86_Out_of_Control

86 Out of Control

原文译文

As the man tried to swing the speedboat round, the steering wheel came away in his hands. He waved desperately to his companion, who had been water skiing for the last fifteen minutes. Both men had hardly had time to realize what was happening when they were thrown violently into the sea. The speedboat had struck a buoy, but it continued to move very quickly across the water. Both men had just begun to swim towards the shore, when they noticed with dismay that the speedboat was moving in a circle. It now came straight towards them at tremendous speed. In less than a minute, it roared past them only a few feet away. After it had passed, they swam on as quickly as they could because they knew that the boat would soon return. They had just had enough time to swim out of danger when the boat again completed a circle. On this occasion, however, it had slowed down considerably. The petrol had nearly all been used up. Before long(=soon), the noise dropped completely and the boat began to drift gently across the water.

当那人试图让快艇转弯时，方向盘脱手了。他绝望地向他的伙伴挥手，他的伙伴在过去的15分钟里一直在滑水。 他们两个还没来得及意识到究竟发生了什么事情，就被猛地抛入了海里。 快艇撞上了一个浮标，但它仍在水面上快速行驶着。两个人刚开始向岸边游去， 就突然惊愕地发现快艇正在转着圈行驶。它现在正以惊人的速度直冲他们驶来。 不到1分钟的工夫，它从离他们只有几英尺远的地方呼啸着驶了过去。 快艇过去之后，他们以最快的速度向前游去，因为他们知道那艇马上就会转回来。 他们刚刚来得及游出危险区，快艇就又转完了一圈。然而这一次它的速度慢多了。汽油几乎已经用光。 没过多久，噪音便彻底消失，快艇开始在水面上慢悠悠地漂流。

Words

• swing /swɪŋ/ v. 转向
  1. The man tired to swing the speedboat round. = turn round… did/ who…
  2. His arms swung as he walked.
  3. It is a curious coincidence that they swung their cars round at the same time.（L85）
• speedboat /ˈspidˌbot/ n. 快艇
  1. It is said that he is so rich that he has a speedboat.（L58 L35）
  2. It is a curious coincidence that we bought the speedboat at the same place.（L85）
  3. He is relieved to hear that the speedboat was sold last night.（L84）
• steering /ˈstɪrɪŋ/ wheel /wil/ 舵轮
• came /kem/ away /əˈwe/ 脱落
• desperately /ˈdɛspərətli/ adv. 绝望地
  1. He waved desperately to his friends.
  2. They tried desperately to reach an agreement.
  3. We are trying desperately to stick to our plan.
• skiing /ˈskiɪŋ/ 滑雪
  1. He has devoted himself to water skiing.（L85）
  2. She asked me if I wanted to go water skiing.
  3. l would like to go water skiing with my daughter.
• violently /ˈvaɪələntli/ 猛烈地
• buoy /ˈbui/ n. 浮标
  1. She was trying to swim to that buoy.
  2. The captain informed us that the buoy wasn’t there.（L85）
  3. He volunteered to check the buoy.（L84）
• shore /ʃɔr/ 岸
• dismay /dɪˈsme/ n. 沮丧
  1. She soon noticed with dismay that her opponent won the election.（L83）
  2. He noticed with dismay that everything had already returned to normal.（L78）
  3. I noticed with surprise that the house had not been repainted.
• tremendous /trəˈmɛndəs/ adj. 极大的
  1. It came towards them at tremendous speed. did/what/how fast…
  2. This is such a tremendous honor.
  3. It has a tremendous effect on you.（L28）
• roared /rɔrd/ 咆哮
• considerably /kənˈsɪdərəbli/ 非常
• petrol /ˈpɛtrol/ n. 汽油
  1. is/why…
  2. After a long journey, we found a petrol station in the end.（L1）
  3. The driver stopped the car at the petrol station. did/who/where/when…
• been /bɪn/ used /juzd/ up /ʌp/ 用光
• drift /drɪft/ v. 漂流
  1. No one noticed that the boat had begun to drift out to sea.（L67）
  2. The ball (which they bought last night) is drifting on the river.（L28）
• gently /ˈdʒɛntli/ adv. 轻轻地
  1. The speedboat is drifting gently down the river. is/what/how…
  2. She touched his shoulder gently with her both hands. did/what/why/how…
  3. “He has a very bad temper ”she said gently.
• companion /kəmˈpænjən/ n. 同伴
  1. My companion waited for me at the end of the street. did/who/where/when/why…（L76）
  2. My companion keeps on breaking my concentration.（L78）
  3. My companion suffers from a rare disease.（L78）

Expressions

• sb. noticed with dismay that + 句子 某人沮丧地注意到……
• at tremendous speed 以极快的速度
• come away 离开；脱落
  1. The handle came away in my hands.
  2. It is now known that it just came away in your hands.
  3. Why did they move in a circle?
  4. Come here, let’s sit in a circle on the floor.
  5. The captain ordered us to stand in a circle.
  6. I hope to see you again before long.
  7. We'll finish the work before long.
  8. Before long, the little bird will follow you around.（L68）
• move in a circle 绕圈移动
• used up... 用光……
• before long... 不久之后