美国语文第四册 第172期:火警(3)

 　　The heat soon became suffocating¹. 热浪很快变得令人窒息。

　　We were parched² with thirst, and there was not a drop of water in the house, and none to be procured³ nearer than the lake. 我们都口干舌燥，房子里没有一滴水，除非到湖边。

　　I turned once more to the door, hoping that a passage might have been burnt through to the water. 我又朝门望去，希望看到已经烧出来一条到湖泊的路。

　　I saw nothing but a dense⁴ cloud of fire and smoke—could hear nothing but the crackling and roaring of flames,  可是除了浓浓的烟火以外，什么都看不见——除了火焰的噼噼啪啪声和呼啸声什么也听不见，

　　which were gaining so fast upon us that I felt their scorching⁵ breath in my face. 火焰正迅速向我们逼近，我感到了脸上的焦烤。

　　"Ah," thought I—and it was a most bitter thought,  “噢，”带着苦涩，我想，

　　what will my beloved husband say when he returns and finds that his poor wife and his dear girls have perished in this miserable⁶ manner? 我可爱的丈夫返回时看到他可怜的妻子和可爱的女儿们这么痛苦地消失会怎么说呢？

　　But God can save us yet. 上帝会拯救我们的。

　　The thought had scarcely found a voice in my heart before the wind rose to a hurricane,  我甚至还没来得及想，台风骤起，

　　scattering⁷ the flames on all sides into a tempest of burning billows. 四周的火焰被台风吹得四散，

　　I buried my head in my apron⁸, for I thought that all was lost, when a most terrific crash of thunder burst over our heads, 就像燃烧的巨浪在翻滚。我把头埋在围裙里，心想一切都完了，这时头上响起了一声巨雷，

　　and, like the breaking of a waterspout, down came the rushing torrent⁹ of rain which had been pent up for so many weeks. 就像水管裂开了，几周来酝酿着的大雨倾盆而下。

　　In a few minutes the chip yard was all afloat, and the fire effectually checked. 几分钟内，贮存场的木片就全漂浮了起来，大火得到了有效地遏制。

　　The storm which, unnoticed by us, had been gathering¹⁰ all day,  我们没有注意到整天都在酝酿着暴雨，

　　and which was the only one of any note we had that summer, continued to rage all night, 那是那个夏天的唯一一场雨，猛下了一晚，

　　and before morning had quite subdued¹¹ the cruel enemy whose approach we had viewed with such dread¹². 终于在黎明到来前制服了那曾经向我们袭来，让我们万分恐惧的残酷的敌人。

1 suffocating   

a.使人窒息的

参考例句：

• After a few weeks with her parents, she felt she was suffocating.和父母呆了几个星期后，她感到自己毫无自由。
• That's better. I was suffocating in that cell of a room.这样好些了，我刚才在那个小房间里快闷死了。

2 parched   

adj.焦干的；极渴的；v.（使）焦干

参考例句：

• Hot winds parched the crops.热风使庄稼干透了。
• The land in this region is rather dry and parched.这片土地十分干燥。

3 procured   

v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条

参考例句：

• These cars are to be procured through open tender. 这些汽车要用公开招标的办法购买。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• A friend procured a position in the bank for my big brother. 一位朋友为我哥哥谋得了一个银行的职位。 来自《用法词典》

4 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

5 scorching   

adj. 灼热的

参考例句：

• a scorching, pitiless sun 灼热的骄阳
• a scorching critique of the government's economic policy 对政府经济政策的严厉批评

6 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

7 scattering   

n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散

参考例句：

• The child felle into a rage and began scattering its toys about. 这孩子突发狂怒，把玩具扔得满地都是。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The farmers are scattering seed. 农夫们在播种。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 apron   

n.围裙；工作裙

参考例句：

• We were waited on by a pretty girl in a pink apron.招待我们的是一位穿粉红色围裙的漂亮姑娘。
• She stitched a pocket on the new apron.她在新围裙上缝上一只口袋。

9 torrent   

n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发

参考例句：

• The torrent scoured a channel down the hillside. 急流沿着山坡冲出了一条沟。
• Her pent-up anger was released in a torrent of words.她压抑的愤怒以滔滔不绝的话爆发了出来。

10 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

11 subdued   

adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He seemed a bit subdued to me. 我觉得他当时有点闷闷不乐。
• I felt strangely subdued when it was all over. 一切都结束的时候，我却有一种奇怪的压抑感。

12 dread   

vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧

参考例句：

• We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes.我们都不敢去想一旦公司关门我们该怎么办。
• Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread.她极度恐惧的心理消除了。