When a light passenger plane flew off course some time ago, it crashed in the mountains and its pilot was killed. The only passengers, a young woman and her two baby daughters, were unhurt. It was the middle of winter. Snow lay thick on the ground. The woman knew that the nearest village was miles away. When it grew dark, she turned a suitcase into a bed and put the children inside it, covering them with all the clothes she could find. During the night, it got terribly cold. The woman kept as near as she could to the children and even tried to get into the case herself, but it was too small. Early next morning, she heard planes passing overhead and wondered how she could send a signal. Then she had an idea. She stamped out the letters‘SOS’in the snow. Fortunately, a pilot saw the signal and sent a message by radio to the nearest town. It was not long before a helicopter arrived on the scene to rescue the survivors of the plane crash.
New words and expressions 生词和短语
thick(1.4)/θik/adj. 厚的
helicopter(1.12)/'helikɑptə/n. 直升飞机
signal(1.10)/'signəl/n.信号
scene(1.12)/si:n/n.现场
stamp(1.10)/stæmp/v.跺,踩
survivor(1.12)/sə'vaivə/n.幸存者
Notes on the text 课文注释
1 SOS=“Save Our Souls”,国际通用的呼救信号。
2 fly off course,飞行偏离航线。
3 Snow lay thick on the ground. 地上积着厚厚的雪。lay是系动词,thick是表语,表示主语的状态或性质。
4 she heard planes passing overhead,她听见头顶上有飞机飞过。passing overhead是现在分词短语,作宾语planes的补足语。
5 stamp out, 踩出。其中out是一个副词,out与一些动词连用时常常有“看得见”、“听得见”的意思,如write out, tap out, ring out等。
6 It was not long before a helicopter arrived on the scene to rescue the survivors of the plane crash.不久,一架直升飞机飞抵失事现场,来搭救这几个幸存者。注意这句话中的before是连词,引导的是时间状语从句,long是形容词,是主句 的表语。不要把这句话中的long和before的用法同long before或before long词组的用法混淆。