39 · 不必担心
Nothing to Worry About
读懂长句与段落衔接，分清事实、推断和观点，再连贯复述或说明。
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The rough road across the plain soon became so bad that we tried to get Bruce to drive back to the village we had come from. Even though the road was littered with boulders and pitted with holes, Bruce was not in the least perturbed. Glancing at his map, he informed us that the next village was a mere twenty miles away. It was not that Bruce always underestimated difficulties. He simply had no sense of danger at all. No matter what the conditions were, he believed that a car should be driven as fast as it could possibly go.
As we bumped over the dusty track, we swerved to avoid large boulders. The wheels scooped up stones which hammered ominously under the car. We felt sure that sooner or later a stone would rip a hole in our petrol tank or damage the engine. Because of this, we kept looking back, wondering if we were leaving a trail of oil and petrol behind us.
What a relief it was when the boulders suddenly disappeared, giving way to a stretch of plain where the only obstacles were clumps of bushes. But there was worse to come. Just ahead of us there was a huge fissure. In response to renewed pleadings, Bruce stopped. Though we all got out to examine the fissure, he remained in the car. We informed him that the fissure extended for fifty yards and was two feet wide and four feet deep. Even this had no effect. Bruce went into a low gear and drove at a terrifying speed, keeping the front wheels astride the crack as he followed its zigzag course. Before we had time to worry about what might happen, we were back on the plain again. Bruce consulted the map once more and told us that the village was now only fifteen miles away. Our next obstacle was a shallow pool of water about half a mile across. Bruce charged at it, but in the middle, the car came to a grinding halt. A yellow light on the dashboard flashed angrily and Bruce cheerfully announced that there was no oil in the engine!
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整篇课文
The rough road across the plain soon became so bad that we tried to get Bruce to drive back to the village we had come from. Even though the road was littered with boulders and pitted with holes, Bruce was not in the least perturbed. Glancing at his map, he informed us that the next village was a mere twenty miles away. It was not that Bruce always underestimated difficulties. He simply had no sense of danger at all. No matter what the conditions were, he believed that a car should be driven as fast as it could possibly go.
As we bumped over the dusty track, we swerved to avoid large boulders. The wheels scooped up stones which hammered ominously under the car. We felt sure that sooner or later a stone would rip a hole in our petrol tank or damage the engine. Because of this, we kept looking back, wondering if we were leaving a trail of oil and petrol behind us.
What a relief it was when the boulders suddenly disappeared, giving way to a stretch of plain where the only obstacles were clumps of bushes. But there was worse to come. Just ahead of us there was a huge fissure. In response to renewed pleadings, Bruce stopped. Though we all got out to examine the fissure, he remained in the car. We informed him that the fissure extended for fifty yards and was two feet wide and four feet deep. Even this had no effect. Bruce went into a low gear and drove at a terrifying speed, keeping the front wheels astride the crack as he followed its zigzag course. Before we had time to worry about what might happen, we were back on the plain again. Bruce consulted the map once more and told us that the village was now only fifteen miles away. Our next obstacle was a shallow pool of water about half a mile across. Bruce charged at it, but in the middle, the car came to a grinding halt. A yellow light on the dashboard flashed angrily and Bruce cheerfully announced that there was no oil in the engine!
穿过平原的路本来就崎岖不平，走着走着，路况坏到了让我们忍不住劝布鲁斯掉头，返回来时的那个村庄。可即使路上满是巨石和坑洞，他也丝毫不慌。瞥了一眼地图，他告诉我们，下个村子只有二十英里远。倒不是布鲁斯总把困难估计得太轻，而是他压根儿就没有危险意识。不管路况怎样，他都认为，车就应该能开多快开多快。
我们在尘土飞扬的小路上颠簸，一次次急转方向，避开巨石。车轮卷起的碎石，不时重重敲击车底，听得人心惊。我们认定，迟早会有块石头撞穿油箱，或者打坏发动机，因此不停地回头看，担心车后已经留下了一路机油或汽油。
巨石突然消失，眼前变成一片只有零星灌木挡路的平地，我们总算松了口气。可更糟的还在后头，正前方横着一道巨大的裂缝。在我们一再恳求下，布鲁斯终于停了车。我们都下车查看，他却仍坐在车里。我们告诉他，裂缝长约五十码，宽两英尺，深四英尺，可这仍没让他动摇。他挂上低挡，以令人胆战心惊的速度，把两只前轮分跨在裂缝两侧，沿着弯弯曲曲的裂缝冲了过去。我们还没来得及担忧会出什么事，车就已重新开上平原。布鲁斯又看了看地图，告诉我们，离村庄现在只有十五英里了。下一个障碍是一片浅水塘，横跨约半英里。他一头冲了进去，可开到中央，车子伴着刺耳的摩擦声停了下来。仪表盘上一盏黄灯急促闪烁，布鲁斯却兴高采烈地宣布：发动机里没机油了！
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译文依据整理稿，由本站按中文表达重新校订；解析据吴应时、何景霖整理资料及首轮审校稿；词伙与练习提示为本站学习设计。原PDF第129—131页，2022年2月第3版。