365个英语简短小故事-171. Don’t Get Mad—Get Even

“Look out!” Kane heard the shout and turned around to see who was shouting. A second later, a mountain biker whooshed¹ past him. The biker turned his head and shouted “Bikes only, asshole!” and disappeared from view. Kane was walking on a mountain bike trail. He had already seen a sign saying Bikers Only, but he had figured that the trail in the woods was wide enough for him and for the bikers.

This was public land. Who were bikers to hog² this trail for themselves, he thought. Where was he supposed to take his nature walks—through the spider webs and the underbrush? And who did that biker think he was, to call Kane a name? The more he thought, the angrier he got. He’d fix them.

The next Saturday, he visited the trail again, but this time with a shovel³. It was an old GI shovel that he still had from his Army days. It was small but efficient. He found a slight curve in the trail and, just after sunrise, he started digging. He dug a ditch all the way across the bike trail. The ditch was four inches deep and twelve inches wide. He would have liked to hang around and watch the action, but there was no place to conceal⁴ himself. Maybe later he could set up one of those spy cameras people use for home security, he thought as he walked back to his car. Then he could upload the really good crashes to the Internet.

An hour later, a 15-year-old girl hit the ditch. She flew through the air and landed among some small trees. Because she was wearing a helmet, knee pads, and elbow pads, all she suffered were bruises⁵, scratches, and a sprained⁶ wrist. Her $700 bike was moderately damaged. She used her cell phone to call her dad. Despite her soreness, she stood guard on the trail to warn others.

Police investigated the scene of the "accident." An officer said if they caught who dug the ditch, the culprit would be charged with felony vandalism, which might result in a year in prison.

 

1 whooshed   

v.（使）飞快移动( whoosh的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Oil whooshed up when the drill hit the well. 当钻孔机钻井时，石油喷了出来。 来自互联网
• Then his breath had whooshed out again, making Bianca's magic useless. 接着他终于发出一声低沉的呼吸，这让比安卡的魔法失去了作用。 来自互联网

2 hog   

n.猪；馋嘴贪吃的人；vt.把…占为己有，独占

参考例句：

• He is greedy like a hog.他像猪一样贪婪。
• Drivers who hog the road leave no room for other cars.那些占着路面的驾驶员一点余地都不留给其他车辆。

3 shovel   

n.铁锨，铲子，一铲之量；v.铲，铲出

参考例句：

• He was working with a pick and shovel.他在用镐和铲干活。
• He seized a shovel and set to.他拿起一把铲就干上了。

4 conceal   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽

参考例句：

• He had to conceal his identity to escape the police.为了躲避警方，他只好隐瞒身份。
• He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure.他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。

5 bruises   

n.瘀伤，伤痕，擦伤( bruise的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was covered with bruises after falling off his bicycle. 他从自行车上摔了下来，摔得浑身伤痕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The pear had bruises of dark spots. 这个梨子有碰伤的黑斑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 sprained   

v.&n. 扭伤

参考例句：

• I stumbled and sprained my ankle. 我摔了一跤，把脚脖子扭了。
• When Mary sprained her ankles, John carried her piggyback to the doctors. 玛丽扭伤了足踝，约翰驮她去看医生。