When a plane from London arrived at Sydney airport, workers began to unload a number of wooden boxes which contained clothing. No one could account for the fact that one of the boxes was extremely heavy. It suddenly occurred to one of the workers to open up the box. He was astonished at what he found. A man was lying in the box on top of a pile of woollen goods. He was so surprised at being discovered that he did not even try to run away. After he was arrested,the man admitted hiding in the box before the plane left London. He had had a long and uncomfortable trip, for he had been confined to the wooden box for over eighteen hours. The man was ordered to pay £3,500 for the cost of the trip. The normal price of a ticket is £2,000!
New words and expressions 生词和短语
unload(1.2) /ʌn'ləud/ v.卸(货)
wooden(1.2) /'wudn/adj. 木制的
goods (1.6)/guds/n. (常用复数)货物,商品
extremely(1.3)/ik'stri:mli/adv.非常,极其
discover(1.7)/dis'kʌvə/v.发现
occur(1.4)/ə'kə:/v.发生
admit(1.8)/əd'mit/v. 承认
astonish(1.5)/ə'stɔniʃ/v. 使惊讶
confine(1.9)/kən'fain/v. 关在(一个狭小的空间里)
pile(1.6)/pail/n. 堆
woollen(1.6)/'wulən/ n. 羊毛的
normal (1.10)/'nɔ:məl/ adj. 正常的,通常的
Notes on the text 课文注释
1 a number of, 许多。
2 No one could account for the fact that…, 谁也弄不清……这样一个事实。account for 有“说明原因”的意思;that后面的从句用来进一步说明这个“事实”本身,在语法上称作同位语。
3 It suddenly occurred to one of the workers to open up the box. 突然一个工人想到打开箱子看看。occur to可译作“想起”。在这句话中, it是先行词,主语是动词不定式 to open up the box。
4 He was astonished at what he found. 看到的情景使他吃惊。在这句话中 what引导的名词性从句作介词 at的宾语,其中what相当于 the thing which。
5 on top of,在……之上。
6 He was so surprised at being discovered that he did not even try to run away. 他由于被发现而感到非常吃惊,甚至都没有企图逃跑。这句话的主要句型仍为 so… that…。动名词短语 being discovered是介词 at的宾语,由于是被动语态,因此要用动词 be加上-ing的形式。
7 the man admitted hiding in the box, 这个人承认藏在箱子里。在这句话中动名词 hiding作动词 admit的宾语。