10_The_Loss_of_the_Titanic

10 The Loss of the Titanic

原文译文

The great ship, Titanic sailed for New York from Southampton on April 10th, 1912. She was carrying 1,316 passengers and a crew of 891. Even by modern standards, the 46,000 ton Titanic was a colossal ship. At that time, however, she was not only the largest ship (that had ever been built), but was regarded as unsinkable, for she had sixteen water-tight compartments. Even if two of these were flooded, she would still be able to float. The tragic sinking of this great liner will always be remembered, for she went down on her first voyage with heavy loss of life.

Four days after setting out, while the Titanic was sailing across the icy waters of the North Atlantic, a huge iceberg was suddenly spotted by a lookout. After the alarm had been given, the great ship turned sharply to avoid a direct collision. The Titanic turned just in time, narrowly missing the immense wall of ice (which rose over 100 feet out of the water beside her). Suddenly, there was a slight trembling sound from below, and the captain went down to see what had happened. The noise had been so faint that no one thought that the ship had been damaged. Below, the captain realized to his horror that the Titanic was sinking rapidly, for five of her sixteen watertight compartments had already been flooded! The order to abandon ship was given and hundreds of people plunged into the icy water. As there were not enough life-boats for everybody, 1,500 lives were lost.

巨轮"泰坦尼克"号1912年4月10日从南安普敦起锚驶向纽约。船上载有1,316名乘客与891名船员。即便用现代标准来衡量，46,000吨的"泰坦尼克"号也算得上一艘巨轮了。当时，这艘轮船不仅是造船史上建造的最大的一艘船，而且也被认为是不会沉没的。因为船由16个密封舱组成，即使有两个舱进水，仍可漂浮在水面上。然而，这艘巨轮首航就下沉，造成大批人员死亡。人们将永远记着这艘巨轮的沉没惨剧。

"泰坦尼克"起航后的第4天，它正行驶在北大西洋冰冷的海面上。突然，瞭望员发现一座冰山。警报响过不久，巨轮急转弯，以避免与冰山正面相撞。"泰坦尼克"这个弯拐得及时，紧贴着高出海面100英尺的巨大的冰墙擦过去。突然，从船舱下部传来一声微颤音，船长走下船舱去查看究竟。由于这个声音非常轻，没人会想到船身已遭损坏。在下面，船长惊恐地发现"泰坦尼克"号正在急速下沉，16个密封舱已有5个进水。于是，他发出弃船的命令，几百人跳进了冰冷刺骨的海水里。由于没有足够的救生艇运载所有乘客，结果，1,500人丧生。

Words

• colossal /kəˈlɑsəl/ adj. 巨大的
  1. They set the colossal ship on fire last night.
  2. This is a colossal waste of time/money.
  3. They have proved that the colossal wooden statue was built almost 100 years ago.
• unsinkable /ənˈsɪŋkəbəl/ 不易下沉的
• water-tight /ˈwɔtɚˌtaɪt/ 防漏水的
• compartments /kəmˈpɑrtmənts/ n. 隔层,舱
  1. It is said that the desk has a secret compartment.
  2. They are not willing to leave the compartment.
• flooded /ˈflʌdəd/ v. 被水淹的
  1. Our washing machine broke down yesterday and flooded the kitchen.
  2. The captain confirmed that all compartments were flooded.
  3. Dan said the boys flooded the
• tragic /ˈtrædʒɪk/ adj. 悲剧的
  1. She knocked him to the ground when she heard the tragic news.
  2. He was killed in a tragic accident at the age of 24.
  3. Imagine their dismay when they heard the tragic news.
• liner /ˈlaɪnɚ/ n. 邮轮
  1. They sailed to America in a large liner.
  2. It's an ocean liner that sails
  3. The ocean liner set out from Miami.
  4. He was a waiter working on an ocean liner.
• voyage /ˈvɔɪədʒ/ n. 航行
  1. I think she was a passenger on our last voyage.
  2. Hope you have a happy voyage to Hong Kong.
  3. I thought that you and your friends would be resting after that long voyage.
• waters /ˈwɔtɚz/ 水域
• iceberg /ˈaɪsbɚɡ/ n. 冰山
  1. The captain was convinced that the ship hit an iceberg.
  2. The captain claimed to have seen the iceberg.
  3. The captain woke up with a start, realizing that the ship hit an iceberg. L2（N2L49&L20）
• spotted /ˈspɑtɪd/ 看出
• lookout /ˈlʊˌkaʊt/ n. 瞭望员
  1. A lookout spotted a huge iceberg moving in front of the ship.
  2. One lookout claimed to have seen the iceberg.
• collision /kəˈlɪʒən/ n. 碰撞
  1. They have one thing in common. They were all injured in a collision.
  2. It seems that they were all injured in the collision.
• narrowly /ˈnɛroli/ adv. 勉强地
  1. It is said that Alan narrowly avoided an accident.
  2. It was Leo that narrowly escaped, not you.
• immense /ˌɪˈmɛns/ 巨大的
• slight /slaɪt/ adj. 轻微的
  1. He's got a headache and a slight fever, for he works too hard recently.
  2. She looked at him with a slight smile.
  3. I should warn you, Barnabas, there's
• trembling /ˈtrɛmbəlɪŋ/ v. 发抖的
  1. It seems that his whole body was trembling.
  2. You needn’t have said that to her, because her whole body is trembling now.
  3. Trembling with fear, she handed over the money to the him.
• faint /fent/ adj. 微弱的
  1. We heard a faint noise coming from the room.
  2. I could see a faint light, and I decided to try to reach it.
  3. Leo detected a faint smell of perfume as she entered the room.
  4. To my horror, I discovered that my passport was missing.
  5. Leo pointed out that they watched a Japanese horror movie last night together.
  6. People watched in horror as the small plane crashed to the ground.
• horror /ˈhɔrɚ/ 恐惧
• rapidly /ˈræpədli/ 迅速地
• plunged /plʌndʒd/ v. 跳进
  1. His parents forbid him to plunge into the cold water.
  2. Our dog has a habit of plunging into the water.
  3. Hey, don’t even try to plunge into the river, and make a spectacle of yourself.

Expressions

• to sb’s horror 使某人惊恐
• horror movie 恐怖电影
• a crew of 一组(工作人员)
• be regarded as 被认为是
• give an alarm 发出警报
  1. As soon as the alarm was given, everyone rushed to the lifeboats.
  2. Now that the alarm is given, ...
  3. So long as you give an alarm, ...
• in time 及时
• realized to his horror that 他惊恐地意识到
  1. Leo realized to his horror that two of his cats had died from the fire accident.
  2. Leo realized to his horror that the movie was actually based on his story.
  3. He suddenly realized to his horror that the brakes weren't working.
• give an order 下命令
  1. The captain gave the order to abandon ship.
  2. The order(to build a bridge)was given.
  3. The captain immediately gave an order to send out a signal for rescue.