Braving the elements老人与儿子的壮举

张艳峰

一架小飞机坠毁，掉进冰冻的小溪。在飞行员的性命堪忧时，一位老人毅然带着儿子划着皮艇穿过冰面，前去营救，而警察也及时赶到。

主题语境：紧急救援 篇幅：364词 建议用时：7分钟

1 Gelinne was gazing out the back windows of hishome in Maryland at frozen Beards Creek when hisdaughter cried，“ Look！” Gelinne looked up just in time tosee a small aircraft a few hundred yards away， losing control.

2 Realizing it was going to land in the stream， Gelinnedidn＇t hesitate and ran down to the waterfront. The plane hadslided to a stop on the broad， frozen stream， far from the shore.It was now sinking. Gelinne knew from his navy training thateven a few minutes in the icy water could kill the pilot.

3 Gelinne tested the ice with his foot and decided not to walk on it. So he and his son，John Jr.， pulled two kayaks （皮艇） out. The kayaks＇ paddles （船槳） proved too weak， so thepair tried using shovels （铁铲） to push the boats along. Their first attempts left themspinning in circles. But with some muscle， they made progress.

4 The two men set off， pushing their boats across the ice. It was exhausting work. WhenGelinne reached the plane， it had broken through the ice and sunk; only its tail was visible.The pilot was standing on a tail wing， submerged （淹没） up to his chest， surrounded by open water. Gelinne pushed his kayak off the ice and into the water， paddling toward thepilot.

5 With his son nearby， Gelinne focused on keeping the pilot calm. The pilot grabbedthe kayak＇s bow. Now the two men were floating together， but Gelinne knew he had toget the pilot out of the water before the man lost too much body heat. But each timeGelinne tried to land atop the ice shelf， the kayak broke through it.

6 By now a police officer had arrived and radioed for help. A boat from the MarylandDepartment of Natural Resources appeared， breaking through ice as it arrived. It pickedup the pilot， Steve Couchman， and rushed him to safety. Later the boat returned to helpGelinne， now exhausted， to reach shore. John Jr. made his own way back after saving a bagcontaining vital flight logs， which the pilot had thrown onto the ice.

Reading Check

Detail

1. What accident happened according to the text？

A. A small plane got lost.

B. A small plane fell fast.

C. Gelinnes daughter suddenly cried.

D. A pilot landed on the stream.

Inference

2. What was Gelinne maybe？

A. A police officer. B. An expert voyager.

C. A navy commander. D. An experienced pilot.

Gist

3. What are paragraphs 3 and 4 mainly about？

A. How Gelinne and his son tried to rescue the pilot.

B. How Gelinne and his son pushed the kayaks ahead.

C. How Gelinne and his son managed to save the pilot.

D. How Gelinne and his son floated together in the water.

Detail

4. How many people joined in the rescue？

A. Only one. B. Only two.

C. At least three. D. At least four.

Language Study

Ⅰ. Difficult sentences in the text

1. Gelinne was gazing out the back windows of his home in Maryland at frozen BeardsCreek when his daughter cried，“ Look！” 在马里兰州的家中，格莱尼正透过他家的后窗看着外面结冰的比尔德斯河，突然他的女儿大喊：“快看！”

【点石成金】本句用了“be doing...when...”的结构，该结构意为“正在做某事，这时（突然）……”，when为并列连词，表示“就在这时（突然）”。

2. Now the two men were floating together， but Gelinne knew he had to get the pilotout of the water before the man lost too much body heat. 现在，两个人一起漂浮在水中，但格莱尼知道，他必须在飞行员失去太多体温之前将他救出水面。

【点石成金】本句是一个由but连接的并列句。第一个分句是简单句；第二个分句是復合句，Gelinne knew he had to get the pilot out of the water是主句，其中he had to getthe pilot out of the water是宾语从句，作knew的宾语，before the man lost too much bodyheat是时间状语从句。

Ⅱ. Fill in the blanks with the words and phrases in the box in proper forms.

gaze at land surround focus on each time rush exhausted

1. They were the first men to ________ on the moon.

2. He was so ________ that he fell asleep at his desk.

3. We got an ambulance and ________ her to hospital.

4. Here I would like to ________ one question in particular.

5. Your eyes should naturally ________ the middle of the computer screen.

6. I still find it terrifying to find myself ________ by large numbers of horses.

7. ________ this was mentioned， he would give a bitter smile and shake his head.