Step 1: Intensive reading.
Try to answer the question below while you’re reading:
Question: What incident began the series of traffic accidents?
Vocabulary:
prelude n. 序幕，前奏
unforeseen adj. 意料之外的
series n. 系列
catastrophe n. 大祸，灾难
crockery n. 陶器，瓦器
suburb n. 郊区
collide v. 猛撞
learner n. 初学者
panic n. 惊慌，恐慌
windscreen n. （汽车的）挡风玻璃
alongside prep. 在 …… 的旁边，与 ……并排
slide v. 滑
stray adj. 离群的
confusion n. 混乱
greedily adv. 贪婪地
devour v. 狼吞虎咽地吃
Passage:
We have all experienced days when everything goes wrong. A day may begin well
enough, but suddenly everything seems to get out of control. What invariably happens
is that a great number of things choose to go wrong at precisely the same moment. It
is as if a single unimportant event set up a chain of reactions. Let us suppose that you
are preparing a meal and keeping an eye on the baby at the same time. The telephone
rings and this marks the prelude to an unforeseen series of catastrophes. While you
are on the phone, the baby pulls the tablecloth off the table, smashing half your best
crockery and cutting himself in the process. You hang up hurriedly and attend to baby,
crockery, etc. Meanwhile, the meal gets burnt. As if this were not enough to reduce
you to tears, your husband arrives, unexpectedly bringing three guests to dinner.
我们大家都有过事事不顺心的日子。一天开始时，可能还不错，但突然间似乎一
切都失去了控制。情况经常是这样的，许许多多的事情都偏偏赶在同一时刻出问
题，好像是一件无关紧要的小事引起了一连串的连锁反应。假设你在做饭，同时
又在照看孩子。这时电话铃响了，它预示着一连串意想不到的灾难的来临。就在
你接电话时，孩子把桌布从桌子上扯了下来，将家中最好的陶瓷餐具半数摔碎，
同时也弄伤了他自己。你急急忙忙挂上电话，赶去照看孩子和餐具。这时，饭又
烧糊了。好像这一切还不足以使你急得掉泪，你的丈夫接着回来了，事先没打招
呼就带来 3 个客人吃饭。
Notes:
1 get out of control，失去控制。
2 It is as if a single unimportant event set up a chain of reactions. 就好像一件无关紧
要的小事引起了一连串的连锁反应。as if 引导的从句中用的是虚拟语气；set up，
引起，产生； a chain of，一连串。
3 keep an eye on，照看，照管。
4 you are on the phone，你在接电话。
5 reduce you to tears ，使你流泪。
Things can go wrong on a big scale, as a number of people recently discovered in
Parramatta, a suburb of Sydney. During the rush hour one evening two cars collided
and both drivers began to argue. The woman immediately behind the two cars
happened to be a learner. She suddenly got into a panic and stopped her car. This
made the driver following her brake hard. His wife was sitting beside him holding a
large cake. As she was thrown forward, the cake went right through the windscreen
and landed on the road. Seeing a cake flying through the air, a lorry driver who was
drawing up alongside the car, pulled up all of a sudden. The lorry was loaded with
empty beer bottles and hundreds of them slid off the back of the vehicle and on to the
road. This led to yet another angry argument. Meanwhile, the traffic piled up behind.
It took the police nearly an hour to get the traffic on the move again. In the meantime,
the lorry driver had to sweep up hundreds of broken bottles. Only two stray dogs
benefited from all this confusion, for they greedily devoured what was left of the cake.
It was just one of those days!
就像许多人最近在悉尼郊区帕拉马塔所发现的那样，有时乱子会闹得很大。一天
傍晚交通最拥挤时，一辆汽车撞上前面一辆汽车，两个司机争吵起来。紧跟其后
的一辆车上的司机碰巧是个初学者，她一惊之下突然把车停了下来。她这一停使
得跟在后头的司机也来了个急刹车。司机的妻子正坐在他身边，手里托着块大蛋
糕。她往前一冲，蛋糕从挡风玻璃飞了出去掉在马路上。此时，一辆卡车正好从
后边开到那辆汽车边上，司机看见一块蛋糕从天而降，紧急刹车。卡车上装着空
啤酒瓶，成百只瓶子顺势从卡车后面滑出车外落在马路上。这又引起了一场唇枪
舌剑的争吵。与此同时，后面的车辆排成了长龙，警察花了将近一个小时才使车
辆又开起来。在这段时间里，卡车司机不得不清扫那几百只破瓶子。只有两只野
狗从这一片混乱中得到了好处，它们贪婪地吃掉了剩下的蛋糕。这就是事事不顺
心的那么一天！
Notes:
6 on a big scale，大规模地。
7 rush hour ，上下班时间。
8 draw up ，追上。
9 pull up ，停车。
10 get the traffic on the move ，使车辆动起来。
33.2【阅读理解】A day to remember
Step 2: Comprehension questions.
1 What kind of days have we all experienced? (Days when everything goes wrong.)
2 What suddenly seems to happen some days? (Everything seems to get out of
control.)
3 Do a number of things go wrong at precisely the same time? (Yes, they do.)
4 What often seems to set up a chain reactions? (A single unimportant event.)
5 In the example that the writer gives, what does the telephone call do? (t marks the
prelude to an unforeseen series of catastrophes.)
6 While you' re on the phone, what does the baby do? (He pulls the tablecloth off the
table.)
7 What does he smash? (Half your best crockery.)
8 And what does he do to himself? (He cuts himself.)
9 And who arrives then? (Your husband.)
10 Who with? (Three guests for dinner.)
11 Can things go wrong on a big scale, too? (Yes, they can.)
12 What is Parramatta and where is it? (It's a suburb of Sydney.)
13 How many cars collided during the evening rush hour? (Two.)
14 What did the drivers begin to do? (They began to argue.)
15 Why did the woman in the car behind get into a panic? (Because she was a
learner.)
16 What did she do? (She stopped.)
17 A woman was sitting in the car behind. What was she holding? (A large cake.)
18 What happened to it? (It went through the windscreen and landed on the road.)
19 What did the lorry driver do? (He pulled up all of a sudden.)
20 What slid off the lorry? (Hundreds of empty beer bottles.)
21 Did the traffic pile up behind? (Yes, it did)
22 How long did it take the police to get the traffic on the move again? (Nearly an
hour.)
23 What did the lorry driver have to do? (Sweep up hundreds of broken bottles.)
24 Who ate the remains of the cake? (Two stray dogs.)
33.3【拓展写作】A day to remember
Step 3: Composition
In not more than 250 words describe a similar 'chain of reactions'. Expand the ideas
given below into a plan and provide a suitable title. Your composition should be in
three or four paragraphs.
Ideas: Man loaded with parcels— looking for his car — saw one exactly like it —
mistook it for his own — found his key with difficulty— tried to open the door — key
wouldn't turn— forced the lock— broke the key—dropped the parcels — infuriated—
deliberately broke the window of the car — the owner saw him— rushed towards
him— called a policeman— the man arrested— tried to explain— was not believed.
Key to composition
Mistaken identity
We have all experienced days when everything seems to go wrong. Things
certainly went wrong for Ray, a friend of mine, one day last month. It all started, as
these things do, with a simple case of ‘mistaken identity’. Ray had been shopping and
was loaded with parcels when he got back to the multi-storey car park to look for his
car. He knew he was on the correct level, but he couldn't see his car anywhere.
Then, suddenly, while he was looking, he saw one exactly like it. It was a red
Nissan. It was exactly the same as his own car, and naturally he mistook it for his own.
Still holding the parcels, he felt in his jacket pockets and found his key. He tried to
open the driver's door, but the key just wouldn't turn. He couldn't understand it. In the
end, he forced the lock — and naturally broke the key.
At that point he dropped the parcels as well. This infuriated him. The only way he
could get into his car was to break a window, so he deliberately smashed the window
of the car. As he was putting his hand in, the owner came back and saw him. The
owner rushed towards Ray, held him against the car, and called a policeman on his
mobile phone.
When Ray was arrested, he tried to explain, but the police did not believe him —
until they found Ray's car on a level below!
课外练习：
1 What would have most upset the woman the day everything went wrong for her?
(a) She had not expected her husband to arrive so early.
(b) The meal she had cooked for the three guests had got burnt.
(c) Her husband had not told her he was bringing anyone to dinner.
(d) She had not got enough crockery left to serve the meal with.
2 What might have prevented a chain reaction following the initial collision?
(a) If the two drivers who had collided had not begun to argue.
(b) Had there been a more experienced driver behind the two cars.
(c) If, instead of panicking, the woman had made no attempt to Stop.
(d) Had the wife of the man who braked not thrown 2 cake through the window.
3 There was a second angry argument because .
(a) the lorry driver blamed the owner of the cake for his accident
(b) the traffic was extremely slow to get on the move again
(c) the lorry driver did not think he should be made to sweep up the glass
(d) two dogs had devoured what was left of the cake
4 It is as if a single event that is a chain of reactions.
(a) no importance set up
(b) of no importance set up
(c) not any important sets up
(d) not any importance sets up
5 -you are preparing a meal keeping an eye on the baby.
(a) at the same time
(b) as you are
(c) as well
(d) while
6 As if this you to tears…
(a) has not already reduced
(b) were not already reducing
(c) did not already reduce
(d) would not already reduce
7 Immediately behind the two cars happened to be a learner.
(a) was a woman who
(b) a woman
(c) the woman
(d) there was the woman who
8 The police spent nearly an hour the traffic on the move again.
(a) to get
(b) until getting
(c) getting
(d) having got
9 You are preparing a meal and the baby at the same time.
(a) looking at
(b) seeing
(c) watching
(d) seeing to
10 She stopped her car a sudden panic.
(a) into
(b) in
(c) from
(d) with
11 Hundreds of them the back of the vehicle…
(a) slipped off
(b) slid down
(c) slid over
(d) slipped under
12 They greedily devoured the of the cake.
(a) left
(b) leave
(c) leftover
(d) remains
答案：1c 2b 3a 4b 5d 6a 7a 8c 9c 10b 11a 12d