When a light passenger plane flew off course some time ago, it crashed in the mountains and its pilot was killed. The only passengers, a young woman and her two baby daughters, were unhurt. It was the middle of winter. Snow lay thick on the ground. The woman knew that the nearest village was miles away. When it grew dark, she turned a suitcase into a bed and put the children inside it, covering them with all the clothes she could find. During the night, it got terribly cold. The woman kept as near as she could to the children and even tried to get into the case herself, but it was too small. Early next morning, she heard planes passing overhead and wondered how she could send a signal. Then she had an idea. She stamped out the letters‘SOS’in the snow. Fortunately, a pilot saw the signal and sent a message by radio to the nearest town. It was not long before a helicopter arrived on the scene to rescue the survivors of the plane crash.
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New words and expressions 生词和短语
thick(1.4)/θik/adj. 厚的
helicopter(1.12)/'helikɑptə/n. 直升飞机
signal(1.10)/'signəl/n.信号
scene(1.12)/si:n/n.现场
stamp(1.10)/stæmp/v.跺，踩
survivor(1.12)/sə'vaivə/n.幸存者
1 SOS=“Save Our Souls”，国际通用的呼救信号。
2 fly off course,飞行偏离航线。
3 Snow lay thick on the ground. 地上积着厚厚的雪。lay是系动词，thick是表语，表示主语的状态或性质。
4 she heard planes passing overhead,她听见头顶上有飞机飞过。passing overhead是现在分词短语，作宾语planes的补足语。
5 stamp out, 踩出。其中out是一个副词，out与一些动词连用时常常有“看得见”、“听得见”的意思，如write out, tap out, ring out等。
6 It was not long before a helicopter arrived on the scene to rescue the survivors of the plane crash.不久，一架直升飞机飞抵失事现场，来搭救这几个幸存者。注意这句话中的before是连词，引导的是时间状语从句，long是形容词，是主句 的表语。不要把这句话中的long和before的用法同long before或before long词组的用法混淆。
不久前，一架轻型客机偏离了航线，在山区坠毁，飞行员丧生。机上仅有的乘客，一位年轻的妇女和她的两个女婴却平安无事。此时正值隆冬季节，地上积着厚厚的 雪。这位妇女知道，即使最近的村庄也有数英里远。天黑下来的时候，她把提箱当作小床，把两个孩子放了进去，又把所有能找到的衣服都盖在了孩子们身上。夜 里，天冷得厉害。这位妇女尽可能地靠近孩子，甚至自己也想钻进箱子里去，只是箱子太小了。第二天一大早，她听到头顶上有飞机飞过，但不知道怎样才能发个信 号。后来她有了一个主意。她在雪地上踩出了“SOS”这3个字母。幸运得很，一位飞行员看到这个信号，用无线电给最近的城镇发了报。不久，一架直升飞机飞 抵飞机失事现场，来搭救这几个幸存者。