CNN 2010-04-17

In central Florida an eleven year old girl woke up in her own bed this morning and that's reason to celebrate, that's because she had actually vanished into an alligator¹ infested² swamp area on Friday only to be found yesterday alive and well, it's an incredible story. Now David Mattingly is here to tell us all about it, she's lucky.

Absolutely, you just don't hear stories turning out like this, this way very often, because this little girl was gone for almost four days no food no water, and after four days the odds³ of finding someone in good health, a relatively⁴ good health, or even alive start to fall off very quickly, but this little girl had a very big stroke of luck thanks to one particular rescuer.

 

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Her tiny hand waving from the stretcher was Nadia Bloom's way of telling everyone she was OK. It was an amazing end to a three-and-a-half-day search in which the 11-year-old seemed to vanish without a trace until a remarkable⁵ 911 call from her rescuer's phone.

NADIA BLOOM, RESCUED IN SWAMP: Hi, this is Nadia. And I'm the girl who got lost.

OPERATOR: OK. Nadia, are you OK? You're not hurt in any way?

MATTINGLY: This mildly autistic Nadia was dehydrated, hungry, barefooted, and covered with insect bites.

Volunteer James King says he was calling on his fate when he found her.

JAMES KING, FOUND MISSING GIRL: Speaking scriptures⁶ and yelling, Nadia! Then I heard, What? I said, That way, right there.

MATTINGLY: It was in one of densest⁷, muddiest part of a swamp near Nadia's central Florida home.

At first, the 911 operator couldn't believe it.

KING: I'm almost right in the middle of the swamp.

OPERATOR: Sir, you're in contact with her?

KING: I'm holding her right now, yes. She's OK. She's got bites all over her. She's got some scratches.

MATTINGLY: Working alone, King was able to do what scores of trained officers, divers⁸ and a specially-equipped helicopter could not. After spending four nights in the snake-infested thicket⁹, Nadia told the 911 operator she was doing some praying of her own.
 

1 alligator   

n.短吻鳄(一种鳄鱼)

参考例句：

• She wandered off to play with her toy alligator.她开始玩鳄鱼玩具。
• Alligator skin is five times more costlier than leather.鳄鱼皮比通常的皮革要贵5倍。

2 infested   

adj.为患的，大批滋生的（常与with搭配）v.害虫、野兽大批出没于( infest的过去式和过去分词 )；遍布于

参考例句：

• The kitchen was infested with ants. 厨房里到处是蚂蚁。
• The apartments were infested with rats and roaches. 公寓里面到处都是老鼠和蟑螂。

3 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

4 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

5 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

6 scriptures   

经文，圣典( scripture的名词复数 )； 经典

参考例句：

• Here the apostle Peter affirms his belief that the Scriptures are 'inspired'. 使徒彼得在此表达了他相信《圣经》是通过默感写成的。
• You won't find this moral precept in the scriptures. 你在《圣经》中找不到这种道德规范。

7 densest   

密集的( dense的最高级 )； 密度大的； 愚笨的； （信息量大得）难理解的

参考例句：

• Past Botoi some of the densest jungle forests on Anopopei grew virtually into the water. 过了坊远湾，岛上的莽莽丛林便几乎直长到水中。
• Earth is the densest of all of these remaining planets. 地球是所剩下行星中最致密的星球。

8 divers   

adj.不同的；种种的

参考例句：

• He chose divers of them,who were asked to accompany him.他选择他们当中的几个人，要他们和他作伴。
• Two divers work together while a standby diver remains on the surface.两名潜水员协同工作，同时有一名候补潜水员留在水面上。

9 thicket   

n.灌木丛，树林

参考例句：

• A thicket makes good cover for animals to hide in.丛林是动物的良好隐蔽处。
• We were now at the margin of the thicket.我们现在已经来到了丛林的边缘。