$課文86 失控

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

當那人試圖讓快艇轉彎時，方向盤脫手了。

941. He waved desperately to his companion, who had been water skiing for the last fifteen minutes.

他絕望地向他的夥伴揮手，他的夥伴在過去的15分鐘裏一直在滑水。

942. Both men had hardly had time to realize what was happening when they were thrown violently into the sea.

他們兩個還沒來得及意識到究竟發生了什麽事情，就被猛地拋入了海裏。

943. The speedboat had struck a buoy, but it continued to move very quickly across the water.

快艇撞上了一個浮標，但它仍在水面上快速行駛著。

944. Both men had just begun to swim towards the shore, when they noticed with dismay that the speedboat was moving in a circle.

兩個人剛開始向岸邊遊去，就突然驚愕地發現快艇正在轉著圈行駛，

945. It now came straight towards them at tremendous speed.

它現在正以驚人的速度直沖他們駛來。

946. In less than a minute, it roared past them only a few feet away.

不到1分鐘的工夫，它從離他們只有幾英尺遠的地方呼嘯著駛了過去。

947. After it had passed, they swam on as quickly as they could because they knew that the boat would soon return.

快艇過去之後，他們以最快的速度向前遊去，因為他們知道快艇馬上就要轉回來。

948. They had just had enough time to swim out of danger when the boat again completed a circle.

他們剛剛來得及遊出危險區，快艇就又轉完了一圈。

949. On this occasion, however, it had slowed down considerably.

然而這一次它的速度慢多了。

950. The petrol had nearly all been used up.

汽油幾乎已經用光。

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

沒過多久，噪音便徹底消失，快艇開始在水面上慢悠悠地漂流。

$課文87 極好的不在犯罪現場的證據

952. ‘At the time the murder was committed, I was travelling on the 8 o‘clock train to London,‘ said the man.

“在兇殺發生的時候，我正坐在8點鐘開往倫敦的火車上。”那人說。

953. ‘Do you always catch such an early train?‘ asked the inspector.

“您總是趕這樣早的火車？”探長問。

954. ‘Of course I do,‘ answered the man. ‘I must be at work at 10 o‘clock. My employer will confirm that I was there on time.‘

“當然是的，”那人回答。“我必須在10點鐘上班，我的雇主會證明我是按時到了那兒的。”

955. ‘Would a later train get you to work on time?‘ asked the inspector.

“晚一點兒的車也能送您按時上班嗎？”

956. I suppose it would, but I never catch a later train.

“我認為可以，但我從來不乘晚一點兒的車。”

957. At what time did you arrive at the station?

“您幾點鐘到的火車站？”

958. At ten to eight. I bought a paper and waited for the train.

“7點50分。我買了張報紙，等著車來。”

959. And you didn‘t notice anything unusual?

“您沒有註意到有什麽異常情況發生嗎？”

960. Of course not.

“當然沒有。”

961. ‘I suggest,‘ said the inspector,

“我提醒您，”探長說，

962. that you are not telling the truth.

“您講的不是實話。

963. I suggest that you did not catch the 8 o‘clock train, but that you caught the 8.25 which would still get you to work on time.

您乘的不是8點鐘的火車，而是8點25分的，這次車同樣能使您按時上班。

964. You see, on the morning of the murder, the 8 o‘clock train did not run at all.

您看，在兇殺發生的那天早晨，8點鐘的那次車根本沒有發。

965. It broke down at Ferngreen station and was taken off the line.

它在芬格林車站出了故障而被取消了。”

$課文88 困在礦井裏

966. Six men have been trapped in a mine for seventeen hours.

6個人被困在礦井裏已有17個小時了。

967. If they are not brought to the surface soon they may lose their lives.

如果不把他們盡快救到地面上來，他們就有可能喪生。

968. However, rescue operations are proving difficult.

然而，事實證明營救工作非常困難。

969. If explosives are used, vibrations will cause the roof of the mine to collapse.

如果用爆破，震動會引起礦頂塌落。

970. Rescue workers are therefore drilling a hole on the north side of the mine.

因此，營救人員在礦井的北側鉆了一個洞。

971. They intend to bring the men up in a special capsule.

他們準備用一種特制的容器把這6個人救上來。

972. If there had not been a hard layer of rock beneath the soil,

如果不是因為土壤下面有一層堅硬的巖石，

973. they would have completed the job in a few hours.

他們的營救工作僅用幾個小時就可以完成了。

974. As it is, they have been drilling for sixteen hours and they still have a long way to go.

實際情況是，他們已連續鉆了16個小時了，但離鉆透還早著呢。

975. Meanwhile, a microphone, which was lowered into the mine two hours ago,

與此同時，兩個小時以前放下井去的一只麥克風

976. has enabled the men to keep in touch with their closest relatives.

使井下的人可以與其親屬保持聯系。

977. Though they are running out of food and drink,

雖然他們的食物和飲料都快消耗盡了，

978. the men are cheerful and confident that they will get out soon.

但這些人的心情很好，堅信他們很快就會出去。

979. They have been told that rescue operations are progressing smoothly.

他們一直被告知營救工作進行得非常順利。

980. If they knew how difficult it was to drill through the hard rock, they would lose heart.

如果他們知道了鉆透那堅硬的巖石有多麽困難，他們會喪失信心的。

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