365个英语简短小故事-79. Six Feet Under

Six coal miners in Utah were trapped 1,500 feet underground when the support beams collapsed¹. Digging was immediately started in an effort to rescue the six. Five volunteer miners risked their lives to descend² down to the location of the cave-in. A day later, another cave-in occurred, killing³ three of the five would-be rescuers. All five were pulled out of the mine.

The government banned any further attempts at rescue by men. Instead, machines would be used to burrow⁴ into the ground. Listening devices would be able to detect any human activity, and probes would be able to detect the amount of oxygen present. Even though most people figured that the original six had died almost immediately, five more holes were dug during the next two weeks in an effort to find, and deliver food and water to, survivors⁵. This effort was made more difficult because searchers did not know the exact location of the original cave-in.

After the fourth, fifth, and sixth digs had produced no positive results, the owner of the mine said that was it. Enough was enough. He had done all he could do, and after two weeks of no food and water, it was impossible that anyone could still be alive. The families of the six miners were outraged⁶, telling the media that the owner had given only lip service to rescue attempts. They planned to sue.

 

1 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

2 descend   

vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降

参考例句：

• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。
• We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。

3 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

4 burrow   

vt.挖掘(洞穴)；钻进；vi.挖洞；翻寻；n.地洞

参考例句：

• Earthworms burrow deep into the subsoil.蚯蚓深深地钻进底土。
• The dog had chased a rabbit into its burrow.狗把兔子追进了洞穴。

5 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

6 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。