Eight Killed as Train Derails Near Sydney
Eight people were killed and at least 12 seriously injured when a rush-hour commuter train derailed in
rugged bushland south of Sydney on Friday, trapping passengers.
It took rescuers more than three hours to free the passengers trapped in the twisted wreckage of the four-carriage train. Police initially used rocks to smash their way into two overturned carriages.
The derailed train was lying zig-zagged across the track as people were carried away from the scene on stretchers, covered in blood and wrapped in bandages. About 36 ambulances were on standby to ferry the injured to nearby hospitals.
「参考译文」
在悉尼列车脱轨事故中有八人遇难
一列高峰时刻的通勤客车星期五在悉尼南部崎岖的丛林地区脱轨,在这起事故中有8名旅客遇难,至少12人受重伤,同时还有乘客被困在车厢内。
救援人员花了3个多小时才把受困于扭曲的四节车厢列车的残骸中的旅客营救出来。起初,警察是用石块开路才得以进入两节已经倾覆的车厢。
脱轨的客车呈之字形横陈在铁轨上。受伤的旅客被用担架抬离事故现场,他们的身上满是鲜血,缠满了绷带。约有36辆原地待命的救护车准备将伤者送往附近的医院。
「精解」
这是一则有关火车出轨事故的报道。标题很精简,主句是被动语态,省略了助动词are. 并且为突出新闻的时效性,用了一般现在时。
第一段中,a rush-hour commuter train 意为"一列上班高峰时间的通勤列车"。Rush-hour, 我想大家都很熟悉啦,就是"交通高峰时间,交通拥挤时间",还可以说peak-hour. 请再看一个例子:
I got caught in the rush-hour traffic. 我遇上了高峰时间的车辆,寸步难行。
Commuter, 其动词形式是commute, 意思是"定期往返于两地间,每天往返上下班". commuter, 即"每天往返上下班的人,跑通勤的人"。 这里用如
形容词,commuter train, 就是"通勤列车"的意思。另外,commute一字也可做名词,此时表示来回往返的实例,尤指来回往返的路程。例如: a 22-mile commute二十二英里的通勤路程.
Derail, 是由词头de- 和 rail(铁轨)构成的,意为"脱轨"。类似
构词法的单字还有debone(剔骨),dethrone(废黜),demilitarize(解除武装,使...非军事化)等等很多。它还可用于比喻义,例如:
Renewed fighting threatened to derail the peace talks. 再次发生的交战将要中断和平谈判。
Bushland, "未开垦的森林地带"。 请注意接下来的trap,这是个很有用的词。它的意思是"使...陷入困境"。又如:
Twenty miners were trapped
underground after the gas
explosion. 瓦斯爆炸后有二十名矿工被困井下。
还可以用get caught, stick表示相近的意思,例如:
The company is caught between the need to invest more money and the need to keep costs as low as possible. 公司陷入了既需要增加投资,又需要尽可能压缩费用的两难境地。
The wheels of the car stuck in the mud and we could not go on. 车轮陷入泥里,我们不能前进了。
第二段中,wreckage, 指失事后飞机、车辆或轮船的残骸。我们还可以使用remains, ruins, remnants等,不过要注意这些词都是
复数形式。Smash their way into是一个生动的说法,即警察用石块砸碎车厢的玻璃等进入车厢搜寻幸存者的。请再看一例:
An uncontrolled race car slammed its way into the
roadside onlookers. 一辆失控的赛车撞向路边旁观的人群。
第三段中,on standby,这又是个很有用的短语,意为"待命"。Ferry, 做名词的意思是"渡口、渡船",做动词为"乘渡船度过",更进一步引申为"(用交通工具)运送"。 再看一例:
The organization uses planes to ferry food to the refugees. 这个组织用飞机向难民运送食品。
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短语讲解生词表: