The crowd parted to allow the ambulance through. It stopped ten feet from the ladders, from the man hanging by his feet and his would-be rescuers. Two medics and a fireman jumped out, removed the ladders, shooed back Frohmeyer and his cohorts, then one of them drove the ambulance carefully under Mr. Krank.
"Luther, what are you doing up there?" Nora yelled as she rushed through the crowd
"What does it look like?" he yelled back, and his head pounded harder.
"Are you okay?"
"Wonderful."
The medics and the fireman crawled up on the hood¹ of the ambulance, quickly lifted Luther a few inches, unraveled the cord and the rope, then eased him down. A few folks applauded, but most seemed indifferent.
The medics checked his vitals, then lowered him to the ground and carried him to the back of the ambulance, where the doors were open. Luther's feet were numb² and he couldn't stand. He was shivering, so a medic draped two orange blankets over him. As he sat there in the back of the ambulance, looking toward the street, trying to ignore the gawking mob that was no doubt reveling in his humiliation³, Luther could only feel relief. His headfirst slide down the roof had been brief but horrifying⁴. He was lucky to be conscious right now.
Let them stare. Let them gawk. He ached too much to care.
Nora was there to inspect him. She recognized the fireman Kistler and the medic Kendall as the two fine young men who'd stopped by a couple of weeks ago selling fruitcakes for their holiday fund-raiser. She thanked them for rescuing her husband.
"You wanna go to the hospital?" asked Kendall.
"Just a precaution," said Kistler.
"No thanks," Luther said, his teeth chattering⁵. "Nothing's broken." At that moment, though, everything felt broken.
A police car arrived in a rush and parked in the street, of course with its lights still flashing. Treen and Salino jumped out and strutted⁶ through the crowd to observe things.
Frohmeyer, Becker, Kerr, Scheel, Brixley, Kropp, Galdy, Bellington-they all eased in around Luther and Nora.

点击收听单词发音  

1 hood
n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖
参考例句：
She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。 The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

2 numb
adj.麻木的，失去感觉的；v.使麻木
参考例句：
His fingers were numb with cold.他的手冻得发麻。 Numb with cold,we urged the weary horses forward.我们冻得发僵，催着疲惫的马继续往前走。

3 humiliation
n.羞辱
参考例句：
He suffered the humiliation of being forced to ask for his cards.他蒙受了被迫要求辞职的羞辱。 He will wish to revenge his humiliation in last Season's Final.他会为在上个季度的决赛中所受的耻辱而报复的。

4 horrifying
a.令人震惊的，使人毛骨悚然的
参考例句：
He went to great pains to show how horrifying the war was. 他极力指出战争是多么的恐怖。 The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate. 战争的可能性太可怕了，真不堪细想。

5 chattering
n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式
参考例句：
The teacher told the children to stop chattering in class. 老师叫孩子们在课堂上不要叽叽喳喳讲话。 I was so cold that my teeth were chattering. 我冷得牙齿直打战。

6 strutted
趾高气扬地走，高视阔步( strut的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
The players strutted and posed for the cameras. 运动员昂首阔步，摆好姿势让记者拍照。 Peacocks strutted on the lawn. 孔雀在草坪上神气活现地走来走去。

7 spike
n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效
参考例句：
The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。 They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

8 banal
adj.陈腐的，平庸的
参考例句：
Making banal remarks was one of his bad habits.他的坏习惯之一就是喜欢说些陈词滥调。 The allegations ranged from the banal to the bizarre.从平淡无奇到离奇百怪的各种说法都有。

9 hemlock
n.毒胡萝卜，铁杉
参考例句：
He was condemned to drink a cup of hemlock.判处他喝一杯毒汁。 Here is a beech by the side of a hemlock,with three pines at hand.这儿有株山毛榉和一株铁杉长在一起，旁边还有三株松树。

10 gist
n.要旨；梗概
参考例句：
Can you give me the gist of this report?你能告诉我这个报告的要点吗？ He is quick in grasping the gist of a book.他敏于了解书的要点。

11 blurted
v.突然说出，脱口而出( blurt的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
She blurted it out before I could stop her. 我还没来得及制止，她已脱口而出。 He blurted out the truth, that he committed the crime. 他不慎说出了真相，说是他犯了那个罪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 rippled
使泛起涟漪（ripple的过去式与过去分词形式）
参考例句：
The lake rippled gently. 湖面轻轻地泛起涟漪。 The wind rippled the surface of the cornfield. 微风吹过麦田，泛起一片麦浪。

13 onlookers
n.旁观者，观看者( onlooker的名词复数 )
参考例句：
A crowd of onlookers gathered at the scene of the crash. 在撞车地点聚集了一大群围观者。 The onlookers stood at a respectful distance. 旁观者站在一定的距离之外，以示尊敬。

14 corps
n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组
参考例句：
The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。 When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

15 analyze
vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)
参考例句：
We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。 The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

16 analyzed
v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析
参考例句：
The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》 The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程，因为对他来说，爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 tingling
v.有刺痛感( tingle的现在分词 )
参考例句：
My ears are tingling [humming; ringing; singing]. 我耳鸣。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》 My tongue is tingling. 舌头发麻。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

18 trout
n.鳟鱼；鲑鱼(属)
参考例句：
Thousands of young salmon and trout have been killed by the pollution.成千上万的鲑鱼和鳟鱼的鱼苗因污染而死亡。 We hooked a trout and had it for breakfast.我们钓了一条鳟鱼，早饭时吃了。

19 scatter
vt.撒，驱散，散开；散布/播；vi.分散，消散
参考例句：
You pile everything up and scatter things around.你把东西乱堆乱放。 Small villages scatter at the foot of the mountain.村庄零零落落地散布在山脚下。

20 disperse
vi.使分散；使消失；vt.分散；驱散
参考例句：
The cattle were swinging their tails to disperse the flies.那些牛甩动着尾巴驱赶苍蝇。 The children disperse for the holidays.孩子们放假了。

21 queried
v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问
参考例句：
She queried what he said. 她对他说的话表示怀疑。 来自《简明英汉词典》 \"What does he have to do?\" queried Chin dubiously. “他有什么心事？”琴向觉民问道，她的脸上现出疑惑不解的神情。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

22 cane
n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的
参考例句：
This sugar cane is quite a sweet and juicy.这甘蔗既甜又多汁。 English schoolmasters used to cane the boys as a punishment.英国小学老师过去常用教鞭打男学生作为惩罚。

23 vowed
起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）
参考例句：
He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。 I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

24 prospect
n.前景，前途；景色，视野
参考例句：
This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。 The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

25 groom
vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁
参考例句：
His father was a groom.他父亲曾是个马夫。 George was already being groomed for the top job.为承担这份高级工作，乔治已在接受专门的培训。

26 unity
n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调
参考例句：
When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。 We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。