一、【Text】课文
he informed us that the next village was a mere twenty miles away. It was not that Bruce always underestimated difficulties. He
simply had no sense of danger at all. No matter what the conditions were, he believed that a car should be driven as fast as it
could possibly go.
As we bumped over the dusty track, we swerved to avoid large boulders.The wheels scooped up stones which hammered
ominously under the car. We felt sure that sooner or later a stone would rip a hole in our petrol tank or damage the engine.
Because of this, we kept looking back, wondering if we were leaving a trail of oil and petrol behind us.
What a relief it was when the boulders suddenly disappeared, giving way to a stretch of plain where the only obstacles were
clumps of bushes. But there was worse to come. Just ahead of us there was a huge fissure. In response to renewed pleadings,
Bruce stopped. Though we all got out to examine the fissure, he remained in the car. We informed him that the fissure extended
for fifty yards and was two feet wide and four feet deep. Even this had no effect. Bruce went into a low gear and drove at a
terrifying speed, keeping the front wheels astride the crack as he followed its zig-zag course. Before we had time to worry about
what might happen, we were back on the plain again. Bruce consulted the map once more and told us that the village was now
only fifteen miles away. Our next obstacle was a shallow pool of water about half a mile across. Bruce charged at it, but in the
middle, the car came to a grinding halt. A yellow light on the dash- board flashed angrily and Bruce cheerfully announced that
there was no oil in the engine!
●rough adj. 崎岖不平的
●boulder n. 大石块
●pit v. 使得坑坑洼洼
●perturb v. 使不安
●underestimate v. 低估
●swerve v. 争转变
●scoop v. 挖出
●hammer v. （用锤）击打，锤打
●ominously adv. 有预兆的，不祥的
●rip v. 划破，撕，扯
●petrol n. 汽油
●stretch n. 一大片（平地或水）
●obstacle n. 障碍
●clump n. 丛，簇
●fissure n. （石、地的）深缝
●renew v. 重复
●pleading n. 恳求
●gear n. （汽车）排档
●astride prep. 骑，跨
●crack n. 缝隙
●zigzag n. “之”字形
●shallow adj. 浅的
●grind (ground, ground ) v. 磨擦
●halt n. 停
●dashboard n. （汽车上的）仪表盘
■halt n. 停
==stop
They halt for a few minutes.
stop; halt; cease
Eg: The heart will cease to beat when life ceases.
pause vi.
He paused for a breath.
halt
They halted for a few minutes.
halt; cease; pause; stop
halt n.
come to a halt / stop 停下来
■dashboard n. （汽车上的）仪表盘
get sb. to do sth.: persuade / advise sb. to do
Please get them to finish the work as quickly as possible.
Please get him to give up smoking.
be littered with
be pitted with
even though: even if
not in the least= not at all / not a bit/ not the least bit 一点也不
not a little = very much
by no means= in no way =on no account =at no times= under no circumstances 绝不
a mere==only （必须和不定冠词搭配）
It was not (to say )…… 这并不是说
dusty track==dusty road
look back 回头看
三、【课文精析】
It has never been explained why university students seem to enjoy practical jokes more than anyone else. Students specialize in a
particular type of practical joke: the hoax. Inviting the fire brigade to put out a nonexistent fire is a crude form of deception
which no self-respecting student would ever indulge in. Students often create amusing situations which are funny to everyone
except the victims.
When a student recently saw two workmen using a pneumatic drill outside his university, he immediately telephoned the police
and informed them that two students dressed up as workmen were tearing up the road with a pneumatic drill. As soon as he had
hung up, he went over to the workmen and told them that if a policeman ordered them to go away, they were not to take him
seriously. He added that a student had dressed up as a policeman and was playing all sorts of silly jokes on people. Both the
police and the workmen were grateful to the student for this piece of advance information.
■obstacle n. 障碍
Lack of education is an obstacle to success.
constitue an obstacle to 构成…的障碍
remove/ overcome an obstacle 克服困难
put obstacle in sb's way 妨碍某人的发展
obstacle to 介词to
要英语中有好多动词要与介词to搭配：
key; answer; shred; advantage; disadvantage; admission; damage to
辨别：obstacle; obstruction; hindrance
Eg: Lake of education is obstacle to success.
There must be an obstruction in the pipe.
You are more of hindrance than help.
■clump n. 丛，簇
■fissure n. （石、地的）深缝
■renew v. 重复
■pleading n. 恳求
■gear n. （汽车）排档
■astride prep. 骑，跨
■crack n. 缝隙
■zigzag n. “之”字形
■shallow adj. 浅的
■grind (ground, ground )v. 磨擦
grind wheat into flour
grind sth to pieces 把……弄成碎片
grind one's teeth in anger 气得咬牙切齿
The student hid in an archway nearby where he could watch and hear everything that went on. Sure enough, a policeman arrived
on the scene and politely asked the workmen to go away. When he received a very rude reply from one of the workmen, he
threatened to remove them by force. The workmen told him to do as he pleased and the policeman telephoned for help. Shortly
afterwards, four more policemen arrived and remonstrated with the workmen. As the men refused to stop working, the police
attempted to seize the pneumatic drill. The workmen struggled fiercely and one of them lost his temper. He threatened to call the
police. At this, the police pointed out ironically that this would hardly be necessary as the men were already under arrest.
Pretending to speak seriously, one of the workmen asked if he might make a telephone call before being taken to the station.
Permission was granted and a policeman accompanied him to a pay phone. Only when he saw that the man was actually
telephoning the police did he realize that they had all been the victims of a hoax.
●hoax n. 骗局，戏弄
●deception n. 欺骗，骗局
●self-respecting adj. 自重的
wondering 从句做伴随状况状语
How relieved we were
give way to 为……所代替
Eg: The great clouds gradually broke up and give way to blue sky.
He has no intention of iving way to your demands.
in response to : in reaction to
hardly ... when...
He had hardly had time to settle down when he sold the house.
Before he had hardly had time to worry about what might happen when we were back on the plane again.
Key sentence:
Before we had time to worry about what might happen, we were back on the plain again.
二、【New words and expressions】生词和短语
■rough adj. 崎岖不平的
Eg: We’d better not take the rough road.
be rough on sb. 对某人苛刻，无礼
Don’t be rough on your friends.
cut up rough 发脾气
■boulder n. 大石块
■pit v. 使得坑坑洼洼
■perturb v. 使不安
verp upset
be perturbed about sth 为…而心神不安
His threats didn’t perturb her in the least
disturb 并非用心去扰乱
Eg:It is disturbing to think that a wild animal is still at large in the quiet countryside.
plague 因病痛和类似的折磨而使人苦恼
Eg:The terrible disease plagued him
trouble
Eg:Sorry to give you trouble. / Sorry to trouble you.
worry
Eg:He is worried about his son’s safety.
fret
Eg:He freted himself all the time for news of her.
upset
Eg:I feel upset now because I am afraid I hurt you.
dismay 使沮丧
辨别：perturb ; disturb ; plague ; trouble ; worry ; fret ; upset ; dismay
■underestimate v. 低估
■swerve v. 争转变
■scoop v. 挖出
Eg:She sccped out some sugar.
make a scoop 走运
Eg:That guy made a scoop.
■hammer v. （用锤）击打，锤打
■ominously adv. 有预兆的，不祥的
ominous adj.
Egook at those ominous black clouds.
omen n.
Eg:This is a good / bad omen.
Eg:The clouds omen rain.
■rip v. 划破，撕，扯
tear
rip one's mask away 撕下某人的假面具
let things tip==let things be 听其自然
rip into 猛攻，抨击
rip off 偷窃
rip up the back 背后说坏话
■petrol n. 汽油
■stretch n. 一大片（平地或水）
at a stretch 连续的，一口气的，不停顿的
a stretch of land
a stretch of water
Eg: He worked for hours at a stretch.
We drove fast on a stretch of open field.
He is unable to work for long stretches.
a stretch of hill 连绵不断的群山
vt.
He stretched out his hand to get the apple.
There are forests stretching for hundreds of miles.
Transport was rather stretched in the Spring Festival.
