常春藤解析英語(yǔ) 39 Situation Critical十萬(wàn)火急

Situation Critical　十萬(wàn)火急

by Kevin Lustig

In some jobs, danger can appear at any moment. In the blink of an eye, the routine can become perilous. This month, the National Geographic Channel shows us what happens when a normal situation becomes Situation Critical.

The police try to keep citizens safe, but what happens when the police are in danger? On February 28, 1997, two men with armor and powerful rifles robbed a bank in Hollywood, California. The police's weapons were useless against the criminals', but they knew they had to end the Hollywood Shootout. In Colombia, police tried to arrest Pablo Escobar, the world's most notorious drug dealer. When he fought back with assassinations that killed hundreds, government officials decided their only option was Killing Pablo Escobar.

For soldiers and pilots, too, danger is a way of life. This became a painful truth for American pilot Scott O'Grady in June 1995 when his jet was shot down over Bosnia. O'Grady was able to eject, but he had to avoid the enemy for days as a Downed Pilot. British SAS troops also found themselves in harm's way in Sierra Leone in 2000. There, they planned to recover 11 British soldiers who were being held hostage in a daring SAS Jungle Rescue.

Of course, combat isn't the only way to experience danger. The astronauts of Apollo 13 learned this when an explosion struck their spacecraft. Low on resources, the astronauts and engineers on the ground had to act quickly to save Apollo 13. Back on Earth, the Sydney to Hobart yacht race turned deadly in 1998, with dozens of boats forced to quit and six men lost at sea. That year, the challenging competition turned into Hell on High Water.

There are situations where our decisions can make the difference between life and death, the outcome is never certain, and we are left with our hearts pounding. National Geographic Channel brings us face to face with these dangerous conditions on Situation Critical.

1. Which is the best description of the kind of situations shown on Situation Critical?

(A) Dangerous circumstances that are quickly resolved.

(B) A location that involves war or fighting.

(C) Situations that become dangerous all of a sudden.

(D) Movies that look dangerous.

2. Which situation is NOT described in the article?

(A) A risky airplane landing.

(B) Rescuing hostages.

(C) A tragic boat race.

(D) A bank robbery.

3. The purpose of the article is to ______.

(A) describe a few interesting, dangerous situations

(B) list all of the excitement one might experience

(C) explain which kind of situation is most critical

(D) show how to get out of life-threatening situations

4. Which of the following would be another good title for Situation Critical?

(A) War Stories

(B) Risky Circumstances

(C) Secret Missions

(D) Avoiding Danger

精解字詞詞組

1. in the blink of an eye　　剎那之間

= in a flash

blink n. & vt. 眨(眼)

例: I opened the front door and in the blink of an eye, my dog ran outside.

(打開(kāi)前門(mén)時(shí)，一眨眼我的狗就沖了出去。)

2. routine n. 例行公事 & a. 日常的;平淡的

例: In my morning routine, I wake up, take a shower, and then head to school.

(我早晨的例行公事是起床、淋浴，然后去上學(xué)。)

例: Jeff had been racing cars for so long that it started to feel routine.

(杰夫已經(jīng)賽車(chē)很長(zhǎng)一段時(shí)間，因此開(kāi)始覺(jué)得平淡。)

3. in danger　　處于危險(xiǎn)之中

= in jeopardy

jeopardy n. 危險(xiǎn)

例: The mayor was in great danger because there was a time bomb in his car.

(市長(zhǎng)的處境非常危險(xiǎn)，因?yàn)樗能?chē)上有枚定時(shí)炸彈。)

4. rob vt. 搶奪

注意:

rob 須與介詞 of 并用，此時(shí)的 of 即等于 from，表『從中』之意。因此『他搶了我的錢(qián)?！徊豢烧f(shuō) "He robbed my money." (X)。rob 的受詞須為對(duì)象，被搶奪之物則與介詞 of 并用，形成下列固定詞組：

rob sb of sth　　搶奪某人的某物

例: He robbed me of all my money.

(他搶了我所有的錢(qián)。)

5. assassination n. 暗殺

assassinate vt. 行刺，暗殺

例: Luckily, the police stopped the plan to assassinate the president.

(幸運(yùn)的是，警方阻止了那項(xiàng)刺殺總統(tǒng)的計(jì)劃。)

6. option n. 選擇

have no option but to V　　除了……別無(wú)選擇

= have no choice/alternative but to V

例: Since these accidents were my fault, I have no alternative but to quit.

(既然這些意外都是我的錯(cuò)，除了辭職外我別無(wú)選擇。)

7. in harm's way　　處于危險(xiǎn)之中

= in danger

例: The firemen put themselves in harm's way to save people from the fire.

(為了從火場(chǎng)拯救人命，消防員使自己身陷險(xiǎn)境。)

8. recover vt. 重新獲得 & vi. 恢復(fù)

recover from...　　從……中恢復(fù)

= get over...

例: I'm going back to the beach to recover the towel that I left there yesterday.

(我要回去海邊拿我昨天忘在那里的毛巾。)

例: I'll never recover from the death of my pet dog, Snuffy.

(我永遠(yuǎn)無(wú)法克服失去愛(ài)犬 Snuffy 的傷痛。)

9. be held hostage　　被扣為人質(zhì)

hostage n. 人質(zhì)

hold sb hostage　　將某人扣為人質(zhì)(此時(shí) hostage 不加 -s)

hold + 數(shù)字 + hostage(s)　　狹持……(人數(shù))為人質(zhì)(此時(shí) hostage 可加 -s)

例: They planned to hold the singer hostage until they were paid ten million dollars.

(他們計(jì)劃扣留那名歌手作為人質(zhì)，直到一千萬(wàn)贖金到手才肯放人。)

例: The news said the robbers inside the bank were holding 10 hostages.

(新聞?wù)f銀行里的搶匪抓了十個(gè)人當(dāng)人質(zhì)。)

10. explosion n. 爆炸

explode vt. 使爆炸(= blow up...)& vi. 爆炸(= go off)

例: The policemen exploded the bomb in a safe location.

(警察在安全的地方引爆了那枚炸彈。)

例: Everyone left the building before the bomb exploded.

(每個(gè)人都在炸彈爆炸前離開(kāi)了大樓。)

11. competition n. 競(jìng)爭(zhēng)

in competition with...　　與……競(jìng)爭(zhēng)

compete vi. 競(jìng)爭(zhēng)(與介詞 with 并用)

例: During the science contest, we'll be in competition with 200 other students.

(科展時(shí)，我們將和兩百名學(xué)生一決高下。)

12. face to face (with...)　　(與……)面對(duì)面

例: Why don't you come into my office tomorrow so we can talk face to face?

(你明天何不到我公司和我當(dāng)面談?wù)勀?)

單字小鋪

1. critical a. 危急的;批評(píng)的

be critical of...　　對(duì)……吹毛求疵

2. perilous a. 危險(xiǎn)的(= dangerous)

3. shootout n. 槍?xiě)?zhàn)

4. notorious a. 惡名昭彰的

5. drug dealer n. 販毒者

drug trafficking n. 毒品交易

6. eject vi.(從飛機(jī)、宇宙飛船中)彈射出來(lái)

7. downed a. 被擊落的

注意:

down 作形容詞時(shí)，表『消沉的』，作動(dòng)詞時(shí)表『擊落』，本文用法為過(guò)去分詞作形容詞用，表『被擊落的』。

8. combat n. & vt. 戰(zhàn)斗

9. astronaut n. 航天員

10. strike vt. 襲擊

三態(tài)為：strike, struck, struck。

11. high water　　漲潮時(shí)

low water　　退潮時(shí)

come hell or high water　　無(wú)論遭遇什么困難

注意:

hell 是『地獄』，high water 是『大洪水』，come hell or high water 字面意思是指『無(wú)論經(jīng)歷地獄或大洪水』，暗示某人完成某事的堅(jiān)定決心。

12. outcome n. 結(jié)果(= result)

13. pound vi.(心臟)砰砰地跳

注意:

表『心跳』時(shí)動(dòng)詞可用 beat 或 pound，而不可用 jump 來(lái)表示。beat 為表心臟『跳動(dòng)』的一般說(shuō)法，而 pound 則表心臟如小鹿亂撞般『砰砰地跳』。

14. circumstance n. 情況(常用復(fù)數(shù))

15. resolve vt. 解決(問(wèn)題等)

16. involve vt. 與……有關(guān)

17. risky a. 危險(xiǎn)的

18. life-threatening a. 危及生命的

詞組小鋪

1. shoot down...　　將……擊落

2. dozens of...　　許多的……

3. be forced to V　　被迫做……

4. turn into...　　轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)?hellip;…

5. make the difference between A and B　　在 A 與 B 之間造成很大的不同

be different from...　　與……不同

6. all of a sudden　　突然之間(= suddenly)

文法一點(diǎn)靈

Low on resources, the astronauts and engineers...

注意:

形容詞 high/low(高∕低的)之后通常與介詞 in 并用，但本句其后有名詞 resources(資源)，介詞則必須用 on，表『憑借……』。

例: Lemons are high/rich in Vitamin C.

(檸檬富含維他命 C。)

例: On such a small amount of gas, I don't think we can get to the amusement park.

(油剩這么少，我想我們到不了游樂(lè)園。)

例: This car is running on solar energy.

(這輛車(chē)藉由太陽(yáng)能發(fā)電。)

中文翻譯&標(biāo)準(zhǔn)答案

在某些工作中，危險(xiǎn)可能隨時(shí)會(huì)發(fā)生。一眨眼，例行公事也可能危機(jī)四伏。這個(gè)月，國(guó)家地理頻道將帶領(lǐng)觀眾看看平凡無(wú)奇的情況如何變成《十萬(wàn)火急》。

警察設(shè)法維護(hù)公民的安全，但警察有危險(xiǎn)時(shí)該怎么辦呢?1997 年 2 月 28 日，兩名武裝份子帶著火力強(qiáng)大的來(lái)復(fù)槍搶劫加州好萊塢一家銀行。和罪犯的武器比起來(lái)，警方的武器簡(jiǎn)直微不足道，但他們知道一定得結(jié)束這場(chǎng) Hollywood Shootout。在哥倫比亞，警察試圖逮捕惡名遠(yuǎn)播全球的毒販 Pablo Escobar。當(dāng)他以暗殺手段報(bào)復(fù)，殺害上百人后，政府官員決定只有 Killing Pablo Escobar 才是唯一的解決辦法。

軍人與飛行員同樣也與危險(xiǎn)共存。這對(duì)美籍飛行員 Scott O'Grady 來(lái)說(shuō)變成了殘酷的事實(shí)。1995 年 6 月，他的噴射機(jī)在波斯尼亞被擊落。雖然他從噴射機(jī)里彈射脫困，但連續(xù)數(shù)天他必須躲避敵軍，成為一位 Downed Pilot。英國(guó)空降特勤隊(duì) 2000 年在非洲獅子山也同樣身陷險(xiǎn)境。在那里，他們計(jì)劃拯救十一名被扣為人質(zhì)的英軍，一切盡在英勇的 SAS Jungle Rescue。

當(dāng)然，戰(zhàn)斗不是體驗(yàn)危險(xiǎn)的唯一方式。阿波羅 13 號(hào)的太空員在航天飛機(jī)爆炸時(shí)體會(huì)最深。僅依靠少量資源，航天員和地球上的工程師必須快速反應(yīng)以拯救《阿波羅 13 號(hào)》。鏡頭轉(zhuǎn)回地球，1998 年，往返雪梨與荷巴特的游艇比賽變成一場(chǎng)致命的競(jìng)賽，多艘船只被迫棄賽，六個(gè)人在茫茫大海中喪生。那年，充滿(mǎn)挑戰(zhàn)性的比賽成了 Hell on High Water。

許多情況下，我們的生死就在決定一瞬間，結(jié)果永遠(yuǎn)無(wú)法預(yù)測(cè)，我們只能聽(tīng)見(jiàn)心臟撲通撲通跳動(dòng)的聲音。國(guó)家地理頻道的系列節(jié)目《十萬(wàn)火急》將帶我們面對(duì)這些危機(jī)。

1. 下列何者敘述最能形容《十萬(wàn)火急》展現(xiàn)的狀況?

(A) 能快速解決的危險(xiǎn)情況。

(B) 涉及戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)或戰(zhàn)斗的地點(diǎn)。

(C) 突如其來(lái)的危險(xiǎn)狀況。

(D) 看起來(lái)很危險(xiǎn)的電影。

題解: 本文第一段開(kāi)頭便指出，危險(xiǎn)在某些工作中可能隨時(shí)會(huì)發(fā)生，一眨眼，例行公事也可能危機(jī)四伏，可知應(yīng)選 (C)。

2. 本文未提及下列何者情形?

(A) 危險(xiǎn)的飛機(jī)著陸。

(B) 拯救人質(zhì)。

(C) 悲劇性的船賽。

(D) 銀行搶案。

題解: 本文提及的事件有好萊塢銀行搶案、拯救十一名英軍人質(zhì)、飛行員與航天員遇難及一場(chǎng)致命的船賽，并無(wú)飛機(jī)著陸的事件，故選 (A)。

3. 本篇文章目的為 _____。

(A) 描述一些耐人尋味又危險(xiǎn)的情況

(B) 列出一個(gè)人可能經(jīng)歷的所有危險(xiǎn)情況

(C) 解釋何種情況最危急

(D) 展現(xiàn)如何從危脅生命的情況中脫困

題解: 綜觀本文，乃在描述生死一瞬間的情況，節(jié)目并呈現(xiàn)人們?cè)谄渲腥绾伟l(fā)揮智慧脫困，故選 (A)。

4. 下列何者亦適合當(dāng)作本文的標(biāo)題?

(A) 《戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)故事》

(B) 《危急情況》

(C) 《秘密任務(wù)》

(D) 《遠(yuǎn)離危險(xiǎn)》

題解: 本文探討危險(xiǎn)在一剎那降臨、各種十萬(wàn)火急的情況，可知 (B) 為合適的標(biāo)題。

標(biāo)準(zhǔn)答案: 1. (C)　2. (A)　3. (A)　4. (B)