【轻松英文阅读】雪中送炭

 A recent heavy snowfall in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan left many motorists stranded¹ on highways and at highway rest stops. Fortunately for the motorists in one area, there was a kind-hearted truck driver from the Yamazaki Bread Company to help out. The driver was stuck in the same blizzard² unable to make his deliveries. That’s when he took it upon himself to hand out the bread in his truck to the people who were stranded in his vicinity. By the end, he only had an empty truck but he was able to provide a much-needed meal to many cold and hungry motorists.

 

One of those grateful recipients³ posted some photos of the driver passing out bread along with some words of thanks on Twitter. Soon the tweet went viral with many people praising the driver’s good deed.

 

Believe it or not, there were some negative comments too. Some claimed it was a ploy⁴ by the company to polish its image.

 

In my opinion, some people are just too cynical⁵. Sometimes a good deed is just a good deed and we should leave it at that.

 

This is not the first time for the company to be in the news for helping⁶ out. After the March 11, 2011 Tohoku Earthquake, Yamazaki Bread was one of the first companies on the scene delivering free food to people in need.

1 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

2 blizzard   

n.暴风雪

参考例句：

• The blizzard struck while we were still on the mountain.我们还在山上的时候暴风雪就袭来了。
• You'll have to stay here until the blizzard blows itself off.你得等暴风雪停了再走。

3 recipients   

adj.接受的；受领的；容纳的；愿意接受的n.收件人；接受者；受领者；接受器

参考例句：

• The recipients of the prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者的姓名登在报上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The recipients of prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者名单登在报上。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 ploy   

n.花招，手段

参考例句：

• I think this is just a government ploy to deceive the public.我认为这只是政府欺骗公众的手段。
• Christmas should be a time of excitement and wonder,not a cynical marketing ploy.圣诞节应该是兴奋和美妙的时刻，而不该是一种肆无忌惮的营销策略。

5 cynical   

adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的

参考例句：

• The enormous difficulty makes him cynical about the feasibility of the idea.由于困难很大，他对这个主意是否可行持怀疑态度。
• He was cynical that any good could come of democracy.他不相信民主会带来什么好处。

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。