人教高中英语高二上UNIT10-3

The Nanshan was on her way from the south to Fuzhou, with Chinese workers on board, returning to their home villages in the province of Fujian. The morning had been fine, for there was no wind. The heat was close.
       Observing the fall of the barometer¹, Captain MacWhirr thought, "There's some dirty weather knocking about." He lifted his eyes to the sky. "What's up?" Jukes, the engineer, asked. "It looks as if a typhoon² is coming on," said the Captain.
       "Whatever there might be," said Jukes, "we are moving straight into it." "A storm is a storm, Mr Jukes," answered the Captain, "and a full-powered steamship³ has got to face it."
        I must have been asleep. What was that loud noise? Wind? Why had I not been called? "Came on like this," shouted Jukes, "five minutes ago ... all of a sudden⁴." The storm grew stronger and huge waves swept over the ship. It was unbelievable how much water came down on the ship. Something told Captain MacWhirr that the Nanshan was lost. "She's done for," he said to himself. This weather was simply impossible. They were all on the bridge when the full force of the hurricane⁵ struck the ship. "Will she live through this? Ship ... may ... through this ... all right yet," the Captain shouted. "Do you think she may?" Jukes screamed. But the wind swallowed the reply, and Jukes heard only one word, spoken with great energy "... Always ..."
        This was their work -- to move the ship over the high sea and into the very eye of the wind. Captain MacWhirr saw a white tower of water, so high that he couldn't believe his eyes, advancing towards them. It raced'to meet the ship. The Nanshan jumped. With a tearing crash, tons of water fell upon the deck⁶, as though the ship passed under a waterfall. "Another one like this, and that's the last of her," cried the Captain.
        "Seems as if the wind had dropped, Sir." There was no wind, not a breath⁷. The unexpected⁸ silence made Jukes feel uncomfortable. "We have done it, Sir," he whispered⁹. "Wind fell all at once."
        "The trouble's not over yet," said Captain MacWhirr, half aloud. He went to the bridge. There was no light there; he struck a match, and held out the little flame towards the barometer. It stood very low--incredibly low. There was no mistake. It was the lowest reading he had ever seen in his life. The worst was to come yet!
        He listened for the first sounds of returning wind. Not yet. "It will come very sudden," said Captain MacWhirr, "and from over there, I think." A minute passed.
       "What's that? A puff¹⁰ of wind?" The roar¹¹ of the winds drew near fast. The hurricane, with its power to sink ships and to destroy strong walls, had found this little ship in its path. Before the second storm fell on his ship, Captain MacWhirr swore, "I wouldn't like to lose her." ...

1 barometer   

n.气压表，睛雨表，反应指标

参考例句：

• The barometer marked a continuing fall in atmospheric pressure.气压表表明气压在继续下降。
• The arrow on the barometer was pointing to"stormy".气压计上的箭头指向“有暴风雨”。

2 typhoon   

n.台风

参考例句：

• A typhoon is now approaching Hong Kong.台风现正逼近香港。
• The typhoon hit the coastal areas.台风侵袭沿海地区。

3 steamship   

n.汽船，轮船

参考例句：

• The return may be made on the same steamship.可乘同一艘汽船当天回来。
• It was so foggy that the steamship almost ran down a small boat leaving the port.雾很大，汽艇差点把一只正在离港的小船撞沉。

4 sudden   

n.突然，忽然；adj.突然的，意外的，快速的

参考例句：

• All of a sudden he turned about and saw me.他突然转过身来看见了我。
• The horse was badly frightened by the sudden noise.那匹马被突然而来的嘈杂声吓坏了。

5 hurricane   

n.飓风，暴风，暴风雨

参考例句：

• The hurricane destroyed the whole village.飓风把整个村子都毁掉了。
• A hurricane struck the city.飓风袭击了该城市。

6 deck   

n.甲板；公共汽车一层的车厢；纸牌；vt.装饰

参考例句：

• Let's have a walk round the deck.我们去甲板上散步吧。
• The sea wind swept over the deck.海风席卷过甲板。

7 breath   

n.呼吸，气息，微风，迹象，精神，一种说话的声音

参考例句：

• I'm just going out for a breath of fresh air.我正要出去呼吸新鲜空气。
• While climbing up the stairs the old man always loses his breath.那老人上楼时总是气喘吁吁的。

8 unexpected   

adj.想不到的，意外的

参考例句：

• I always keep some good wine in for unexpected guests.我总保存些好酒，用来招待不速之客。
• His promotion was unexpected.他的升迁出人意料。

9 whispered   

adj.耳语的，低语的v.低声说( whisper的过去式和过去分词 )；私语；小声说；私下说

参考例句：

• She sidled up to me and whispered something in my ear. 她悄悄走上前来，对我耳语了几句。
• His ill luck has been whispered about the neighborhood. 他的不幸遭遇已在邻居中传开。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 puff   

n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气

参考例句：

• He took a puff at his cigarette.他吸了一口香烟。
• They tried their best to puff the book they published.他们尽力吹捧他们出版的书。

11 roar   

n.吼，咆哮，轰鸣，喧闹；vi.吼叫，大声说出，喧闹；vt.呼喊，使轰鸣

参考例句：

• He began to roar when I took the chocolate away. 当我把巧克力拿走时，他大哭起来。
• The machines roar incessantly during the hours of daylight.机器在白天隆隆地响个不停。