gives the time and place,that is the setting of the accident Then it introduces the protagonist,or the character of the accident.The following contents in the first paragraph are a few words given to pave the way for the main action.The second paragraph focuses on the details of the accident.Through accurate description of details and effective use of specific verbal phrases,the vividness of the narration is eventually achieved.The third paragraph is about the result,which is unexpected and rather bizarre.The man who was wounded fatally in the head did no)die,but miraculously he was able to speak and walk.
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