王青

【New words and expressions】生詞和短語（11）

swing v. 轉向

speedboat n. 快艇

desperately adv. 絕望地

companion n. 同伙，伙伴

water ski （由快艇牽引水橇）滑水

buoy n. 浮標

dismay n. 沮喪

tremendous adj. 巨大的

petrol n. 汽油

drift v. 漂動，漂流

gently adv. 緩慢地，輕輕地

★swing v. 轉向

① vt. &vi.（使……）擺動/搖動

He can’t stand those who swing their legs while eating.

She tried to swing the baby to sleep.

② vt. &vi. 突然轉向，使……轉向/轉身

The man tried to swing the speedboat round.

He swung round and looked at the two men.

【Text】

As the man tried to swing the speedboat round, the steering wheel came away in his hands. He waved

desperately to his companion, who had been water skiing for the last fifteen minutes. Both men had hardly had

time to realize what was happening when they were thrown violently into the sea. The speedboat had struck a

buoy, but it continued to move very quickly across the water. Both men had just begun to swim towards the shore,

when they noticed with dismay that the speedboat was moving in a circle. It now came straight towards them at

tremendous speed. In less than a minute, it roared past them only a few feet away. After it had passed, they swam

on as quickly as they could because they knew that the boat would soon return. They had just had enough time to

swim out of danger when the boat again completed a circle. On this occasion, however, it had slowed down

considerably. The petrol had nearly all been used up. Before long, the noise dropped completely and the boat

began to drift gently across the water.

參考譯文

當那人試圖讓快艇轉彎時，方向盤脫手了。他絕望地向他的伙伴揮手，他的伙伴在過去的15 分鐘里一

直在滑水。他們兩個還沒來得及意識到究竟發生了什么事情，就被猛地拋入了海里。快艇撞上了一個浮標，

但它仍在水面上快速行駛著。兩個人剛開始向岸邊游去，就突然驚愕地發現快艇正在轉著圈行駛，它現在

正以驚人的速度直沖他們駛來。不到1 分鐘的工夫，它從離他們只有幾英尺遠的地方呼嘯著駛了過去。快

420

新概念英語第二冊筆記

艇過去之后，他們以最快的速度向前游去，因為他們知道快艇馬上就要轉回來。他們剛剛來得及游出危險

區，快艇就又轉完了一圈。然而這一次它的速度慢多了。汽油幾乎已經用光。沒過多久，噪音便徹底消失，

快艇開始在水面上慢悠悠地漂流。

【課文講解】

1、Out of control

out of 失去，欠缺

We are out of bread.

He has been out of work for two months.

The plane got out of control and crashed in the mountains.

2、As the man tried to swing the speedboat round, the steering wheel came away in his hands.

come away 脫落，離開，脫離，脫開

When I tried to lift the suitcase, the handle came away.

3、On this occasion, however, it had slowed down considerably.

on this occasion 這一次

4、The petrol had nearly all been used up.

use up 耗盡，用光，用完

They have just bought a house and a car. They must have used up all their money.

up 表示“徹底地，完全地”，也可與其他一些動詞連用：

The child soon ate up the cake.

She burned up all his letters.

Can you read up the book in two hours?

5、Before long, the noise dropped completely and the boat began to drift gently across the water.

drop vi. 減少，變弱，消失

When he saw that Mary was annoyed, his voice dropped.

We had to stay at home before the wind had dropped.

【Special Difficulties】

Enough and Fairly

enough表示“足夠”，用在形容詞或副詞之后，有“為了某種目的”的含義

I’m old enough to know I’m doing.

I didn’t arrive at the station early enough. 我到車站到得不夠早（我誤了火車）。

fairly 表示“相當”，通常修飾表示肯定意義的詞：

The water in the pool is fairly warm, but not warm enough to swim in.

He is fairly quick, but not quick enough to take part in the race.