Lesson 86 Out of control

【New words and expressions】(11)

swing v. 转向

speedboat n. 快艇

desperately adv. 绝望地

companion n. 同伙，伙伴

water ski (由快艇牵引水橇)滑水

buoy n. 浮标

dismay n. 沮丧

tremendous adj. 巨大的

petrol n. 汽油

drift v. 漂动，漂流

gently adv. 缓慢地，轻轻地

★swing v. 转向

① vt. &vi.(使……)摆动/摇动

He can’t stand those who swing their legs while eating.

She tried to swing the baby to sleep.新概念英语3

② vt. &vi. 突然转向，使……转向/转身

The man tried to swing the speedboat round.

He swung round and looked at the two men.

【Text】

As the man tried to swing the speedboat round, the steering wheel came away in his hands. He waved desperately to his companion, who had been water skiing for the last fifteen minutes. Both men had hardly had time to realize what was happening when they were thrown violently into the sea. The speedboat had struck a buoy, but it continued to move very quickly across the water. Both men had just begun to swim towards the shore, when they noticed with dismay that the speedboat was moving in a circle. It now came straight towards them at tremendous speed. In less than a minute, it roared past them only a few feet away. After it had passed, they swam on as quickly as they could because they knew that the boat would soon return. They had just had enough time to swim out of danger when the boat again completed a circle. On this occasion, however, it had slowed down considerably. The petrol had nearly all been used up. Before long, the noise dropped completely and the boat began to drift gently across the water.

参考译文

当那人试图让快艇转弯时，方向盘脱手了。他绝望地向他的伙伴挥手，他的伙伴在过去的15分钟里一直在滑水。他们两个还没来得及意识到究竟发生了什么事情，就被猛地抛入了海里。快艇撞上了一个浮标，但它仍在水面上快速行驶着。两个人刚开始向岸边游去，就突然惊愕地发现快艇正在转着圈行驶，它现在正以惊人的速度直冲他们驶来。不到1分钟的工夫，它从离他们只有几英尺远的地方呼啸着驶了过去。快艇过去之后，他们以最快的速度向前游去，因为他们知道快艇马上就要转回来。他们刚刚来得及游出危险区，快艇就又转完了一圈。然而这一次它的速度慢多了。汽油几乎已经用光。没过多久，噪音便彻底消失，快艇开始在水面上慢悠悠地漂流。

【课文讲解】

1、Out of control

out of 失去，欠缺

We are out of bread.

He has been out of work for two months.

The plane got out of control and crashed in the mountains.

2、As the man tried to swing the speedboat round, the steering wheel came away in his hands.

come away 脱落，离开，脱离，脱开

When I tried to lift the suitcase, the handle came away.

3、On this occasion, however, it had slowed down considerably.

on this occasion 这一次

4、The petrol had nearly all been used up.

use up 耗尽，用光，用完

They have just bought a house and a car. They must have used up all their money.

up表示“彻底地，完全地”，也可与其他一些动词连用：

The child soon ate up the cake.

She burned up all his letters.

Can you read up the book in two hours?

5、Before long, the noise dropped completely and the boat began to drift gently across the water.

drop vi. 减少，变弱，消失

When he saw that Mary was annoyed, his voice dropped.

We had to stay at home before the wind had dropped.

【Special Difficulties】

Enough and Fairly

enough表示“足够”，用在形容词或副词之后，有“为了某种目的”的含义

I’m old enough to know I’m doing.

I didn’t arrive at the station early enough. 我到车站到得不够早(我误了火车)。

fairly表示“相当”，通常修饰表示肯定意义的词：

The water in the pool is fairly warm, but not warm enough to swim in.

He is fairly quick, but not quick enough to take part in the race.