Introduce the story: Today we'll talk about a strange insurance.
Step 1: Intensive reading.
Try to answer the question below while you’re reading:
Question: Who owned the pie dish and why?
Vocabulary:
insure v. 投保
premium n. 保险费
fete n. 游园会
recover v. 使 ……得到补偿，弥补
admittedly adv.公认地
agonizing adj .精神紧张的，提心吊胆的
purchase v .买
annual adj .一年一度的
perch v .处于（高处）
teenager n .（13 至 19 岁的）青少年
precariously adv .危险地，不稳固地
capsize v .（船）翻
shiver v .打颤，发抖
overbalance v .失去平衡
dive v. （头向下）跳水
clamp n .夹钳，夹板
haul v .拖曳
vertically adv .垂直地
hawser n .粗缆绳
torrent n .激流，洪流
rim n .（圆形物品的）外沿，边
rebound v .弹回
winch n .绞车
Passage:
Insurance companies are normally willing to insure anything. Insuring public or
private property is a standard practice in most countries in the world. If, however, you
were holding an open air garden party or a fete it would be equally possible to insure
yourself in the event of bad weather. Needless to say, the bigger the risk an insurance
company takes, the higher the premium you will have to pay. It is not uncommon to
hear that a shipping company has made a claim for the cost of salvaging a sunken ship.
But the claim made by a local authority to recover the cost of salvaging a sunken pie
dish must surely be unique.
保险公司一般说来愿意承保一切东西。承办公共财产或私人财产保险是世界上大
部分国家的正常业务。如果你要举办一次露天游园会或盛宴，为避免碰上不好的
天气而遭受损失也同样可以保险。不用说，保险公司承担风险越大，你付的保险
费也就越高。航运公司为打捞沉船而提出索赔，这是常有的事，但某地当局为打
捞一只焙制馅饼的盘子提出索赔，倒是件新鲜事儿。
Notes:
1 in the event of, 作“倘若”、“万一”、“如果发生”讲。
2 the bigger the risk an insurance company takes, the higher the premium you will
have to pay. 保险公司承担的风险越大，你付的保险费就越高。这里又是一个“the+
形容词比较级， the+形容词比较级”的例子，汉语可译成“越…越……”。
3 make a claim for…, 作“要求得到……”讲。
Admittedly it was an unusual pie dish, for it was eighteen feet long and six feet wide.
It had been purchased by a local authority so that an enormous pie could be baked for
an annual fair. The pie committee decided that the best way to transport the dish
would be by canal, so they insured it for the trip. Shortly after it was launched, the pie
committee went to a local inn to celebrate. At the same time, a number of teenagers
climbed on to the dish and held a little party of their own. Dancing proved to be more
than the dish could bear, for during the party it capsized and sank in seven feet of
water.
这个馅饼盘子确实少见，有 18 英尺长，6 英尺宽。某地方当局买下它用来焙制
一个巨大的馅饼为一年一度交易会助兴。馅饼委员会确认运输这只盘子的最佳方
案是通过运河水运。于是，他们对这只盘子的运输安全投了保。盘子下水后不久，
馅饼委员会成员们来到当地一家小酒店庆贺。就在这个时候，许多十几岁的孩子
爬上盘子举行他们自己的集会。他们跳起了舞，盘子难以承受。舞会进行过程中，
盘子倾覆，沉入了 7 英尺深的水中。
The pie committee telephoned a local garage owner who arrived in a recovery truck to
salvage the pie dish. Shivering in their wet clothes, the teenagers looked on while
three men dived repeatedly into the water to locate the dish. They had little difficulty
in finding it, but hauling it out of the water proved to be a serious problem. The sides
of the dish were so smooth that it was almost impossible to attach hawsers and chains
to the rim without damaging it. Eventually chains were fixed to one end of the dish
and a powerful winch was put into operation. The dish rose to the surface and was
gently drawn towards the canal bank. For one agonizing moment, the dish was
perched precariously on the bank of the canal, but it suddenly overbalanced and slid
back into the water. The men were now obliged to try once more. This time they fixed
heavy metal clamps to both sides of the dish so that they could fasten the chains. The
dish now had to be lifted vertically because one edge was resting against the side of
the canal. The winch was again put into operation and one of the men started up the
truck. Several minutes later, the dish was successfully hauled above the surface of the
water. Water streamed in torrents over its sides with such force that it set up a huge
wave in the canal. There was a danger that the wave would rebound off the other side
of the bank and send the dish plunging into the water again. By working at
tremendous speed, the men managed to get the dish on to dry land before the wave
returned.
馅饼委员会给当地汽车修理库老板打电话，他闻讯后开着一辆急修车前来打捞盘
子。那些孩子们穿着湿衣服哆嗦，看着 3 个工人轮番潜入水中以确定盘子的位置。
他们没费多大事儿就找到了盘子，可是把盘子捞出却是一个很大的难题。盘子四
边十分光滑，要在盘边拴上绳索或链条而同时又不损坏它是很难办到的。不过，
他们终于将链条固定在盘子的一端，一台大功率的绞车开动起来。盘子慢慢浮出
水面，被轻轻地拽向运河岸边。在令人忐忑不安的瞬间，盘子晃晃悠悠地上了岸，
但它突然失去了平衡，又跌回水中。工人们只得再来一次。这次，他们用沉重的
金属夹子把盘子夹住，以便往盘子上安装铁链。这次，盘子必须垂直吊出水面，
因为盘子的一边紧靠着运河河岸。绞盘机再次启动，一位工人发动了急修车的引
擎。几分钟后，盘子被成功地拽出了水面。波浪从盘子两侧急涌而出，在运河里
掀起一股大浪。但是当波浪从河对岸折回来时，就有再次把盘子拖进水里的危险。
工人们动作迅速，终于赶在那股大浪返回之前把盘子拽到了岸上。
Notes:
4 put into operation, 使……运转。
5 for one agonizing moment, 在令人忐忑不安的瞬间。
6 set up, 激起。
43.2【阅读理解】Fully insured
Step 2: Comprehension questions.
1 What are insurance companies normally willing to insure? (Anything.)
2 Is it possible to insure yourself against bad weather if you are holding an open air
garden party or a fete? (Yes, it is.)
3 What about the premium if the insurance company takes a bigger risk? (It will be
higher.)
4 Is it uncommon for a shipping company to claim for the cost of salvaging a sunken
ship? (No, it isn't.)
5 What about a claim made by a local authority to salvage a sunken pie? Is that
unique? (Yes, it is.)
6 How big Was the pie dish? (Eighteen feet long and six feet wide.)
7 What was the best way to transport it? (By canal.)
8 Who held a party on the dish? (A number of teenagers.)
9 What happened to the pie dish? (It capsized and sank in seven feet of water.)
10 Who did the pie committee telephone? (A local garage owner.)
11 And what did he arrive in? (A recovery truck.)
12 Did the divers find the capsized pie dish? (Yes, they did.)
13 Why was it difficult to haul the dish out of the water? (Because the sides were
smooth and it was difficult to attach chains.)
14 Did they manage to pull the dish out of the water the first time? (No, they didn't.)
15 What did they fix to both sides of the dish the second time? (Heavy metal clamps.)
16 Why did the dish now have to be lifted vertically? (Because one edge was resting
against the side of the canal.)
17 Was the dish successfully hauled above the surface of the water? (Yes, it was.)
18 Did the water set up a huge wave in the canal? (Yes, it did.)
43.3【拓展写作】Fully insured
Step 3: Composition
Write a composition in about 300 words on the following topic:
• Write an imaginary account of how the pie dish capsized during the party held by
the teenagers.
Key to composition
A possible answer
Tile: The sinking pie dish
Introduction: Dish—anchored to side of canal after launch — eighteen feet long, six
feet wide — sides about three feet high
Development:
Number of teenagers — canal path — dish looked fascinating — great for party
— climbed into dish — first thing — slipping and sliding everywhere — all fell down
in the bottom of the dish
Dancing to large portable radio — dish began to move — down one side — then
down one end — teenagers moved to other end — started dipping — all slid into a
pile — rim of dish reached level of water — water started to come in — teenagers
couldn't
climb back up to other end — water started pouring in
Capsized — sank in seven feet of water — all teenagers safe
Conclusion: Teenagers — not much damage, but — not held party on dish —
wouldn't have sunk —insurance company wouldn't have had to pay to salvage it
Composition
It was the biggest pie dish in the world and, floating on the canal, looked very
inviting. It had been anchored to the side of the canal after it had been launched and
was as big as many of the boats on the canal. It was about eighteen feet long and
about six feet wide, and the sides were about three feet high.
When a number of teenage girls and boys came along the canal path early in the
evening, they thought the dish looked fascinating. There were about ten of them and
they all jumped or climbed into the dish one by one.
The first thing that happened was that they started slipping and sliding
everywhere and all fell down in the bottom of the dish because it was so smooth.
They all laughed a lot.
Then one of them turned on the large portable radio that he had brought with him
and some of them started dancing. (At least there was no one near the canal to
complain about the noise.) Suddenly the dish began to move in the water. It went
down one side, and then down one end, and the teenagers moved to the other end.
Then it started dipping that end and they all slid into a pile. At that point the rim of the
dish reached the level of the water. Once that happened, the teenagers couldn't climb
back up to the other end, and the water started pouring in. It capsized in minutes and
sank in seven feet of water. Fortunately, they all managed to swim to the bank and
were safe.
The teenagers may not have done much damage, but if they hadn't held their
party on the dish, it wouldn't have sunk and the insurance company wouldn't have had
to pay to salvage it from the canal.
(306 words)
课外练习：
1 In the case of the pie dish, the insurance company concerned .
(a) demanded a high premium in view of the unusual size of the dish
(b) was asked to pay the costs of the salvaging operation
(c) agreed to pay the cost of transporting the dish by canal
(d) arranged for the dish to be recovered from the canal
2 When the pie dish had capsized, the men who came to recover it .
(a) had some difficulty finding it as they had been drinking locally
(b) had little difficulty finding it as it had not sunk to the bottom
(c) found it difficult to devise a way of getting it out of the water
(d) damaged the dish when they attached hawsers and chains to the rim
3 The huge wave in the canal was caused by .
(a) the sinking of the pie dish
(b) the dish sliding back into the water
(c) the great quantity of water which poured off the dish when they were getting it out
(d) the party of teenagers
4 Eventually the dish was successfully recovered by .
(a) resting one of its edges on the bank and attaching chains to the other
(b) securing the winch chains with metal clamps and lifting it vertically
(c) one of the men getting on to the truck so as to pull at the chains
(d) some men who hauled it to the surface of the water at tremendous speed
5 The bigger the risk an insurance company takes, to pay as a premium.
(a) the higher you will have
(b) the more you will have
(c) more you will have
(d) you will have higher
6 It is not uncommon to hear a claim for …
(a) of a shipping company making
(b) a shipping company to have made
(c) the shipping company which has made
(d) a shipping company making
7 The sides of the dish were so smooth that attaching hawsers and chains to the rim
almost certain to damage it.
(a) had
(b) were
(c) it was
(d) was
8 There was a danger that when the wave off the other side, it would send
the dish plunging into the water again.
(a) was rebounding
(b) has rebounded
(c) rebounded
(d) would rebound
9 Three men dived into the water.
(a) now and again
(b) one after another
(c) time and again
(d) many a time
10 A powerful winch was .
(a) got going
(b) made to work
(c) taken to task
(d) given a function
11 For one moment, the dish…
(a) dangerous
(b) frightening
(c) exciting
(d) painful
12 This time they put metal clamps both sides of the dish.
(a) over
(b) on to
(c) astride
(d) upon
答案：1b 2c 3c 4b 5b 6a 7d 8c 9c 10a 11d 12b