10 Transport Capsule in Trouble — Attack No. 1

10 Transport Capsule in Trouble — Attack No. 1
While Shuckworth, Shanks and Showler were being chased outof the Space Hotel by the Knids, Mr Wonka's Great GlassElevator was orbiting the Earth at tremendous speed. MrWonka had all his booster-rockets firing and the Elevator wasreaching speeds of thirty-four thousand miles an hour insteadof the normal seventeen thousand. They were trying, you see,to get away from that huge angry Vermicious Knid with thepurple behind. Mr Wonka wasn't afraid of it, but GrandmaJosephine was petrified¹. Every time she looked at it, she let outa piercing scream and clapped her hands over her eyes. Butof course thirty-four thousand miles an hour is dawdling² to aKnid. Healthy young Knids think nothing of travelling a millionmiles between lunch and supper, and then another millionbefore breakfast the next day. How else could they travelbetween the planet Vermes and other stars? Mr Wonka shouldhave known this and saved his rocket-power, but he kept righton going and the giant Knid kept right on cruising effortlesslyalongside, glaring into the Elevator with its wicked red eye. 'Youpeople have bruised³ my backside,' the Knid seemed to besaying, 'and in the end I'm going to get you for that.'
They had been streaking⁴ around the Earth like this for aboutforty-five minutes when Charlie, who was floating comfortablybeside Grandpa Joe near the ceiling, said suddenly, 'There'ssomething ahead! Can you see it, Grandpa? Straight in front ofus!'
'I can, Charlie, I can … Good heavens, it's the Space Hotel!' 'Itcan't be, Grandpa. We left it miles behind us long ago.'
' Ah-ha,' said Mr Wonka. 'We've been going so fast we'vegone all the way around the Earth and caught up with itagain! A splendid effort!'
'And there's the Transport Capsule! Can you see it, Grandpa?
It's just behind the Space Hotel!'
'There's something else there, too, Charlie, if I'm not mistaken!'
'I know what those are!' screamed Grandma Josephine.
'They're Vermicious Knids! Turn back at once!'
'Reverse!' yelled Grandma Georgina. 'Go the other way!'
'Dear lady,' said Mr Wonka. 'This isn't a car on the motorway⁵.
When you are in orbit, you cannot stop and you cannot gobackwards.'
'I don't care about that!' shouted Grandma Josephine. 'Put onthe brakes! Stop! Back-pedal!
The Knids'll get us!'
'Now let's for heaven's sake stop this nonsense once and forall,' Mr Wonka said sternly. 'You know very well my Elevatoris completely Knidproof. You have nothing to fear.'
They were closer now and they could see the Knids pouringout from the tail of the Space Hotel and swarming⁷ like waspsaround the Transport Capsule.
'They're attacking it!' cried Charlie. 'They're after the TransportCapsule!'
It was a fearsome sight. The huge green egg-shaped Knidswere grouping themselves into squadrons with about twentyKnids to a squadron. Then each squadron formed itself into aline abreast⁸, with one yard between Knids. Then, one afteranother, the squadrons began attacking the Transport Capsule.
They attacked in reverse with their pointed⁹ rear-ends in frontand they came in at a fantastic speed.
WHAM! One squadron attacked, bounced off and wheeledaway.
CRASH! Another squadron smashed against the side of theTransport Capsule.
'Get us out of here, you madman!' screamed GrandmaJosephine. 'What are you waiting for?'
'They'll be coming after us next!' yelled Grandma Georgina. 'Forheaven's sake, man, turn back!'
'I doubt very much if that capsule of theirs is Knidproof,' saidMr Wonka.
'Then we must help them!' cried Charlie. 'We've got to dosomething! There are a hundred and fifty people inside thatthing!'
Down on the Earth, in the White House study, the Presidentand his advisers¹⁰ were listening in horror to the voices of theastronauts over the radio.
'They're coming at us in droves!' Shuckworth was shouting.
'They're bashing us to bits!' 'But who?' yelled the President.
'You haven't even told us who's attacking you!'
'These dirty great greenish-brown brutes¹¹ with red eyes!'
shouted Shanks, butting¹² in. 'They're shaped like enormous eggsand they're coming at us backwards⁶!'
'Backwards?' cried the President. 'Why backwards?'
'Because their bottoms are even more pointy than their tops!'
shouted Shuckworth. 'Look out! Here comes another lot!'
BANG! 'We won't be able to stand this much longer, MrPresident! The waitresses are screaming and the chambermaidsare all hysterical¹³ and the bell-boys are being sick and the hallporters are saying their prayers so what shall we do, MrPresident, sir, what on earth shall we do?'
'Fire your rockets, you idiot, and make a re-entry!' shouted thePresident. 'Come back to Earth immediately!'
'That's impossible!' cried Showler. 'They've busted¹⁴ our rockets!
They've smashed them to smithereens!'
'We're cooked, Mr President!' shouted Shanks. 'We're done for!
Because even if they don't succeed in destroying the capsule,we'll have to stay up here in orbit for the rest of our lives!
We can't make a re-entry without rockets!'
The President was sweating and the sweat ran all the waydown the back of his neck and inside his collar.
'Any moment now, Mr President,' Shanks went on, 'we're goingto lose contact with you altogether! There's another lot comingat us from the left and they're aiming straight for our radioaerial! Here they come! I don't think we'll be able to …' Thevoice cut. The radio went dead.
'Shanks!' cried the President. 'Where are you, Shanks? …Shuckworth! Shanks! Showler! … Showlworth! Shucks! Shankler!
… Shankworth! Show! Shuckler! Why don't you answer me?!'
Up in the Great Glass Elevator where they had no radio andcould hear nothing of these conversations, Charlie was saying,'Surely their only hope is to make a re-entry and dive back toEarth quickly!'
'Yes,' said Mr Wonka. 'But in order to re-enter the Earth'satmosphere they've got to kick themselves out of orbit. They'vegot to change course and head downwards¹⁵ and to do thatthey need rockets! But their rocket tubes are all dented¹⁶ andbent! You can see that from here! They're crippled!'
'Why can't we tow them down?' Charlie asked.
Mr Wonka jumped. Even though he was floating, he somehowjumped. He was so excited he shot upwards¹⁷ and hit his headon the ceiling. Then he spun¹⁸ round three times in the air andcried, 'Charlie! You've got it! That's it! We'll tow them out oforbit! To the buttons, quick!'
'What do we tow them with?' asked Grandpa Joe. 'Ourneckties?'
'Don't you worry about a little thing like that!' cried MrWonka. 'My Great Glass Elevator is ready for anything! In wego! Into the breach¹⁹, dear friends, into the breach!'
'Stop him!' screamed Grandma Josephine.
'You be quiet, Josie,' said Grandpa Joe. 'There's someone overthere needs a helping²⁰ hand and it's our job to give it. Ifyou're frightened, you'd better just close your eyes tight andstick your fingers in your ears.'

1 petrified   

adj.惊呆的；目瞪口呆的v.使吓呆，使惊呆；变僵硬；使石化(petrify的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• I'm petrified of snakes. 我特别怕蛇。
• The poor child was petrified with fear. 这可怜的孩子被吓呆了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 dawdling   

adj.闲逛的，懒散的v.混（时间）( dawdle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Stop dawdling! We're going to be late! 别磨蹭了，咱们快迟到了！
• It was all because of your dawdling that we were late. 都是你老磨蹭，害得我们迟到了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 bruised   

[医]青肿的，瘀紫的

参考例句：

• his bruised and bloodied nose 他沾满血的青肿的鼻子
• She had slipped and badly bruised her face. 她滑了一跤，摔得鼻青脸肿。

4 streaking   

n.裸奔（指在公共场所裸体飞跑）v.快速移动( streak的现在分词 )；使布满条纹

参考例句：

• Their only thought was of the fiery harbingers of death streaking through the sky above them. 那个不断地在空中飞翔的死的恐怖把一切别的感觉都赶走了。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• Streaking is one of the oldest tricks in the book. 裸奔是有书面记载的最古老的玩笑之一。 来自互联网

5 motorway   

n.高速公路，快车道

参考例句：

• Our car had a breakdown on the motorway.我们的汽车在高速公路上抛锚了。
• A maniac driver sped 35 miles along the wrong side of a motorway at 110 mph.一个疯狂的司机以每小时110英里的速度在高速公路上逆行飙车35英里。

6 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

7 swarming   

密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去

参考例句：

• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。
• The beach is swarming with bathers. 海滩满是海水浴的人。

8 abreast   

adv.并排地；跟上(时代)的步伐，与…并进地

参考例句：

• She kept abreast with the flood of communications that had poured in.她及时回复如雪片般飞来的大批信件。
• We can't keep abreast of the developing situation unless we study harder.我们如果不加强学习，就会跟不上形势。

9 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

10 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

11 brutes   

兽( brute的名词复数 )； 畜生； 残酷无情的人； 兽性

参考例句：

• They're not like dogs; they're hideous brutes. 它们不像狗，是丑陋的畜牲。
• Suddenly the foul musty odour of the brutes struck his nostrils. 突然，他的鼻尖闻到了老鼠的霉臭味。 来自英汉文学

12 butting   

用头撞人（犯规动作）

参考例句：

• When they were talking Mary kept butting in. 当他们在谈话时，玛丽老是插嘴。
• A couple of goats are butting each other. 两只山羊在用角互相顶撞。

13 hysterical   

adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的

参考例句：

• He is hysterical at the sight of the photo.他一看到那张照片就异常激动。
• His hysterical laughter made everybody stunned.他那歇斯底里的笑声使所有的人不知所措。

14 busted   

adj. 破产了的，失败了的，被降级的，被逮捕的，被抓到的 动词bust的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• You are so busted! 你被当场逮住了！
• It was money troubles that busted up their marriage. 是金钱纠纷使他们的婚姻破裂了。

15 downwards   

adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地）

参考例句：

• He lay face downwards on his bed.他脸向下伏在床上。
• As the river flows downwards,it widens.这条河愈到下游愈宽。

16 dented   

v.使产生凹痕( dent的过去式和过去分词 )；损害；伤害；挫伤（信心、名誉等）

参考例句：

• The back of the car was badly dented in the collision. 汽车尾部被撞后严重凹陷。
• I'm afraid I've dented the car. 恐怕我把车子撞瘪了一些。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

18 spun   

v.纺，杜撰，急转身

参考例句：

• His grandmother spun him a yarn at the fire.他奶奶在火炉边给他讲故事。
• Her skilful fingers spun the wool out to a fine thread.她那灵巧的手指把羊毛纺成了细毛线。

19 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

20 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。