by Jerri Graham
The clock is ticking with each movement bringing death closer. Seconds pass and the scent of disaster grows. Fortunately, this is not your fate. You are watching scenes of disasters that have been carefully recreated using actors, archival footage, Computer Generated Imagining (CGI), eyewitness accounts, and forensic evidence. Only one channel can bring such situations to life─National Geographic. Seconds from Disaster (Season 3) holds your hand and leads you through the moments leading up to tragedies that have shaken the world.
In 1972, the Munich Olympics were underway. On September 5, shortly after four in the morning, Palestinian terrorists killed two Israeli athletes and captured nine others. The ordeal lasted nearly 24 hours and before it was over, all of the hostages were killed along with five terrorists and one German police officer. Go inside this tragedy and watch as the truth is finally brought to light.
Shopping is a pastime many of us indulge in on a regular basis. Imagine if your day at the mall were to turn into your last one on this planet. This is exactly what happened to more than 500 workers and shoppers at a superstore in Seoul, South Korea. On the evening of June 29, 1995, in less than 20 seconds, thousands of tons of rubble buried hundreds alive. Miraculously, two weeks later, survivors were pulled from beneath the concrete. Hear their harrowing tales in Superstore Collapse.
"You jump, I jump, right?" Those words were uttered on-screen in the motion picture, Titanic. Had Jack and Rose been actual passengers on the real ship, they would have jumped for joy at its magnitude and beauty. The ship was said to be "unsinkable," but an iceberg put that claim to bed on April 14, 1912. For decades, theories had floated around about what happened to the ship, but new evidence blows them out of the water.
Watch closely as Seconds from Disaster counts down on some of the greatest tragedies known to man.
1. Why might the series Seconds from Disaster be worth watching?
(A) Real victims are part of the reenactments.
(B) A group of rescue workers wrote and directed the series.
(C) CGI reinvents the stories to make them fit the time of the show.
(D) The stories are recreated through a combination of different things.
2. In total, how many people were killed during the Munich Olympics?
(A) 17.
(B) 9.
(C) 5.
(D) 2.
3. During its time, the Titanic was considered to be ______.
(A) unmanageable
(B) indestructible
(C) unbelievable
(D) intolerable
4. Which of the following do all of these disasters have in common?
(A) Victims were unprepared for the events.
(B) No one knew who started the fires.
(C) Everyone thought the water was safe.
(D) Shopping shouldn't be a scary situation.
單字小鋪
1. archival a. 檔案(紀(jì)錄)的,存盤(pán)的
2. footage n. 影片
3. forensic a. 法庭的
4. underway a. 在進(jìn)行中的
5. capture vt. 擄獲
6. hostage n. 人質(zhì)
7. superstore n. 大型商場(chǎng)
8. rubble n. 瓦礫
9. miraculously adv. 奇跡般地
10. concrete n. 混凝土
11. harrowing a. 痛苦的,悲慘的
12. utter vt. 發(fā)出(聲音)
13. on-screen adv. 在屏幕上
14. motion picture n. 電影
15. magnitude n. 巨大,龐大
16. unsinkable a. 不會(huì)沈的
17. iceberg n. 冰山
18. reenactment n. 重現(xiàn)(以前發(fā)生的事情)
19. unmanageable a. 難以管理的
20. indestructible a. 無(wú)法摧毀的
21. intolerable a. 不能忍受的
詞組小鋪
1. on a regular basis 經(jīng)常地;規(guī)律地
2. in total 總共
3. be unprepared for... 對(duì)……沒(méi)有準(zhǔn)備
難句分析
Had Jack and Rose been actual passengers on the real ship, they would have jumped...
= If Jack and Rose had been actual passengers on the real ship, they would have jumped...
(如果杰克和蘿絲是這艘大船的真正乘客,他們也許會(huì)……而跳。)
精解字詞詞組
1.tick vi.(鐘、表等)發(fā)出滴答聲
tick away 在滴答聲中度過(guò)
例: Time is ticking away and I haven't done a bit of my homework.
(時(shí)間一分一秒溜走,而我的功課一個(gè)字都還沒(méi)寫(xiě)。)
2.lead up to... 漸漸導(dǎo)致……
例: The problems that led up to her leaving her husband were numerous.
(導(dǎo)致她離開(kāi)丈夫的問(wèn)題多得數(shù)不清。)
3.shortly after/before... 在……之后∕之前沒(méi)多久
例: Shortly before a tornado, most people say it sounds like a train is coming.
(在龍卷風(fēng)來(lái)襲前不久,許多人都說(shuō)聽(tīng)到類(lèi)似火車(chē)接近的聲音。)
4.ordeal n. 苦難,折磨
例: Several of the victims of the fire told about their ordeal on the news.
(一些火災(zāi)受害者在新聞中述說(shuō)他們的苦難。)
5.along with... 連同……
= together with...
例: Our dog, along with a hundred others, was poisoned by that dog food.
(我們家的狗,連同其它一百只狗,都因食用那種狗食而中毒。)
6.bring...to light/bring to light... 揭露……
例: The reporter brought to light the truth about the researchers' false claims.
(記者揭露真相,說(shuō)研究人員的說(shuō)法是錯(cuò)誤的。)
7.indulge in... 沉溺于∕縱情于……
例: Kathy indulged in buying Christmas gifts for her friends and family.
(卡西縱情于購(gòu)買(mǎi)圣誕禮物給朋友和家人)
8.bury...alive 將……活埋
例: Last night, I had a dream that all of my shoes fell on top of me and buried me alive.
(昨晚我做了一個(gè)夢(mèng),夢(mèng)見(jiàn)我所有的鞋子都掉在我身上,將我活埋。)
9.put...to bed 使……結(jié)束∕不可能
例: My mother put my cries for an iPod to bed when she said she wouldn't buy it unless I got an A on my next exam.
(我媽媽說(shuō)除非我下次考試得到 A,否則她不會(huì)買(mǎi) iPod 給我,讓我的渴望無(wú)法實(shí)現(xiàn)。)
10.float vi. 流傳;散布
例: Rumors of the singer's pregnancy floated around for several weeks.
(幾星期來(lái),關(guān)于那位歌手懷孕的謠言不斷。)
11.blow...out of the water 推翻……;擊敗……脫穎而出
blow...out of the water 推翻……;擊敗……脫穎而出
例: Our new products will totally blow the competition out of the water.
(我們的新產(chǎn)品將會(huì)一舉擊敗所有競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手。)
12.count down 倒數(shù)
例: How did you count down to the New Year?
(你要如何度過(guò)新年倒數(shù)?)
13.be worth N/V-ing 值得……
例: That restaurant is worth checking out. It's supposed to have great pasta.
(那家餐廳值得去瞧一瞧,他們應(yīng)該有很棒的意大利面。)
14.have...in common 具有……共通點(diǎn)
例: Mike and Jane are dating, but they have nothing in common at all.
(麥克和珍正在交往,但他們一點(diǎn)共通點(diǎn)也沒(méi)有。)
中文翻譯&標(biāo)準(zhǔn)答案
時(shí)鐘滴滴答答,死神一步步靠近。幾秒鐘過(guò)去,災(zāi)難的氣息越來(lái)越濃。幸好這不是你的命運(yùn)。你只是在觀看利用演員、存盤(pán)的影片、計(jì)算機(jī)生成圖像技術(shù)、目擊者的描述以及法庭證據(jù)精心制作的災(zāi)難現(xiàn)場(chǎng)重現(xiàn)。只有國(guó)家地理頻道能重現(xiàn)這樣的場(chǎng)景。《重返危機(jī)現(xiàn)場(chǎng) 3》牽著你的手,帶領(lǐng)你慢慢經(jīng)歷震驚世界的悲劇時(shí)刻。
1972 年,慕尼黑奧運(yùn)正如火如荼進(jìn)行。九月五日剛過(guò)凌晨四點(diǎn),巴勒斯坦恐怖分子殺害兩名以色列運(yùn)動(dòng)員并俘虜了其它九位運(yùn)動(dòng)員。這場(chǎng)苦難持續(xù)了將近一天,在劃下句點(diǎn)之前,所有人質(zhì)均遭滅口,五名恐怖分子和一位德國(guó)警官也無(wú)法幸免于難。隨著終被揭露的事實(shí),一同透視悲劇現(xiàn)場(chǎng)。
許多人經(jīng)常沉溺在逛街購(gòu)物的消遣中。想象這一天竟成為你這輩子的最后一天。這實(shí)際發(fā)生在在南韓首爾一家大型商場(chǎng),逾五百位工作人員和購(gòu)物人群身上。 1995 年六月二十九日傍晚,不到二十秒時(shí)間,上千噸的碎石活埋了數(shù)百人。神奇的是,兩周后,生還者從混凝土中被拉出來(lái)。在 Superstore Collapse 中聽(tīng)聽(tīng)他們悲慘的故事。
『你跳,我也跳,對(duì)吧?』是電影《鐵達(dá)尼號(hào)》其中一幕的臺(tái)詞。如果杰克和蘿絲是這艘大船的真正乘客,他們也許會(huì)為它的巨大和美麗喜極而跳。這艘船號(hào)稱(chēng)『永不沉沒(méi)』,卻在 1912 年四月十四日,讓一座冰山終結(jié)這說(shuō)法。數(shù)十年來(lái),關(guān)于這艘船事發(fā)的理論滿(mǎn)天飛,但新的證據(jù)完全推翻它們。
仔細(xì)欣賞《重返危機(jī)現(xiàn)場(chǎng) 3》,看國(guó)家地理頻道如何倒數(shù)已為人所知的人間悲劇。
1. 為什么《重返危機(jī)現(xiàn)場(chǎng)》系列節(jié)目值得收看?
(A) 真正的受害者在重現(xiàn)的故事中演出。
(B) 一群搜救人員編寫(xiě)并執(zhí)導(dǎo)這個(gè)系列節(jié)目。
(C) 計(jì)算機(jī)生成圖像技術(shù)重現(xiàn)故事,使之配合節(jié)目的時(shí)代。
(D) 故事透過(guò)許多不同要素的結(jié)合而重現(xiàn)。
題解:根據(jù)第一段,本系列節(jié)目結(jié)合演員、存盤(pán)的影片、計(jì)算機(jī)生成圖像技術(shù)、目擊者的描述以及法庭證據(jù)等要素精心制作而成,缺一不可,故選 (D)。
2. 總共有多少人在慕尼黑奧林匹克運(yùn)動(dòng)會(huì)期間被殺害?
(A) 17 人。
(B) 9 人。
(C) 5 人。
(D) 2 人。
題解:根據(jù)第二段,兩名以色列運(yùn)動(dòng)員最先遇害,而在整個(gè)事件結(jié)束前,其它被俘虜?shù)木盼贿\(yùn)動(dòng)員,連同五名恐怖分子和一位德國(guó)警官也被殺害,共計(jì) 17 名,故選 (A)。
3. 在當(dāng)時(shí),鐵達(dá)尼號(hào)被視為 _____。
(A) 難以操控
(B) 無(wú)法摧毀
(C) 難以置信
(D) 無(wú)法容忍
題解:根據(jù)第四段,鐵達(dá)尼號(hào)號(hào)稱(chēng)『永不沉沒(méi)』,故選 (B)。
4. 下列何者是這些災(zāi)難的共通點(diǎn)?
(A) 受害者都對(duì)事件毫無(wú)準(zhǔn)備。
(B) 沒(méi)有人知道是誰(shuí)縱火。
(C) 每個(gè)人都認(rèn)為水很安全。
(D) 逛街不該是件恐怖的事。
題解:綜觀全文,災(zāi)難都是在毫無(wú)預(yù)警的情況下發(fā)生,使人措手不及,故選 (A)。
標(biāo)準(zhǔn)答案:
1. (D) 2. (A) 3. (B) 4. (A)