致敬英雄

赖丽霞

一对年迈的夫妇在龙卷风的威胁下被营救出来后，面对一地狼藉，相拥而泣。龙卷风带走了他们的房子，却也带来了足以让他们铭记一生的感动……

As the tornado touched down， windows exploded and framed pictures jumped off the walls. A terrifying sound enveloped the house and part of the roof was blown off. Tyler Manivong， an offduty Nashville police officer， realized immediately those nearby had been hit far worse than he had. He turned on his police radio， grabbed his flashlight and set off to check on his neighbors. He heard on the radio that an elderly couple down the street was trapped in their basement with piles of rubble on top of them.

The elderly couple， Bill and Shirley Wallace， got a phone call from their son Billy on Monday night and knew that a tornado was coming. “OK， no big deal，” Bill Wallace thought. “Well head down there in our sleep clothes， watch the basement TV for a while， and head back upstairs after the storm blows over.” A minute later， winds howled and the basement went black when the power cut out. A loud roar enveloped them. Glass broke， boards cracked and a cabinet fell on top of them， knocking them onto the floor within a few inches of each other.

The roaring ended in 60 seconds. Shirley Wallace stayed on the floor in a ball while her husband crawled around， found a flashlight and saw that they were trapped， with only about 3 feet left over their head and no way out. A water pipe burst， soaking Shirley Wallace. A broken gas pipe burst， filling the room with an acrid（刺鼻的） smell.

Jacob Austin， 42， a reserve officer of sorts， headed to the West Wilson Middle School after the tornado hit. Inside， a woman told him there was a couple trapped a halfmile away in their basement.When he got to the home of the couple， Austin saw a house that had mostly collapsed into the basement. There was no structural integrity. The gas leaked and water lines were broken. “Is there anybody in there？” he shouted， never expecting an answer. “I didnt think someone would be alive with the condition of that house，” he said. Austin heard a faint， calm voice： “Were in here.” Austins heart started to beat faster. By then， Manivong， another offduty officer named Nate Larson， and one of the couples neighbors had arrived. They took turns digging away debris with their bare hands， keeping chatting， soothing， calming and joking with the Wallaces.

When the hole was big enough， Larson crawled in， hugged Shirley Wallace and gently pulled her out while her husband followed. After sitting on some stone steps， Shirley Wallace began to sob. Larson put a hand on her back and told her everything was all right. Bill Wallace teared up the next day while thinking about those people digging him out of danger. “Theyre our heroes，” he said.

Reading Check

1. How did Manivong know that the elderly couple were in danger？

A. By watching TV.

B. By listening to his radio.

C. By reading police newspaper.

D. By calling his neighbors one by one.

2. Whats Bill Wallaces feeling of the tornado when his son called？

A. He thought little of it. B. He was delighted with it.

C. He felt excited about it. D. He was quite frightened of it.

3. What can be inferred from paragraph 4？

A. There was no answer when Austin shouted.

B. The couple was trapped in the local middle school.

C. Austin thought that the couple had died when he arrived.

D. Manivong was the first one to arrive at the couples home.

Language Study

Difficult sentence

A broken gas pipe burst， filling the room with an acrid smell.

【翻譯】

【点石成金】本句中A broken gas pipe为主语，谓语部分为burst，filling the room with an acrid smell作结果状语。