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1FaceToFaceWithHurricaneCamille迎战卡米尔号飓风约瑟夫.布兰克1JohnKoshak,Jr.,knewHurricaneCamillewouldbebad.RadioandtelevisionwarningshadsoundedthroughoutthatSunday.LastAugust17,asCamillelashednorthwestwardacrosstheGulfofMexico.ItwascertaintopummelGulfport,Miss.,wheretheKoshakslived.AlongthecoastsofLouisiana,MississippiandAlabama,nearly150,000peoplefledinlandtosaferground.Butlikethousandsofothersinthecoastalcommunities,Johnwasreluctanttoabandonhishomeunlessthefamily—hiswife,Janisandtheirsevenchildren,aged3to11—wasclearlyendangered.小约翰。柯夏克已料到，卡米尔号飓风来势定然凶猛。就在去年8月17日那个星期天，当卡米尔号飓风越过墨西哥湾向西北进袭之时，收音机和电视里整天不断地播放着飓风警报。柯夏克一家居住的地方一—密西西比州的高尔夫港——肯定会遭到这场飓风的猛烈袭击。路易斯安那、密西西比和亚拉巴马三州沿海一带的居民已有将近15万人逃往内陆安全地带。但约翰就像沿海村落中其他成千上万的人一样，不愿舍弃家园，要他下决心弃家外逃，除非等到他的一家人一—妻子詹妮丝以及他们那七个年龄从三岁到十一岁的孩子一一眼看着就要灾祸临头。lash(v.):movequicklyorviolently猛烈冲击；拍打pummel(n.):beatorhitwithrepeatedblows，esp．withthefist(尤指用拳头)连续地打2Tryingtoreasonoutthebestcourseofaction,hetalkedwithhisfatherandmother,whohadmovedintotheten-roomhousewiththeKoshaksamonthearlierfromCalifornia.HealsoconsultedCharlesHill,alongtimefriend,whohaddrivenfromLasVegasforavisit.为了找出应付这场风灾的最佳对策，他与父母商量过。两位老人是早在一个月前就从加利福尼亚迁到这里来，住进柯夏克一家所住的那幢十个房间的屋子里。他还就此征求过从拉斯韦加斯开车来访的老朋友查理希尔的意见。course(n.):awayofbehaving；mode0fconduct行为；品行；做法reasonout:tofindoutanexplanationorsolutiontoaproblem，bythinkingofallthepossibilities寻找解决途径例：Let'sreasonthisoutinsteadofquarrelling．让我们不要争吵，商量出事情的解决方案3John,37—whosebusinesswasrightthereinhishome(hedesignedanddevelopededucationaltoysandsupplies,andallofMagnaProducts’correspondence,engineeringdrawingsandartworkwerethereonthefirstfloor)—wasfamiliarwiththepowerofahurricane.FouryearsearlierHurricaneBetsyhaddemolishedhisformerhomeafewmileswestofGulfport(Koshakhadmovedhisfamilytoamotelforthenight).Butthathousehadstoodonlyafewfeetabovesealevel.“We’reelevated23feet,”hetoldhisfather,“andwe’reagood250yardsfromthesea.Theplacehasbeenheresince1915,andnohurricanehaseverbotheredit.We’llprobablybeassafehereasanyplaceelse.”2约翰的全部产业就在自己家里(他开办的玛格纳制造公司是设计、研制各种教育玩具和教育用品的。公司的一切往来函件、设计图纸和工艺模具全都放在一楼)。37岁的他对飓风的威力是深有体会的。四年前，他原先拥有的位于高尔夫港以西几英里外的那个家就曾毁于贝翠号飓风(那场风灾前夕柯夏克已将全家搬到一家汽车旅馆过夜)。不过，当时那幢房子所处的地势偏低，高出海平面仅几英尺。“我们现在住的这幢房子高了23英尺，’他对父亲说，“而且距离海边足有250码远。这幢房子是1915年建造的。至今还从未受到过飓风的袭击。我们呆在这儿恐怕是再安全不过了。”agood:atleast，full至少，最少例：Theywaitedagoodeighthours他们等了至少8个小时。demolish(v.):pulldown．teardown，orsmashtopieces(abuilding，etc．)，destroy：ruin拉倒；打碎；拆毁；破坏；毁灭motel(n.):ahotelintendedprimarilyforthosetravelingbycar,usuallywithdirectaccessfromeachroomtoanareaforcars汽车游客旅馆4TheelderKoshak,agruff,warmheartedexpertmachinistof67agreed.“Wecanbattendownandrideitout,”hesaid.“Ifweseesignsofdanger,wecangetoutbeforedark.”老柯夏克67岁．是个语粗心慈的熟练机械师。他对儿子的意见表示赞同。“我们是可以严加防卫。度过难关的，”他说?“一但发现危险信号，我们还可以赶在天黑之前撤出去。”gruff(adj.):roughorsurlyinmannerorspeech；harshandthroaty；hoarse粗暴的，粗鲁的；粗哑的。嘶哑的batten(n.):fastenwithbattens用压条钉住(或固定)5Themenmethodicallypreparedforthehurricane.Sincewatermainsmightbedamaged,theyfilledbathtubsandpails.Apowerfailurewaslikely,sotheycheckedoutbatteriesfortheportableradioandflashlights,andfuelforthelantern.John’sfathermovedasmallgeneratorintothedownstairshallway,wiredseverallightbulbstoitandpreparedaconnectiontotherefrigerator.为了对付这场飓风，几个男子汉有条不紊地做起准备工作来。自米水管道可能遭到破坏，他们把浴盆和提俑都盛满水。飓风也可能造成断电，所以他们检查手提式收音机和手电筒里的电池以及提灯里的燃料油。约翰的父亲将一台小发电机搬到楼下门厅里．接上几个灯泡。并做好把发电机与电冰箱接通的准备。methodically(adv.):orderly，systematically有秩序地；有条理地main(n.):aprincipalpipe,orlineinadistributingsystemforwater,gas,electricity,etc(自来水，煤气，电等的)总管bathtub(n.):atub，nowusuallyabathroomfixture，inwhichtotakeabath浴盆，浴缸generator(n.):amachineforchangingmechanicalenergyintoelectricalenergy；dynamo发电机，发动机6Rainfellsteadilythatafternoon;graycloudsscuddedinfromtheGulfontherisingwind.Thefamilyhadanearlysupper.Aneighbor,whosehusbandwasinVietnam,askedifsheandhertwochildrencouldsitoutthestormwiththeKoshaks.Anotherneighborcamebyonhiswayinland—wouldtheKoshaksmindtakingcareofhis3dog?那天下午，雨一直下个不停．乌云随着越来越猛的暴风从海湾上空席卷而来。全家早早地用晚餐。邻居中一个丈夫去了越南的妇女跑过来。问她和她的两个孩子是否能搬进柯夏克家躲避风灾：另一个准备向内陆带转移的邻居也跑来问柯夏克家能否替他照看一下他的狗。sitout:stayuntiltheendof坐到结束例：Weforcedourselvestosittheplayout．我们强迫自己坐到演出结束scud(v.):runormoveswiftly；glideorskimalongeasily疾行，飞驰；掠过7Itgrewdarkbefore7o’clock.Windandrainnowwhippedthehouse.Johnsenthisoldestsonanddaughterupstairstobringdownmattressesandpillowsfortheyoungchildren.Hewantedtokeepthegrouptogetherononefloor.“Stayawayfromthewindows,”hewarned,concernedaboutglassflyingfromstorm-shatteredpane.Asthewindmountedtoaroar,thehousebeganleaking—therainseeminglydrivenrightthroughthewalls.Withmops,towels,potsandbucketstheKoshaksbeganastruggleagainsttherapidlyspreadingwater.At8:30,powerfailed,andKoshakturnedonthegenerator.不到七点钟，天就黑了．，狂风暴雨拍打着屋子。约翰让大儿子和大女儿上楼去取来被褥和枕头给几个小一点的孩子。他想把全家人都集中在同一层楼上。“不要靠近窗户!”他警告说，担心在飓风巾震破的玻璃碎片会飞来伤人。风凶猛地咆哮起来?屋子开始漏雨了……那雨水好像能穿墙透壁，往屋里直灌。一家人都操起拖把、毛巾、盆罐和水桶，展开了一场排水战。到八点半钟，电没有了。柯夏克老爹便启动了小发电机。pane(n.):asingledivisionofawindow，etc.，consistingofasheetofglassinaframe；suchasheetofglass窗格；窗格玻璃mattress(n.):acasingofstrongclothorotherfabricfilledwithcotton，hair，foamrubber，etc．床垫；褥子8Theroarofthehurricanenowwasoverwhelming.The