11. At the Critieal Monent
On a sunny afternoon Kristi and the kids drove from their home to visit Kathy, a close friend. Todd and Marki immediately scampered1 into Kathy's backyard to play, and Kristi reminded them to keep away from the railroad tracks that ran behind the house. Just to be sure, she carefully drew an imaginary line with her foot.“ Don't cross it,” she warned.
Todd and Marki chased each other around. Minutes later, they scooted2 past the boundary 3 their mother had set.Not far away,a freight4 train rumbled5 into
town.“ Suddenly I came around a curve and saw two children playing,” recalls Jim Hayes,the engineer. He blasted6 warning signals to the kids, just a few hundred feet directly ahead.Startled, Todd jumped away from the tracks and began to run.“ Run, Marki, run!” he shouted. Marki got confused. She ran, but instead of following her brother she sprinted7 forward, still in the path of the train.Hayes and the conductor seated next to him, Dale Getter, watched her, horrified. “ Oh, God,” Hayes said as he pulled the brakes and sounded the whistle nonstop.Meanwhile, Getter had managed to scramble 8 out the locomotive9 door. The train had slowed to about 20 miles an hour, still enough to crush the child, or him if he fell. Getter had wanted to reach down and grab the little girl, but the train was rapidly bearing down on her. Without a second to spare, he stuck out his right leg and kicked her away from the tracks.
At that moment, Kristi saw Todd running toward her. “ I knew from the look on his face something bad had happened,” she says. Screaming Marki's name, she ran on.The train screeched10 to a halt and Getter jumped off. Getter reached Marki.
Incredibly, she was unharmed, except for a scrape on her shoulder. He gently scooped her up11 and placed her in Kristi's arms. “ Thank you, thank you,” was all Kristi could say as she covered Marki with kisses. Marki looked up at her mother through her tears.“ That man kicked me!” she said.
危急时刻（四）
一个风和日丽的下午，克里斯蒂和孩子们开车去拜访好友凯西。托德和马吉一到凯西家就跑到后院玩去了。克里斯蒂提醒他们要远离房子后面的铁道。为了保险起见，她仔细地用脚画了一条想象的界限。“不要越过这条线，”她警告说。 托德和马吉相互追赶着玩。几分钟以后他们就冲过了妈妈划定的界限。在不远的地方，一趟载货列车正隆隆地驶向镇里。“突然我拐了一个弯，就看见两个孩子正在玩耍，”司机吉姆·海斯回忆说。他向孩子们拉响了警笛。他们就在几百英尺远的正前方。托德吓了一跳，跳下铁轨就跑。“跑，马吉，快跑！”他喊道。马吉弄不清楚是怎么回事。她跑了，但还是在铁道线上往前冲，而不是跟着她的哥哥。海斯和坐在身旁的车长戴尔·格特看着她，吓坏了。“啊，上帝，”海斯说着，一面拉制动闸，一面让警笛不停地响着。与此同时，格特爬出了机车的车门，火车已经减速到每小时20英里了，但这个速度仍然足以轧死孩子，如
果他摔下去的话也会轧死他自己。格特本想伸手把小女孩抓起来，但火车很快就要轧上她了。一秒钟都耽搁不得。他伸出右腿，将她踢出了轨道。
这时，克里斯蒂看见托德朝她跑过来。“从他脸上的表情我知道出事了，”她说。她一面奔跑，一面尖声叫着马吉的名字。火车嘎然刹住了，格特跳了下来，伸手抱住马吉。令人难以置信的是，她并没有伤着，只是在肩上擦了块皮。他轻轻地将她抱起来放到克里斯蒂的怀里。“谢谢你，谢谢你，”克里斯蒂不停地亲着马吉，再也说不出别的话来。马吉满眼泪水，抬头看着她妈妈，“那个人踢了我一脚！”她说。
1.scamper[ ❍☐☜]vi.奔跑，疾走
2.scoot[◆]vi.飞奔，猛冲
3.boundary[ ◆⏹☜❒]n.界限
4.freight[❒]n.(铁路) 货车
5.rumble[ ❒❍●]vi.发隆隆声
6.blast[●]vt.鸣响
7.sprint[☐❒⏹]vi.用全速奔跑
8.scramble[ ❒❍●]vi.爬，攀登
9.locomotive[ ●☜◆☜❍☜◆]adj.机车的
10.screech[❒☞]vi.发出尖锐刺耳的声音
11.scoop[◆☐]vt.(与up 连用) 抱起
11. At the Critieal Monent
On a sunny afternoon Kristi and the kids drove from their home to visit Kathy, a close friend. Todd and Marki immediately scampered1 into Kathy's backyard to play, and Kristi reminded them to keep away from the railroad tracks that ran behind the house. Just to be sure, she carefully drew an imaginary line with her foot.“ Don't cross it,” she warned.
Todd and Marki chased each other around. Minutes later, they scooted2 past the boundary 3 their mother had set.Not far away,a freight4 train rumbled5 into
town.“ Suddenly I came around a curve and saw two children playing,” recalls Jim Hayes,the engineer. He blasted6 warning signals to the kids, just a few hundred feet directly ahead.Startled, Todd jumped away from the tracks and began to run.“ Run, Marki, run!” he shouted. Marki got confused. She ran, but instead of following her brother she sprinted7 forward, still in the path of the train.Hayes and the conductor seated next to him, Dale Getter, watched her, horrified. “ Oh, God,” Hayes said as he pulled the brakes and sounded the whistle nonstop.Meanwhile, Getter had managed to scramble 8 out the locomotive9 door. The train had slowed to about 20 miles an hour, still enough to crush the child, or him if he fell. Getter had wanted to reach down and grab the little girl, but the train was rapidly bearing down on her. Without a second to spare, he stuck out his right leg and kicked her away from the tracks.
At that moment, Kristi saw Todd running toward her. “ I knew from the look on his face something bad had happened,” she says. Screaming Marki's name, she ran on.The train screeched10 to a halt and Getter jumped off. Getter reached Marki.
Incredibly, she was unharmed, except for a scrape on her shoulder. He gently scooped her up11 and placed her in Kristi's arms. “ Thank you, thank you,” was all Kristi could say as she covered Marki with kisses. Marki looked up at her mother through her tears.“ That man kicked me!” she said.
危急时刻（四）
一个风和日丽的下午，克里斯蒂和孩子们开车去拜访好友凯西。托德和马吉一到凯西家就跑到后院玩去了。克里斯蒂提醒他们要远离房子后面的铁道。为了保险起见，她仔细地用脚画了一条想象的界限。“不要越过这条线，”她警告说。 托德和马吉相互追赶着玩。几分钟以后他们就冲过了妈妈划定的界限。在不远的地方，一趟载货列车正隆隆地驶向镇里。“突然我拐了一个弯，就看见两个孩子正在玩耍，”司机吉姆·海斯回忆说。他向孩子们拉响了警笛。他们就在几百英尺远的正前方。托德吓了一跳，跳下铁轨就跑。“跑，马吉，快跑！”他喊道。马吉弄不清楚是怎么回事。她跑了，但还是在铁道线上往前冲，而不是跟着她的哥哥。海斯和坐在身旁的车长戴尔·格特看着她，吓坏了。“啊，上帝，”海斯说着，一面拉制动闸，一面让警笛不停地响着。与此同时，格特爬出了机车的车门，火车已经减速到每小时20英里了，但这个速度仍然足以轧死孩子，如
果他摔下去的话也会轧死他自己。格特本想伸手把小女孩抓起来，但火车很快就要轧上她了。一秒钟都耽搁不得。他伸出右腿，将她踢出了轨道。
这时，克里斯蒂看见托德朝她跑过来。“从他脸上的表情我知道出事了，”她说。她一面奔跑，一面尖声叫着马吉的名字。火车嘎然刹住了，格特跳了下来，伸手抱住马吉。令人难以置信的是，她并没有伤着，只是在肩上擦了块皮。他轻轻地将她抱起来放到克里斯蒂的怀里。“谢谢你，谢谢你，”克里斯蒂不停地亲着马吉，再也说不出别的话来。马吉满眼泪水，抬头看着她妈妈，“那个人踢了我一脚！”她说。
1.scamper[ ❍☐☜]vi.奔跑，疾走
2.scoot[◆]vi.飞奔，猛冲
3.boundary[ ◆⏹☜❒]n.界限
4.freight[❒]n.(铁路) 货车
5.rumble[ ❒❍●]vi.发隆隆声
6.blast[●]vt.鸣响
7.sprint[☐❒⏹]vi.用全速奔跑
8.scramble[ ❒❍●]vi.爬，攀登
9.locomotive[ ●☜◆☜❍☜◆]adj.机车的
10.screech[❒☞]vi.发出尖锐刺耳的声音
11.scoop[◆☐]vt.(与up 连用) 抱起