12_Life_on_a_Desert_Island
12 Life on a Desert Island¶
Most of us have formed an unrealistic picture of life on a desert island. We sometimes imagine a desert island to be a sort of paradise (where the sun always shines). Life there is simple and good. Ripe fruit falls from the trees and you never have to work. The other side of the picture is quite the opposite. Life on a desert island is wretched. You either starve to death or live like Robinson Crusoe, waiting for a boat which never comes. Perhaps there is an element of truth in both these pictures, but few of us have had the opportunity to find out.
Two men (who recently spent five days on a coral island) wished they had stayed there longer. They were taking a badly damaged boat from the Virgin Islands to Miami to have it repaired. During the journey, their boat began to sink. They quickly loaded a small rubber dinghy with food, matches, and cans of beer and rowed for a few miles across the Caribbean until they arrived at a tiny coral island. There were hardly any trees on the island and there was no water, but this did not prove to be a problem. The men collected rainwater in the rubber dinghy. As they had brought a spear gun with them, they had plenty to eat. They caught lobster and fish every day, and as one of them put it 'ate like kings'. When a passing tanker rescued them five days later, both men were genuinely sorry that they had to leave.
我们许多人对于荒岛生活有一种不切实际的想法。我们有时想象荒岛是阳光终日普照的天堂。在那里，生活简单又美好。成熟的水果从树上掉下来，人们根本无需劳动。另一种想法恰恰相反，认为荒岛生活很可怕，要么饿死，要么像鲁滨孙那样，天天盼船来，却总没见船影。也许，这两种都像都有可信之处。但几乎没有人能有机会去弄个究竟。
最近有两个人在一座珊瑚岛上呆了5天，他们真希望在那儿再多呆一些日子。他们驾着一条严重损坏的小船从维尔京群岛去迈阿密修理。途中，船开始下沉，他们迅速把食物、火柴、罐装啤酒往一只救生筏上装。然后在加勒比海上划行了几英里，到了一座珊瑚岛上。岛上几乎没有一棵树，也没有淡水，但这不算什么问题。他们用橡皮艇蓄积雨水。由于他们随身带了一支捕鱼枪，因此，吃饭不愁。他们天天捕捉龙虾和鱼，正如其中一位所说，吃得"像国王一样好"。5天后，一条油轮从那儿路过，搭救了他们。这二位不得不离开那个荒岛时，还真的感到遗憾呢！
Words¶
- unrealistic /ənˌriˈlɪstɪk/ 不切实际的
- desert /ˈdɛzɚt/ island /ˈaɪlənd/ 荒岛
- paradise /ˈpɛrəˌdaɪs/ 天堂
- Ripe /raɪp/ 熟的
- wretched /ˈrɛtʃɪd/ 悲惨的
- starve /stɑrv/ 饥饿
- element /ˈɛləmənt/ 要素,元素
- coral /ˈkɔrəl/ 珊瑚
- rubber /ˈrʌbɚ/ 橡胶
- dinghy /ˈdɪŋi/ 小艇
- matches /ˈmætʃəz/ 火柴
- rowed /rod/ 划船
- a /ə/ spear /spɪr/ gun /ɡʌn/ 捕鱼枪
- lobster /ˈlɑbstɚ/ 龙虾
- tanker /ˈtæŋkɚ/ 油轮
- genuinely /'dʒenjuɪnli/ 真诚地
Expressions¶
- have an opportunity to do sth. 有机会做某事
- an element of truth/danger 一丝真实/危险的因素
- starve to death 饿死
- Sb. be genuinely sorry that+句子 某人由衷地为……感到抱歉
- formed an unrealistic picture of a. 对……形成了不切实际的印象
- imagine sth. to be n./adj. 想象某物是……
- a sort of 一种；某种
- quite the opposite 恰恰相反
- wish that+句子 希望……
- load a. with b. 用b装载a。
- as sb. put it… 如某人所说