新发展大学英语阅读与写作3unit1的课文翻译

Heroes: Roadside Inferno

英雄：路边噩梦

The big rig was about to explode and the driver's legs were engulfed in flames. The Coopers came to the rescue.

大卡车即将爆炸，司机双腿又被火所伤，千钧一发之时，库帕夫妇挺身相救。

By Jason Kersten

作者：约翰.克斯滕

Looks like a brush fire, Kim Cooper thought as she spotted an orange glow ahead on Interstate 75. It was near dusk, and she and her husband, Steve, were trucking through northern Kentucky hauling auto parts from Louisville to Detroit for a freight company. Steve, 59, was fast asleep in the truck's living quarters as Kim, 52, drove up to the scene. That's when she saw it was much worse than a brush fire.

金.库珀（Kim Cooper）回忆说，当时已近黄昏，她和她的丈夫史蒂夫（Steve）开着一辆牵引货车，从肯塔基州北部的一家货运公司运送汽车零部件到路易斯维尔底特律，正行驶在75号州际公路上，前面有一个橙色发光体，看起来就像是发生了丛林火灾。59岁的史蒂夫那时正躺在卡车的生活层熟睡着，52岁的金开着车。她所见到的可是一场比丛林大火更为严重的事件。

"Steve, wake up!" she shouted. "There's a truck on fire!" A big rig had tumbled down an embankment, and flames were crawling across its cab. Kim yanked their truck to the side of the road, and Steve pulled on his clothes. Then he scrambled down the slope.

“史蒂夫，快醒醒！”她尖叫道，“有一辆大卡车着火了！”。一辆大卡车已经冲出了路堤，火焰正在向驾驶室蔓延。金猛踩刹车，将他们的卡车停到公路旁，史蒂夫披上衣服就向斜坡飞奔过去。

Inside the burning truck, Ronnie Sanders, 38, was fighting for his life. He'd been running a heavy load of tractors and forklifts from Georgia to Indianapolis when a Grand Caravan in front of him stopped suddenly in traffic on the icy road. As Ronnie bore down, he could see children in the backseat. The truck's bulk would probably protect him from the worst of the impact, but the momentum of 23 tons would likely crush everyone inside the van.

燃烧的卡车内，38岁的罗尼.桑德斯（Ronnie Sanders）正在奋力挣扎。他正将一车的拖拉机和铲车从格鲁吉亚运送到印第安纳波利斯，他面前的一辆道奇（Grand Caravan）车在结冰的道路上突然熄火停了下来。罗尼紧急刹车，他几乎可以看到前车后座的儿童。若追尾撞上，前车的货舱应该可以使他免受最严重的伤害，但以他这辆23吨大块头的惯性，可能会压碎前面面包车内的每一个人。

"In Kentucky, the hills are steep, but at that moment, I didn't think about it,"

he says of that evening last November. "I figured instead of killing other people, I'd just put the truck in the ditch." He jerked the wheel to the right, somehow keeping the truck upright as it plowed 60 feet down the embankment. At the bottom, rocks pierced a fuel tank, which ignited. A tree branch smashed through the windshield and knocked Ronnie unconscious. He came to a couple of minutes later to find the cab in flames and his legs on fire.

“在肯塔基州，山路很是陡峭的，但在那一刻，我没想那么多了，”会想起去年11月的那天晚上，他说，“我不能伤害其他人，于是我就想把车转向路边的沟里。”他向右猛打方向盘，尽量拉直车身，车子滑行了60英尺左右，冲出了路堤。岩石划破了车底部的一个油箱，并引起了大火。树枝击穿了挡风玻璃，将罗尼撞昏过去。几分钟后他醒来，发现驾驶舱已经着火，并且已烧到了他的腿。

Ronnie yelled for help as he struggled to escape. But the cab was smashed in, and try as he might, he couldn't untangle himself from his seat belt.

罗尼大声呼助，挣扎着想逃离现场。但是，驾驶舱已被撞变形，他努力挣扎，但依然无法解开安全带。

As Steve bolted down the slope, he could hear Ronnie's cries ahead. Then a thundering sound erupted behind him.

史蒂夫向坡下急奔，他听得见前面罗尼的呼救声。这时，他身后传来一阵震耳欲聋的撞击声。