Tom Swift for a moment was torn between duty and ambition.

 

His machine was winging along at wonderful speed and he was beginning to make up for much time lost. To slow up, descend¹ and rescue these two on the raft meant more delay—a delay that would be dangerous to his chances of winning the prize. He did not know how many or what other ships, whether of the air or the sea, containing his rivals, might be ahead of him or close behind.

 

But it was for only a moment that Tom hesitated. He gave one look down at the despairing, helpless men on the raft and cried to Ned:

 

“We’ll go down!”

 

Ned knew, as well as Tom, what this might mean.

 

As the young inventor sprang into the motor room to give the order to Hartman, who was on duty, he practically gave up all hope of winning the race. Yet he had no regrets.

 

There was another thought that came to Tom as he told the surprised Hartman what was about to be done and mentioned the raft with the shipwrecked ones on it. This was the problem of caring for the two castaways when they were taken aboard the Air Monarch³.

 

“There’s hardly room for them,” reasoned Tom. “Their added weight will hold me back, even if I’m able to make up any of this lost time. And we haven’t any too much food. Didn’t have a chance to lay in any at the camps of the pirates and head-hunters,” he grimly reflected.

 

But he did not hesitate, and a little later two very thankful, but much wondering, men were being taken aboard the airship. They were thankful for their rescue but surprised at the manner of it.

 

“We thought some steamer might pick us up,” said one, “but we never counted on something coming out of the sky to do it.”

 

“Sam thought I was out of my head when I told him an airship was coming,” remarked the other.

 

Tom had sent his craft slowly over the water on her pontoons as close as he dared to go to the raft, and the men had leaped into the sea, swimming the intervening distance, since it would take but a slight bump from the jagged edges of the raft to puncture⁴ the frail

首页  上一页 [1] [2]  [3]  下一页  尾页

点击收听单词发音  

1 descend
vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降
参考例句：
I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。 We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。

2 wrecked
adj.失事的，遇难的
参考例句：
the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸 the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞

3 monarch
n.帝王，君主，最高统治者
参考例句：
The monarch's role is purely ceremonial.君主纯粹是个礼仪职位。 I think myself happier now than the greatest monarch upon earth.我觉得这个时候比世界上什么帝王都快乐。

4 puncture
n.刺孔，穿孔；v.刺穿，刺破
参考例句：
Failure did not puncture my confidence.失败并没有挫伤我的信心。 My bicycle had a puncture and needed patching up.我的自行车胎扎了个洞，需要修补。

5 frail
adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的
参考例句：
Mrs. Warner is already 96 and too frail to live by herself.华纳太太已经九十六岁了，身体虚弱，不便独居。 She lay in bed looking particularly frail.她躺在床上，看上去特别虚弱。

6 lumber
n.木材，木料；v.以破旧东西堆满；伐木；笨重移动
参考例句：
The truck was sent to carry lumber.卡车被派出去运木材。 They slapped together a cabin out of old lumber.他们利用旧木料草草地盖起了一间小屋。

7 schooner
n.纵帆船
参考例句：
The schooner was driven ashore.那条帆船被冲上了岸。 The current was bearing coracle and schooner southward at an equal rate.急流正以同样的速度将小筏子和帆船一起冲向南方。

8 delirium
n. 神智昏迷,说胡话;极度兴奋
参考例句：
In her delirium, she had fallen to the floor several times. 她在神志不清的状态下几次摔倒在地上。 For the next nine months, Job was in constant delirium.接下来的九个月，约伯处于持续精神错乱的状态。

9 bunks
n.（车、船等倚壁而设的）铺位( bunk的名词复数 )；空话，废话v.（车、船等倚壁而设的）铺位( bunk的第三人称单数 )；空话，废话
参考例句：
These bunks can tip up and fold back into the wall. 这些铺位可以翻起来并折叠收入墙内。 来自《简明英汉词典》 At last they turned into their little bunks in the cart. 最后他们都钻进车内的小卧铺里。 来自辞典例句

10
参考例句：

11 mid
adj.中央的，中间的
参考例句：
Our mid-term exam is pending.我们就要期中考试了。 He switched over to teaching in mid-career.他在而立之年转入教学工作。

12 looming
n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近
参考例句：
The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》 Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望

13 permissible
adj.可允许的，许可的
参考例句：
Is smoking permissible in the theatre?在剧院里允许吸烟吗？ Delay is not permissible,even for a single day.不得延误，即使一日亦不可。

14 shipping
n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）
参考例句：
We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。 There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

15 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。

16 desperately
adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地
参考例句：
He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。 He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

分享到：