第七單元
突發(fā)事件
課文A
初看上去像是一個(gè)舊盒子或破衣裳。可緊接著他們就明白過(guò)來(lái)到底是什么了。
“鐵軌上有孩子!”
左克·墨菲
1989年5月1日，星期一，新澤西州的拉姆齊上午天氣宜人。凱特·普里查德俯身站在車(chē)尾行李箱前，費(fèi)力地收拾著剛買(mǎi)回家的一袋袋食品雜貨。她聽(tīng)到遠(yuǎn)處火車(chē)的鳴笛聲。聯(lián)合鐵路公司的火車(chē)經(jīng)過(guò)的地方離普里查德家不到三百英尺，可在后院與鐵軌之間沒(méi)有柵欄，只有一排長(zhǎng)得密密的樹(shù)木。然而，她的兩個(gè)兒子，三歲半的托德和十八個(gè)月的斯科特，就在近旁私家車(chē)道上玩耍。
“就呆在這兒，”凱特說(shuō)?！皨寢屓グ咽称贩藕茫缓笪覀冞M(jìn)屋吃午飯，好嗎?”
“好!”托德一面說(shuō)，一面豎起大拇指，做著他以前看他父親做的這個(gè)手勢(shì)。
“好!”斯科特隨聲應(yīng)和，試著模仿他哥哥的樣子。
他們望著母親提著幾個(gè)袋袋走進(jìn)屋子。
凱特關(guān)好冰箱門(mén)匆匆走出屋來(lái)。還好。兩個(gè)孩子正在原地玩耍。
當(dāng)她從車(chē)后行李箱里又提出幾個(gè)袋袋時(shí)，凱特聽(tīng)見(jiàn)有一列火車(chē)疾駛而過(guò)——是特快客車(chē)，她根據(jù)車(chē)速判斷。她又將幾個(gè)袋袋拿進(jìn)屋去。
火車(chē)的聲音顯然把兩個(gè)孩子的注意吸引到鐵軌上。兩人穿過(guò)那排樹(shù)木，爬上筆陡的路基，跪在地上玩了起來(lái)。
往西幾千英尺處，一輛貨車(chē)緩緩地朝兩個(gè)孩子駛宋。頭頂上的燈向司機(jī)里奇·坎普納發(fā)出信號(hào)，指示前面那輛客車(chē)已經(jīng)開(kāi)走，他們可以每小時(shí)40英里的正常速度繼續(xù)運(yùn)行。司機(jī)調(diào)整了加速器，轉(zhuǎn)身面對(duì)列車(chē)員安東尼·法爾佐。安東尼中等身材，長(zhǎng)得結(jié)結(jié)實(shí)實(shí)，現(xiàn)年35歲，已經(jīng)為聯(lián)合鐵路公司干了差不多十六、七年。
“你周末都干點(diǎn)啥，安東尼?”
“唉，不干什么。大多是瞎混——看點(diǎn)兒電視，然后睡覺(jué)。還能干什么?”
坎普納笑了。“嘿，你最好悠著點(diǎn)，安東尼——你都快成派對(duì)狂了。”
兩人哈哈大笑。就在他們大笑的時(shí)候，正以21英里的時(shí)速運(yùn)行的機(jī)車(chē)開(kāi)始加速。
里奇和安東尼在同——瞬間發(fā)現(xiàn)火車(chē)前方有什么東西。
“那前面是什么?”司機(jī)問(wèn)道。安東尼沒(méi)回答。他日不轉(zhuǎn)睛盯著前方看，試圖辨識(shí)前方鐵
軌上那怪形怪狀的東西。是盒子?還是舊衣裳?
猛然間，兩個(gè)人都明白過(guò)來(lái)那是什么東西。里奇用盡全力猛地緊急剎車(chē)，并拉響了汽笛。
汽笛嘶鳴，與此同時(shí)安東尼大聲嚷道：“鐵軌上有孩子!”
安東尼沖出駕駛室，跳到車(chē)輪上方六英尺處一條狹窄人行踏板上，接著跑到搖擺的火車(chē)頭前。他疾速攀下鐵梯，停在梯子最后一級(jí)上，離他腳下飛速掠過(guò)的鐵路路基有兩英尺。
現(xiàn)在，他可以清楚地看到兩個(gè)孩子，他們正坐在鐵軌旁邊。安東尼拼命揮手示意，并大聲喊叫：“走開(kāi)!走開(kāi)!”
他心里計(jì)算著火車(chē)的減速速度，痛苦地哼了一聲。我們絕對(duì)不可能及時(shí)停車(chē)的。
托德和斯科特正玩得起勁，沒(méi)聽(tīng)到火車(chē)的聲音。最后，當(dāng)火車(chē)轟隆隆駛近時(shí)，斯科特抬頭—看，驚呆了。
盡管火車(chē)在減速，安東尼知道車(chē)速仍比他奔跑的速度快。所以，他強(qiáng)迫自己等待，等到離孩子足夠近的時(shí)候，他再一躍而下一把將他們抓住。在孩子與火車(chē)頭前的犁雪機(jī)鋒利的雪鏟只有約十英尺的時(shí)候，安東尼從梯子上縱身向前一躍。他落在鐵軌旁拳頭大小的散石上，使盡力氣才保持住平衡。他跨出兩大步，幾乎就要夠著兩個(gè)孩子了。兩個(gè)孩子嚇壞了，目瞪口呆地望著他。安東尼縱身躍起，朝他們撲去。
火車(chē)汽笛不停地嘶鳴，凱特·普里查德聽(tīng)著就像是被鐵錘猛擊了一下。“孩子!”她一聲驚叫，沖出屋門(mén)。兩個(gè)孩子不見(jiàn)了!
鐵道，她心想。我得去鐵道那兒!
安東尼身子砸下地時(shí)，他一邊護(hù)著托德，一邊伸出一只手臂去抓斯科特，好把他拉離鐵軌。但火車(chē)壓了過(guò)來(lái)。安東尼只見(jiàn)雪鏟的黑色鋼刃擊中幼孩的下巴，將他的頭往后一推，鏟子從他臉上括過(guò)。頓時(shí)，鮮血從孩子額頭濺出。
車(chē)身猛撞安東尼工作服的后背，把尼龍布都撕破了。但安東尼還是把斯科特完全拉到了自己身下。
他死了，安東尼心想。他毛骨悚然，一陣惡心。他的臉緊貼在石子上，使盡力氣將兩個(gè)孩子往下壓，火車(chē)就從他們上面駛過(guò)，離他們只有幾英寸。
凱特奔到停下的火車(chē)前，首先看到的便是托德。她的大兒子失去控制，在那兒亂蹦亂跳，大聲哭喊。但凱特看出他沒(méi)受傷。她抓過(guò)他緊緊抱住。隨后她看見(jiàn)第三節(jié)車(chē)廂下一動(dòng)不動(dòng)躺著一個(gè)人。只見(jiàn)這人身子下面斯科特的腦袋上黑糊糊一片血污。凱特沖過(guò)去。“斯科特!”她尖聲叫道。
安東尼扭轉(zhuǎn)身子面對(duì)著她。“女士，”他對(duì)她說(shuō)，聲音很鎮(zhèn)靜?！盎丶胰?。叫警察和救護(hù)車(chē)來(lái)?！眲P特沒(méi)聽(tīng)進(jìn)他的話(huà)，伸著手要抱孩子。安東尼又開(kāi)口了，口氣嚴(yán)厲了許多，“夫人，聽(tīng)著!回家打電話(huà)叫警察——叫救護(hù)車(chē)，快!”
凱特飛奔回家，打了電話(huà)，又通過(guò)尋呼機(jī)找到她丈夫加里。
第一輛警車(chē)到達(dá)時(shí)，安東尼仍然緊抱著年幼的斯科特。列車(chē)員從孩子的哭聲知道他還活著，但斯科特可能有內(nèi)傷，稍一動(dòng)彈就有可能加重傷勢(shì)。因此安東尼堅(jiān)持讓急救人員先對(duì)孩子進(jìn)行檢查，然后才放手。真是奇跡，斯科特傷勢(shì)不重，只需縫十三針。
雪鏟與地面之間只有十四英寸。記者后來(lái)問(wèn)安東尼他在冒生命危險(xiǎn)救孩子之前有否猶豫。“沒(méi)有，”他回答道?！拔耶?dāng)時(shí)所想到的就是那兩個(gè)孩子前頭還有整個(gè)人生，如果我不采取行動(dòng)，他們必死無(wú)疑。我決不能讓這樣的悲劇發(fā)生?！?/span>
事故發(fā)生后不久，安東尼去普里查德家探望。他還記得他用雙臂抱住托德和斯科特并將兩人舉起的情景?！斑@讓我想起當(dāng)時(shí)在火車(chē)底下我護(hù)著他們的情景。再一次抱住他們的感覺(jué)是奇特的——也是美妙的。”
普里查德夫婦說(shuō)，自從第一次來(lái)探望之后，安東尼幾乎成了他們家庭的一員。他們還說(shuō)，現(xiàn)在有道柵欄把他們的街坊與鐵軌隔開(kāi)了。
第七單元
突發(fā)事件
課文B
中國(guó)常常遭受洪水之害。但是中國(guó)并不是惟一的洪水受害國(guó)。其它國(guó)家的人也 不得不學(xué)會(huì)接受洪水為害的可能性：他們家門(mén)口那條平靜的大河也許有一天會(huì)漫溢出來(lái)，把他們卷走，并徹底改變他們的生活。
夜晚，河水漫溢
威廉·亨德利克斯
丹·迪克斯特勒站在十一歲的女兒詹妮弗身旁，長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的手臂挽住她的肩膀，兩人從瓜達(dá)盧佩河畔的小木屋里望著大雨如注的茫茫夜色。
(1)雨已經(jīng)下了差不多一整天樂(lè)，南得克薩斯河的河水猛漲，溢出了堤岸。不過(guò)看來(lái)不用擔(dān)心。小木屋搭建在高出這一洪水泛濫地幾英尺的柱子上。
“看來(lái)最糟糕的情況已經(jīng)過(guò)去了，詹，”晚上十點(diǎn)鐘光景，迪克斯特勒說(shuō)?！霸蹅兯X(jué)吧?！比欢菜恢?。她信賴(lài)爸爸，可還是忍不住回想起那些洪水肆虐的電視畫(huà)面，人們緊抓著樹(shù)頂，又冷又濕。輾轉(zhuǎn)不眠幾個(gè)小時(shí)之后，她去衛(wèi)生間。她踩在地毯上，發(fā)現(xiàn)地毯濕了。
她停了下來(lái)，聚精會(huì)神地聽(tīng)著。那是什么聲音?奇怪——像是湍流的聲音。
正是湍流!而且就在屋子正下面奔涌。她沖到父親的床邊?！鞍职?，爸爸，”她一面大聲叫喊，一面拼命搖晃他。“醒醒。家里進(jìn)水了!”
迪克斯特勒光著腳，只穿著短衣褲，走到門(mén)口，打開(kāi)了門(mén)。眼前的景象頓時(shí)使他睡意全消。他們那條叫達(dá)奇斯的狗就站在門(mén)外，四條腿浸在六英寸深的水里。(2)這意味著河水已溢出河岸，泛濫到四百英尺之外，淹沒(méi)了大路——他們脫逃的惟一途徑。
他們被困住了。
冰涼的河水拍打他的腳髁。迪克斯特勒急忙把狗拉進(jìn)木屋，使勁關(guān)上門(mén)。隨后他抓過(guò)兩 件救生衣?！按┥线@個(gè)，寶貝，”他對(duì)詹妮弗說(shuō)。
迪克斯特勒朝四周打量了一下。渾濁的河水順著四壁護(hù)墻板一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)上升?！霸蹅?cè)趺崔k?”詹問(wèn)道，她聲音在顫抖。
“咱們不會(huì)有事的，”迪克斯特勒回答說(shuō)，盡力掩飾住自己的焦慮。“咱們到樓上去?！?/span>
他們攀上梯子般的樓梯，爬到起居間上面的閣樓。在上面，他們聽(tīng)見(jiàn)洪水在往下面的房間涌漲，并慢慢接近他們。窗子在水的壓力之下爆裂。電視機(jī)被沖著撞上了墻壁。
突然，整個(gè)屋子像遇上地震似地?fù)u晃著。接著木屋先是猛地朝上一掀，然后又摔下去幾英尺。我的天哪，迪克斯特勒心想。咱們是在水里漂了。
從窗子望出去，他們看到自己在移動(dòng)，屋子正被河水沖著走。(3)迪克斯特勒害怕木屋下沉?xí)阉麄円黄鹄剿祝谑菦Q定離開(kāi)木屋。他雙臂緊緊摟著女兒，縱身跳進(jìn)冰冷的水中。
木屋就在兩人身后，在黑夜中緊追不舍。迪克斯特勒還沒(méi)來(lái)得及避開(kāi)，就被沖到—棵被淹沒(méi)的樹(shù)上。剎那間，木屋在河水巨大沖力的推動(dòng)下，把他死死擠壓在樹(shù)上。他肋骨被壓斷。左腿喀嚓一聲折了。他失聲慘叫。
緊接著他的腦子失去了控制。迪克斯特勒只覺(jué)得自己是在遠(yuǎn)處遙望著自己。他看到自己和詹沉到了河底。他對(duì)自己的平靜感到驚訝?！皩?duì)不起，寶貝，”他說(shuō)。“真對(duì)不起。”接著他就什么也不知道了。
他失去知覺(jué)時(shí)，屋子移動(dòng)了一下，松開(kāi)了他，打著旋漂離了他們。詹妮弗發(fā)覺(jué)自己順?biāo)鞫?，身邊是不省人事的父親?！安灰溃职?/span>!”她叫道。“千萬(wàn)別死!”
或許是小女兒的聲音喚回了迪克斯特勒的意識(shí)。他輕輕捏了捏詹的手，她的心猛地——跳。
慘淡的月光下，迪克斯特勒——此刻清醒了些——看到纏在樹(shù)頂上的一些垃圾形成的孤島。他忍著傷痛，掙扎著逆流而上游了過(guò)去。詹爬到那一小堆木頭上，把父親從湍急的水流中拉起。他疼得倒了下去，渾身哆嗦，透不過(guò)氣來(lái)。
他們還遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)談不上安全，詹對(duì)此很清楚。那堆垃圾隨時(shí)可能漂散開(kāi)來(lái)，把他們重新拋入水中。她真想蜷伏在父親的懷里，可這只會(huì)增加他的傷痛。她明白，此刻，得靠她來(lái)救爸爸了。
就在這時(shí)，她驚訝地發(fā)現(xiàn)不知從哪兒現(xiàn)出一個(gè)身影?！斑_(dá)奇斯!”她高聲喊道，他們的狗渾身濕透，這時(shí)爬了上來(lái)與他們呆在一起。有狗在，詹感到寬慰了不少。
夜里，每過(guò)幾分鐘詹就要查看一下父親?！跋胍恍?huì)使人暖和的東西，”她對(duì)父親說(shuō)，“比如咖啡、火爐?！彼秊樗?，還為他禱告。
清晨來(lái)臨，但仍無(wú)救援人員的蹤影。他們痛苦地捱過(guò)一小時(shí)又一小時(shí)。上午十時(shí)左右有架飛機(jī)幾乎就從頭頂上飛過(guò)，卻沒(méi)有減速。一兩個(gè)小時(shí)之后又有一架飛機(jī)飛過(guò)。后來(lái)，傍晚時(shí)分又有第三架飛機(jī)飛過(guò)。(4)每次詹都跳起來(lái)?yè)]舞手臂并大聲呼喊，而每次飛機(jī)都從地平線上消失，令她沮喪不已。
日光漸漸消退，詹意識(shí)到他們有可能要在這個(gè)孤島上冉捱—個(gè)漫長(zhǎng)而寒冷的夜晚。父親會(huì)頂不住的。要是沒(méi)有父親，她知道自己也恐怕活不成。她—想到這兒，就覺(jué)得沒(méi)了希望?！八麄儾粊?lái)找我們了，”她絕望地哭出聲宋?！拔覀円懒??！?/span>
就在這時(shí)，—個(gè)聲音劃破黑暗從遠(yuǎn)處山坡上傳了過(guò)來(lái)。“嗨!那兒有人嗎?”
詹跳了起來(lái)。她大聲回應(yīng)道：“喂!喂!”
“我們?nèi)ソ腥耍蹦锹曇粽f(shuō)道。“頂住?！?/span>
詹跪在父親身邊，揉著他的背，好讓他暖和些?！霸蹅z一起頂住，”她對(duì)父親說(shuō)。
半夜，一條小船終于在夜色中慢慢劃到了他倆跟前。在小木屋被洪水從地基拔起卷走后十八個(gè)小時(shí)，詹、她父親以及他們的狗達(dá)奇斯被從孤島救至安全處。他們的小木屋再也未見(jiàn)蹤影。
Unit 7
Content Questions
Pair Work
1. He thinks animals will probably do their best thinking when it serves their own purposes, not
when scientists ask them to.
2. Because he believes they may encounter animal intelligence in their daily life.
3. He regards them as a new window on animal intelligence.
4. She wanted to get more pineapple.
5. He expanded the money supply by breading chips in two.
6. It shows he is clever and sly. He ate up the fruit leaving nothing but stems to share with
Miles.
7. They say that animals cooperate when they learn it is in their interest to do so.
8. The author thinks that what behaviorists say is right, but he doesn’t think their explanation is
satisfactory enough.
9. Because Orky was the most intelligent animal she had worked with.
10. Corky is a female whale because she is Orky’s mate and delivered a baby whale.
11. Because she thought the orange must have rolled off somewhere inaccessible.
12. Towan hid his orange underneath his foot. The act reveals some animals are intelligent
enough to know how to deceive.
Text Organization
1. Eugene Linden wants to tell the reader that animals do have, at least, some limited
intelligence, and the personal experiences of those who are in close contact with animals are
more convincing evidence than that any experiments can provide.
2. Let’s Make a Deal: Some animals are intelligent enough to know how to bargain with people.
Tale of a Whale: Animals like whales can assess a situation and act accordingly.
Primate Shell Game: Animals can attempt to deceive.
Language Sense Enhancement
1. (1) controversy (2) consciousness (3) explore (4) serves their own purposes
(5) encounter (6) lack of it (7) convinced (8) mental feats (9) captivity (10) humans
Language Focus
I. Vocabulary
1. 1) go (very) far 2) has expanded 3) in the interest(s) of 4) only to
5) encountered 6) has cooperated 7) assessed 8) (had) switched
9) horizons 10) gaze 11) disaster 12) wiped out
2. 1) … a long/long running controversy over whether the book should be published or not
2) … felt relieved after her first meeting with Tom had gone smoothly
3) ... suddenly went wrong with my computer when I was in the middle of writing the essay
4) … is obvious that our company is still maintaining its composition as market leader in
software.
5) … give in until they give her a pay rise
3. 1) have undertaken, original, to explore
2) evidence convinced, underneath, extending to
3) to negotiate, encounter, to figure out, explore
II. Confusable Words
1. firstly 2. first, first 3. At first 4. First/Firstly
5. first 6. First 7. at first 8. first
III. Usage
1. animal intelligence whose
2. zoo keeper where
3. eye contact through what
4. money supply of what
5. killer whale what kind
6. baby whale how old
7. family member of what
8. sea turtle what kind/where
Comprehensive Exercises
I. Cloze
1. (1) emergency (2) evidence (3) original (4) sizing up
(5) negotiates (6) reveal (7) make a deal (8) dominant
(9) in their interest(s) (10) deceiving (11) controversy
(12) judgment (13) explore
2. (1) protect (2) However (3) type (4) situation (5) sights
(6) together (7) rang (8) associate (9) without (10) environment
II. Translation
1. 1) A local business undertook the project but went bankrupt before it was completed.
2) Let’s make a deal—you wash my car, and I’ll let you use it tonight.
3) We got to the village which we thought must have been wiped out in the severe
earthquake, only to find it slightly damaged.
4) My garden is dry and shady—few plants thrive in that condition
5) Mystery still surrounds the exact truth behind the film star’s death/exact circumstance of
the film star’s death.
2. When I was young I used to visit the zoo in my hometown. There what attracted me most was
a couple of tigers, especially the male. They were dept in a huge iron cage at first, but later
were released from it and moved to a place called Tiger Hill. Twenty years later I revisited the
zoo and was relieved to find Tiger Hill was still there, but greatly extended. Moving around
now were six tigers, old and young, instead of two!
Pair work
1. She was amazed at the author’s ability to do mental calculation.
2. Children can’t spell correctly; their knowledge of word history and geography is non-existent
3. He didn’t want to compete with the hard-working Asians at U.C.L.A. He preferred a less
intellectually challenging life.
4. A modern industrial state cannot function with an idle, ignorant labor force.
5. To use the media to dramatize and drive home the message to today’s teenagers.
6. He is fed up with the book he is forced to red.
7. They can’t read or write. They place their hopes on their children.
8. He works as a cleaner in a factory owned by the Japanese.
9. Because he has no education, no useful skill, and no discipline.
10. Americans stop demanding good education foe children. Machines do all the complex work
and there is little manual work to be done.
countries.
11. Hard work education, saving and discipline help a nation rise from the ashes.
12. He finally comes to realize the importance of study.
Work on your own
1.
Part one paras.1-10
Teenagers’ idleness and ignorance will produce serious effects on all concerned and society as
a whole.
Part two paras.11-24
Kevin 1990 comes to realize in his dream how greatly lack of education costs his forebears,
himself, his children and the society they live in, and how important it is to study hard.
2.
Part one
Teenagers’ intellectual laziness and ignorance
Part two
Kevin 1990, his forebears(with the exception of his intellectual father),and his children lead a
poor, miserable life.
There is no law and order in the country.
Businesses in
Language sense enhancement
Indifference (1)
Summed up (2)
Preferred (3)
Financial （4）
Accumulated （5）
Intellectual （6）
Affect （7）
Industrial （8）
Idle （9）
Break down （10）
Vocabulary
I
1.
1. industrial
2. idle
3. is functioning
4. intellectual
5. scared
6. handful
7. luxury
8. private
9. work up
10. slice
11. miracle
12. was jammed
2.
1. to be seriously affected by the rise in gas prices。
2. is a matter of total indifference to me.
3. drove home the point that they needed extra people
4. was found after they searched for it for a long time
5. had run out of water by the time they got to the camp
3.
1. manual and complex its financial
2. was very upset make a living by swore was/became much better off
3. handful ignorant of paintings/ works summed up
II
1. The young man made $5 an hour in his summer job.
2. What made you change your mind?
3. I’m sure Jason will make a good lawyer.
4. The vet put something down the dog’s throat to make it vomit.
5. The story makes interesting reading.
6. Five and five make ten.
7. On foot they can only make about 20 miles a day.
8. I don’t think she’ll ever really make it to the top
III
1
(1) developing
(2) develop
(3) development
(4) develop
(5) developing developed
2
(1) amazed
(2) amazes
(3) amazingly
(4) amazing
(5) amazement
Comprehensive exercise
I. CLOZE
1. TEXT-RELATED
(1) complex
(2) idle
(3) make a living by
(4) accumulated
(5) affect
(6) function
(7) faculties
(8) ignorant
(9) wake up
2. THEME-RELATED
(1) dormitory
(2) passing
(3) leaping
(4) department
(5) burned
(6) destroyed
(7) seriously
(8) marriages
(9) report
(10) perspective
II TRANSLATION
1) Without his personal file, an applicant can hardly expect to get/ be employed as a teacher.
2) With enough ice, we would be able to chill the drinks.
3) In my humble opinion, reading us the most pleasant way to spend one’s leisure.
4) Some people said it was simply a miracle that the American athlete Michael Phelps won
eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
5) The washing machine has broken down, so we have to wash our clothes by hand.
This morning I heard an interesting piece of news over my portable radio: a man of 36 and his
son of 10 attend the same class competing with each other for high marks. The story goes/ It’s
like this:
The man, Li Wei by name, was too idle to learn anything when young. With little education, with
no useful skills, he could hardly earn an adequate living wage. His life experiences drove home to
him the point that he had to acquire knowledge before he was able to accumulate wealth. So Li
Wei swore that he would go to school with his son, determined to learn.
