新编英语教程（大一第一学期）unit7语法点Unit 7 When Lightning Struck1.I was in the tiny bathroom in the back of the plane when I felt the slamming jolt, andthen the horrible swerve that threw me against the door. Oh, Lord, I thought, this is it!Somehow I managed to unbolt the door and scramble out. The flight attendants, already strapped in, waved wildly for me to sit down. As I lunged toward my seat, passengers looked up at me with the stricken expressions of creatures who know they are about to die.2.“I think we got hit by lightning,” the girl in the seat next to mine said. She was from asmall town in east Texas, and this was only her second time on an airplane. She had won a trip to England by competing in a high school geography bee and was supposed to make a connecting flight when we landed in Newark.3.In the next seat, at the window, sat a young businessman who had been confidentlyworking. Now he looked worried. And that really worries me —when confident-looking businessmen look worried. The laptop was put away. “Something’s not right,” he said.4.The pilot’s voice came over the speaker. I heard vaguely through my fear, “Enginenumber two ... emergency landing ... New Orleans.” When he was done, the voice of a flight attendant came on, reminding us of the emergency procedures she had reviewed before takeoff. Of course I never paid attention to this drill, always figuring that if we ever got to the point where we needed to use life jackets, Iwould have already died of terror.5.Now we began a roller-coaster ride through the thunderclouds. I was ready to faint, butwhen I saw the face of the girl next to me, I pulled myself together. I reached for her hand and reassured her that we were going to make it. ”What a story you’re going to tell when you get home!” I said. “After this, London’s going to seem like small potatoes.”6.I wondered where I was getting my strength. Then I saw that my other hand was tightlyheld by a ringed hand. Someone was comforting me —a glamorous young woman across the aisle, the female equivalent of the confident businessman. She must have seen how scared I was and reached over.7.“I tell you,” she confided, “the problems I brought up on this plane with me sure don’ts eem real big right now.” I loved her Southern drawl, her indiscriminate use of per fume, and her soulful squeezes. I was sure that even if I survived the plane crash, I’d have a couple of broken fingers from all the TLC.“Are you okay?” she kept asking me.8.Among the many feelings going through my head during those excruciating 20 minuteswas pride —pride in how well everybody on board was behaving. No one panicked. No one screamed. As we jolted and screeched our way downward, I could hear small pockets of soothing conversation everywhere.9.I thought of something I had heard a friend say about the wonderful gift his dying fatherhad given the family: he had died peacefully, as if not toalarm any of them about an experience they would all have to go through someday.10.And then —yes! —we landed safely.Outside on the ground, attendants and officialswere waiting to transfer us to alternative flights. But we passengers clung together. We chatted about the lives we now felt blessed to be living, as difficult or rocky as they might be.The young businessman lamented that he had not a chance to buy his two little girls a present.An older woman offered him her box of expensive Lindt chocolates, still untouched, tied with a lovely bow. “I shouldn’t be eating the m anyhow,” she said. My glamorous aisle mate took out her cell phone and passed it around to anyone who wanted to make a call to hear the reassuring voice of a loved one.11.There was someone I wanted to call. Back in Vermont, my husband, Bill, wasanticipating my arrival late that night. He had been complaining that he wasn’t ge tting to see very much of me because of my book tour. I had planned to surprise him by getting in a few hours early. Now I just wanted him to know I was okay and on my way.12.When my name was finally called to board my new flight,I felt almost tearful to beparting from the people whose lives had so intensely, if briefly, touched mine.13.Even now, back on terra firma, walking down a Vermont road, I sometimes hear anairplane and look up at that small, glinting piece of metal. I remember the passengers on that fateful, lucky flight and wish I could thank them for the many acts of kindness I witnessed andreceived. I am indebted to my fellow passengers and wish I could pay them back.14.But then, remembering my aisle mate’s hand clutching mine while I clutched the handof the high school student, I feel struck by lightning all over again: the point is not to pay back kindness but to pass it on.Paragraphs 1-4Words and Expressions1. lightning: n. a powerful flash of light in the sky caused by electricity passing from one cloud to another or to the earth, usu. followed by thundere.g. He runs as fast as lightning.Collocation:be struck by lightning: be hit by lightninge.g. The tower has been struck by lightning.Derivation:lightning: adj.2. jolt: n. a sudden rough shaking movemente.g. Residents felt the first jolt of the earthquake at about 8 a.m.Derivation:jolt: v.Comparison: jolt, jerkjerk: a sudden quick movementPractice:1) The train moved off with a ________ (jerk)2) I felt every _________ of the bus. (jolt)3. swerve: n. the act of turning asidee.g. The car made a sudden swerve to avoid the dog.Comparison:swirl: the act of turning around quickly in a circular movementDerivation:swerve: v.4. unbolt:v. unlock; release the bolts of (a door, for example)e.g. The shopkeeper unbolted the door and let the customers in.Comparison: unbolt, untieuntie: undo the knots in something or undo something that has been tiedAntonym:bolt5. scramble:v. climb up or over something with difficulty, using your hands to help youe.g. The boys scrambled over the wall.Collocations:scramble up/down/back, etc.e.g. We scrambled up a rocky slope.Synonym:climbDerivation:scramble: n.6. lunge:v. make sudden forceful forward movements of the body, often to make an attacke.g. He lunged at me with a knife.Comparison: lunge, lunglung: one of the two organs in your body that you breathe withe.g. Smoking can cause lung cancer.Derivation:lunge: n.Translation:They both lunged forwards to catch a ball.他们俩都冲上去抢球。
