英语小达人 74 Parachuting Problem

 　　Parachuting Problem

　     跳伞问题

　　As the helicopter hovered¹ in mid² air, Shannon strapped³ on her parachute. Her crew was sent to put out a fire that had spread over 200 miles. There were no roads to reach the fire, so the firefighters were arriving by helicopter. She waited for her turn and then jumped.

　　直升机盘旋在半空中时，香农绑好了她的降落伞。她那一队组员要被派往扑灭已绵延两百英里以上的火势。由于火灾地点没有道路可以抵达，消防队员便坐直升机前来。等轮到她跳伞时，她便一跃而下。

　　Because this was Shannon's eighth year and she had experience jumping out of helicopters, she was not particularly nervous. But when her chord⁴ jammed and her chute didn't open, Shannon panicked. To make matters worse, she was heading straight for the heart of the fire.

　　香农已经工作了八年，过去又有从直升机上跳伞的经验，所以并没有特别紧张。不过当她的伞带卡住，降落伞打不开时，香农慌了起来；更糟的是，她正往起火中心落下。

　　She was falling fast, if she did not get her chute open soon she was going to die. Just then, below her, she saw the man who had jumped out of the helicopter before her.

　　她往下坠的速度很快，如果降落伞不快点打开，她便要一命呜呼了。就在那时，她看到在她前面跳下直升机的那个人就在她正下方。

　　She knew if she wanted to live she was going to have to grab⁵ onto him and she could float down with him.

　　她知道如果自己想活命就得抓住他，然后和他一起用降落伞飘下去。

　　She was quickly getting closer and closer. She positioned herself and she grabbed⁶ onto his leg. The man was shocked, but pulled Shannon up and together they landed safely on the ground.

　　很快，她越靠越近，调整最适当的位置后一把抓住他的腿。那个人吓了一跳，接着拉起香农，和她一起平安着陆。

1 hovered   

鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• A hawk hovered over the hill. 一只鹰在小山的上空翱翔。
• A hawk hovered in the blue sky. 一只老鹰在蓝色的天空中翱翔。

2 mid   

adj.中央的，中间的

参考例句：

• Our mid-term exam is pending.我们就要期中考试了。
• He switched over to teaching in mid-career.他在而立之年转入教学工作。

3 strapped   

adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带

参考例句：

• Make sure that the child is strapped tightly into the buggy. 一定要把孩子牢牢地拴在婴儿车上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soldiers' great coats were strapped on their packs. 战士们的厚大衣扎捆在背包上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 chord   

n.和弦，和音，弦，心弦

参考例句：

• Her speech struck a deep chord in my heart.她的话深深地拨动了我的心弦。
• This is a chord of a circle.这是个圆的弦。

5 grab   

vt./n.攫取，抓取；vi.攫取，抓住(at)

参考例句：

• It is rude to grab a seat.抢占座位是不礼貌的。
• The thief made a grab at my bag but I pushed him away.贼想抢我的手提包，但被我推开了。

6 grabbed   

v.抢先，抢占( grab的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指匆忙地）取；攫取；（尤指自私、贪婪地）捞取

参考例句：

• He was grabbed by two men and frogmarched out of the hall. 他被两个男人紧抓双臂押出大厅。
• She grabbed the child's hand and ran. 她抓住孩子的手就跑。