Step 1: Intensive reading.
Try to answer the question below while you’re reading:
Question: What was the difference between Bruce’s behaviour and that of other
people?
Vocabulary:
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
halt n. 停
shallow adj. 浅的
dashboard n. (汽车上的)仪表盘
grind (ground, ground) v. 磨擦
Passage:
The rough road across the plain soon became so bad that we tried to get Bruce to
drive back to the village we had come from. Even though the road was littered with
boulders and pitted with holes, Bruce was not in the least perturbed. Glancing at his
map, 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.
穿越平原的道路高低不平，开车走了不远，路面愈加崎岖。我们想劝说布鲁斯把
车开回到我们出发的那个村庄去。尽管路面布满石头，坑坑洼洼，但布鲁斯却一
点儿不慌乱。他瞥了一眼地图，告诉我们前面再走不到 20 英里就是一个村庄。
这并不是说布鲁斯总是低估困难，而是他压根儿没有一点儿危险感。他认为不管
路面情况如何，车必须以最高速度前进。
Notes:
1 get sb. to do sth. ，说服某人做某事。
2 not in the least，一点儿也不，完全不。
3 It was not that Bruce always underestimated difficulties. 这并不是说布鲁斯总是
低估困难。
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.
我们在尘土飞扬的道路上颠簸，车子东拐西弯，以躲开那些大圆石。车轮搅起的
石块锤击车身，发出不祥的锤击声。我们相信迟早会飞起一个石块把油箱砸开一
个窟窿，或者把发动机砸坏。因此，我们不时地掉过头，怀疑车后是否留下了机
油和汽油的痕迹。
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 zigzag
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!
突然大石块不见了，前面是一片平地，唯一的障碍只有一簇簇灌木丛。这使我们
长长地松了口气。但是更糟糕的事情在等着我们，离我们不远处，出现了一个大
裂缝。我们再次央求布鲁斯小心，他这才把车停了下来。我们纷纷下车察看那个
大裂缝，他却呆在车上。我们告诉他那个大裂缝长 50 码，宽 2 英尺，深 4 英尺。
这也没有对他产生任何影响。布鲁斯挂上慢档，把两只前轮分别搁在裂缝的两边，
顺着弯弯曲曲的裂缝，以发疯的速度向前开去。我们还未来得及担心后果，车已
重新开上了平地。布鲁斯又看了一眼地图，告诉我们那座村庄离我们只有 15 英
里了。下一个障碍是一片约半英里宽的浅水塘。布鲁斯向水塘冲去，但车开到水
塘当中，嘎吱一声停住了。仪表盘上一盏黄灯闪着刺眼的光芒，布鲁斯兴致勃勃
地宣布发动机里没油了！
Notes:
4 sooner or later，作“迟早”、”总有一天”讲。
5 giving way to a stretch of plain，出现了一片平原。give way to…，此处作“为……
所代替”解。
6 charge at，冲向。
39.2【阅读理解】 Nothing to worry about
Step 2: Comprehension questions.
1 Why did the writer try to get Bruce to drive back to the village? (Because the road
became so bad.)
2 What was the road littered with? (Boulders.)
3 What was it pitted with? (Holes.)
4 Was Bruce perturbed? (No, he wasn’t.)
5 How far away was the next village? (A mere twenty miles.)
6 Did Bruce underestimate difficulties? (No, he didn't.)
7 Did he have any sense of danger at all? (No, he didn't.)
8 What did he believe? (That a car should be driven as fast as it could go.)
9 Why did they swerve? (To avoid large boulders.)
10 What did they think would happen sooner or later? (That a stone would rip a hole
in the petrol tank or damage the engine.)
11 Why did they keep looking back? (To see if they were leaving a trail of oil or
petrol.)
12 Did the boulders give way to a stretch of plain? (Yes, they did.)
13 But what was ahead? (A huge fissure.)
14 When the others got out to examine the fissure, what did Bruce do? (He remained
in
the car.)
15 What was the size of the fissure? (It was fifty yards long, two feet wide and four
feet deep.)
16 Did Bruce avoid it or did he drive along it? (He drove along it.)
17 When Bruce consulted the map, how far away was the village? (Fifteen miles.)
18 What was the next obstacle? (A shallow pool of water about half a mile across.)
19 What happened to the car in the middle of the pool? (It came to a grinding halt.)
20 How did Bruce know that there was no oil in the engine? (A yellow light flashed
on the dashboard.)
39.3【拓展写作】 Nothing to worry about
Step 3: Composition
In not more than 250 words write a continuation to the passage. Expand the ideas
given below into a plan and provide a suitable title. Your composition should be in
four paragraphs.
Ideas: Got out ---tried to push the car — impossible---walked to next village---tried to
get a taxi---no driver would take us over rough road ---paid a large sum of money to
rent a jeep ---pulled car out of water ---found engine badly damaged ---Bruce
undismayed.
Key to composition
A possible answer
Bruce remained unperturbed
It was typical of Bruce to announce ‘cheerfully’ that there was no oil in the
engine! For the rest of us, it is a disaster. We all got out and began shouting at him
and then at each other: What could we do? We were standing in the middle of a very
large pool up to our ankles in water with a car that was useless.
We tied to push it, but of course it was absolutely impossible. All we managed to
do was to push it deeper into the soft mud. In the end we all walked to next village
where we tried to get a taxi so that we could take some oil (and petrol) back to the car.
We couldn’t find one driver who would take us over the rough road. Fortunately,
there was a small garage and we paid a large sum of money to the garage owner to a
rent a jeep. With a can of oil and an extra can of petrol we all climbed in and set off.
When we eventually got back to the pool, we attached a rope from the jeep to the
car and pulled the car out of the water. We were not surprised to find that the engine
was badly damaged, and would not even start with the oil we had brought back.
Disaster again, but Bruce was undismayed!
课外练习：
1 Why were the passengers so relieved when the boulders disappeared?
(a) Bruce could now drive even faster.
(b) They had covered the greater part of the distance to the village.
(c) It seemed less likely that they would meet with disaster.
(d) They had seen the huge fissure that lay ahead of them.
2 When they reached the fissure, Bruce stopped the car because .
(a) the passengers had begged him to do so
(b) he wanted to know the exact dimensions of the fissure
(c) he thought it was safer to drive across it without the passengers
(d) he was not sure whether the car was wide enough to bridge it
3 Bruce’s reaction to the final episode shows that .
(a) he was not the sort of person to be perturbed by anything
(b) he was extremely brave in face of danger
(c) he had underestimated the depth of the pool
(d) when it came to crossing water, his driving was not good enough
4 He believed a car as fast as it could possibly go.
(a) driving in
(b) he would drive
(c) to drive
(d) in driving
5 when the boulders suddenly disappeared.
(a) How relieved we felt
(b) What a relief we were feeling
(c) So relieved we felt
(d) How we felt relieved
6 Bruce when the car came to a grinding halt.
(a) had charged through it midway
(b) charged through it to the middle
(c) charged midway through it
(d) was in the middle of charging through it
7 Bruce cheerfully announced that the engine out of oil.
(a) ran
(b) had run
(c) was running
(d) has run
8 Glancing at his map, he informed us that the next village was twenty
miles away.
(a) simply
(b) boringly
(c) only
(d) in significantly
9 - where nothing could but clumps of trees.
(a) hinder our progress
(b) spoil our course
(c) hold up Our train fee
(d) harm our way
10 When we pleaded , Bruce stopped.
(a) afresh
(b) aloud
(c) repeatedly
(d) forcibly
11 He said: ‘It's fifteen miles the village. ’
(a) until
(b) to
(c) from
(d) before
12 - obstacle was a shallow pool of water half a mile .
(a) side by side
(b) from top to bottom
(c) from side to side
(d) up and down
答案：1c 2a 3a 4d 5a 6d 7b 8c 9a 10c 11b 12c