美国小学英语教材5:第16课 阿拉斯加最优秀的领头狗巴尔图(3

 　　It was the driver Leonard Seppala who chose to cross the entrance to Norton Bay, instead of following the long shore-line around the bay. 司机伦纳德·斯帕拉选择穿过诺顿湾的入口，而不是沿着海湾的长海岸线。

　　Because a hurricane was raging and the ice was breaking up and drifting out to sea, Seppala was warned not to try the short-cut across the bay. 由于飓风肆虐，冰开始融化，漂向大海，斯帕拉收到警告不要尝试穿越海湾的捷径。

　　He thought of the long bay stretching up into the land, with a shore-line requiring days to travel, while children were dying at Nome— 他想到了长长的海湾一直延伸到陆地上，有一条海岸线需要走好几天，而孩子们却在诺姆市奄奄一息。

　　children whose lives might be saved if only the precious serum¹ could reach them in time. 只要这些珍贵的血清能及时送到孩子们手中，他们的生命就能得到拯救。

　　The brave man and his twenty dogs crossed the bay in that frightful² storm, with Scotty and Togo in the lead. 在那场可怕的暴风雨中，那个勇敢的人和他的二十只狗穿过海湾，狗儿史考特和多哥领头。

　　He admitted to the next driver, Charlie Olsen, that he had a bad trip across the bay. 斯帕拉和下一个司机查理·奥尔森曾经说过，他横渡海湾的旅行很糟糕。

　　At the village of Bluff³, Charlie Olsen found Gunnar Kasson waiting with his dog-team, headed by Balto, the best lead-dog in Alaska. 在布拉夫镇，查理·奥尔森发现贡纳尔·卡森和狗队正等着他，狗队由巴尔图领头。

　　So cold was it then, and the wind was blowing so hard, that the men feared the serum might freeze. 当时天气很冷，风刮得很大，人们担心血清会结冰。

　　They took it into a cabin to warm it. 他们把血清带到一个小木屋里暖着。

　　There Gunnar Kasson waited, hoping the wind would go down. 贡纳尔·卡森在那里等着，希望风能停下来。

　　Instead, it blew faster, and the cold grew more intense. 相反，风速加快，愈加寒冷了。

　　Two hours passed. 两个小时过去了。

　　The wind blew faster than the men had ever known it to blow before, and the temperature had gone down to twenty-eight below zero. 风速是他们见过最快的，气温已经降到了零下28度。

　　Suddenly Kasson decided⁴ that it was useless to wait any longer. 突然，卡森觉得再等下去没用了。

1 serum   

n.浆液，血清，乳浆

参考例句：

• The serum is available to the general public.一般公众均可获得血清。
• Untreated serum contains a set of 11 proteins called complement.未经处理的血清含有一组蛋白质，共11种，称为补体。

2 frightful   

adj.可怕的；讨厌的

参考例句：

• How frightful to have a husband who snores!有一个发鼾声的丈夫多讨厌啊！
• We're having frightful weather these days.这几天天气坏极了。

3 bluff   

v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗

参考例句：

• His threats are merely bluff.他的威胁仅仅是虚张声势。
• John is a deep card.No one can bluff him easily.约翰是个机灵鬼。谁也不容易欺骗他。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。