谁救了那个小男孩？

2018-08-29ByAndySimmons金家军

疯狂英语·新策略 2018年6期

By Andy Simmons/金家军（译）

◆语篇导读

化粪池是个污浊不堪、臭气熏人的地方，平时人们路过这里都要绕道而行。然而，本文的主人公，一个13岁的女学生，在得知一男孩掉到化粪池里时，她挺身而出，通过窄窄的开口进到池里捞人，最终成功救出了这名男孩。

One day Madison Williams was studying in her bedroom in Dublin,Ohio when the door suddenly opened.It was her mother,Leigh Williams,with a terrible story:“A little boy fell into a septic tank(化粪池),and no one can reach him.”Then she asked her 13-year-old daughter，“Can you help?”

Madison and Leigh ran to a neighbor’s yard,where they found the boy’s mother and other adults around a septic tank opening that was a few inches above the lawn（草坪）.The opening was just a bit wider than

a basketball.The boy,who was only two years old,had slipped in and was drowning（溺水）inside a tank that was eight feet deep.

The men and women—who minutes earlier had been enjoying a party in a nearby home when they heard the boy’s mother shouting—were dropping ropes into the tank,hoping the child would catch it so they could pull him out.

Madison quickly surveyed the situation.She was the only one who could fit through the small hole.Without hesitation,she told the adults,“Lower me in.”Inside,the tank was dark,and the air was bad.In the process,parts of her body were hurt.

Minutes ticked by before Madison finally caught the foot tightly（紧紧地）.“Pull me up!”she shouted to the others above.

As they were pulled to the surface,the boy’s free foot got stuck.“Lower me down!”she shouted again.“I had to untie his foot until it was free,”she said later.Then,ten minutes after Madison had entered the tank,she and the boy were lifted(抬升)out.

◆语块收藏

fall into掉进……；陷入……

slip in滑入；悄悄溜进去

without hesitation毫不犹豫

lower...in把……放进去

tick by时间在滴答声中过去

pull up拉上去；拔起

get stuck被挂住；被卡住

untie his foot解开他的脚

◆典句赏析

1.One day Madison Williams was studying in her bedroom in Dublin,Ohio when the door suddenly opened.一天麦迪逊·威廉姆斯正在俄亥俄州都柏林自己的卧室里学习，就在那时门突然开了。

在“过去进行时+when+一般过去时”的句式结构中，when一般翻译成“就在那时”。

2.Madison and Leigh ran to a neighbor’s yard,where they found the boy’s mother and other adults around a septic tank opening that was a few inches above the lawn(草坪).麦迪逊和利跑到邻居的院子里,在那里他们发现男孩的母亲和其他成年人正围着化粪池，化粪池的开口高出草坪几英寸。

where引导的是非限制性定语从句，where相当于地点副词there。that引导的是限制性定语从句，that为关系代词，指代定语从句的先行词opening。

3.The men and women—who minutes earlier had been enjoying a party in a nearby home when they heard the boy’s mother shouting—were dropping ropes into the tank,hoping the child would catch it so they could pull him out.几分钟前，这些男人和女人在听到男孩的母亲大喊时正在附近的家中开派对，此刻他们正把绳索放进化粪池,希望孩子能抓住它,这样他们就可以把他拉出来。

“The men and women”是主语，谓语是“were dropping ropes into the tank”。who引导的是定语从句，修饰“The men and women”，hoping是现在分词，表示伴随性动作或状态，后接宾语从句“the child would catch it”；“so they could pull him out”是目的状语从句，so后面省略了that。