15篇文章贯通六级词汇Unit06-Part1

[00:00.00]UNIT6

[00:16.07]The Pasture

[00:17.70]Night settled, thick with the acrid 1

[00:21.76]odors of gunpowder 2 and blood.

[00:24.16]No moon meant firing at

[00:26.78]muzzle flashes, an inexact method

[00:29.41]by which to combat one's foe 3,

[00:32.37]but the enemy had no advantage either.

[00:34.77]With artillery 4 fire blanketing

[00:37.94]the field of battle, Jack 5 had

[00:40.13]no opportunity to go to Mike's aid.

[00:43.20]He poked 6 his head over

[00:45.39]the rim 7 of the trench 8 to

[00:46.91]see if he could spot Mike's corpse 10.

[00:49.22]He knew he was dead.

[00:52.28]He had heard his scream

[00:54.69]of pain when he was hit.

[00:57.53]His agonized 11 moans had grown

[01:00.15]weaker and less frequent and finally

[01:02.34]ceased about ten minutes ago.

[01:05.52]The regiment 12 had been under

[01:09.02]heavy bombardment for two days,

[01:11.20]without respite 13. He had been

[01:14.71]too late to stop Mike

[01:16.24]as he propelled himself out

[01:18.20]of the foxhole 14 and staggered

[01:20.28]as he hit the muddy terrain 15.

[01:22.58]In hindsight, he should have

[01:25.86]seen it coming. Mike had

[01:28.60]started to break yesterday.

[01:30.57]He was becoming bizarre, talking

[01:33.52]about his patriotic 16 duty to

[01:36.15]expel the enemy from these shores.

[01:39.32]Paradoxically, just before he

[01:42.27]hopped over the edge of the trench

[01:44.24]he scorned the day he had

[01:46.10]heeded the call to enlist 17.

[01:48.73]It pained him to realize that

[01:51.68]his one friend in this ungodly war

[01:54.53]had betrayed him by dying.

[01:57.60]Soldiers don't often make friends with

[02:01.21]one another, knowing they might die.

[02:03.94]He and Mike were different.

[02:06.45]They had known each other

[02:08.31]since they were children.

[02:09.73]Mike was the best man when

[02:11.81]Jack and Lily walked down

[02:13.89]the aisle 18 just a week before

[02:15.86]they left the dock and crossed

[02:17.61]the channel to engage the enemy.

[02:20.57]Clouds tumbled and overlapped 19 one another

[02:24.50]as the wind began to freshen.

[02:26.80]It was getting colder now.

[02:29.65]The prospect 20 of another night

[02:31.84]of rain, or perhaps even snow,

[02:34.57]made Jack quiver with dread 21.

[02:37.63]Blood tinged 22 water was beginning

[02:40.70]to crust over with ice.

[02:43.43]He could feel his toes and

[02:45.51]fingers stiffen 23 as the temperature dropped.

[02:49.01]Maybe Mike was better off than he.

[02:52.51]At least the cold wouldn't

[02:54.37]bother him any more.

[02:56.34]Suddenly, comets of light began

[02:59.95]to streak 24 across the night sky.

[03:02.47]They were using flares 25!

[03:05.10]The increased tempo 26 of cannon 27 fire

[03:07.72]coming from the left flank,

[03:09.69]shattering the earth around them,

[03:11.98]could only mean the enemy

[03:14.17]had sensed their weakness, and

[03:16.47]was coming in for the kill.

[03:18.44]They were heading straight

[03:20.74]for the underbelly!Jack's rifle misfired.

[03:25.11]The whole corps 9 had been issued

[03:27.74]new guns a few days before

[03:29.49]this campaign had started.

[03:31.68]It wasn't long before they discovered

[03:34.74]that the alloy 28 used in the barrels

[03:36.93]couldn't endure prolonged firing,

[03:39.23]causing the shell casings

[03:40.87]to adhere in the bore. How could

[03:45.13]he repel 29 the enemy without a weapon?

[03:47.32]Jack felt a stab of pain

[03:50.82]in his right thigh 30.

[03:52.79]The ground around him ruptured 31.

[03:55.53]Jerking from side to side,

[03:57.72]he tried to dodge 32 falling rocks

[03:59.36]and the clods of dirt

[04:01.32]raining down upon him.

[04:03.95]He slumped 33 into a prone 34 posture 35

[04:06.14]as he felt himself shoved

[04:08.33]from behind by an unknown force

[04:11.07]that felt as if it might

[04:13.03]have been a racing 36 locomotive.

[04:16.20]The last thing he heard,

[04:18.83]before his world was overturned,

[04:20.80]was a chorus of screams.

[04:23.54]“Am I dead? Where am I?

[04:27.80]Where is everybody?” Cognitively 37,

[04:30.43]Jack realized he was still functioning

[04:33.93]physiologically so that meant

[04:36.67]he was still alive, but

[04:38.30]for how long? He couldn't move.

[04:41.48]Maybe the impact had fractured

[04:44.65]his spine 38 and he was paralyzed.

[04:47.17]He tried，analytically，to assess

[04:50.23]the damage incurred 39 by moving

[04:51.87]his limbs, one by one,

[04:53.84]in a clockwise direction,

[04:56.24]starting with his right arm.

[04:58.87]Everything appeared able to be

[05:01.50]mobilized but for some reason

[05:03.58]he couldn't get up off the ground.

[05:06.31]Everything went black again.

[05:09.38]Jack led his horse by the reins 40

[05:13.31]as they stepped onto the overpass 41

[05:15.28]bridging the gap between the plateaus.

[05:18.78]In the distance, he could see

[05:21.52]a twelve point buck 42 grazing

[05:23.60]in the pasture, silhouetted 43 against

[05:26.66]the waning 44 sunset. Out of nowhere,

[05:30.05]a bull came charging across

[05:32.35]the meadow toward him. He tried

[05:35.63]to run but his feet

[05:37.39]were pegged 45 to the bridge.

[05:39.24]Drifting in and out of consciousness,

[05:42.97]Jack tried to make sense of

[05:45.04]what had happened to him.

[05:47.12]He seemed to be in a cavity

[05:49.74]under the ground. The earth

[05:52.48]was compacted on his legs

[05:54.45]but he thought he might be

[05:56.31]able to rotate his body enough

[05:59.31]to make himself a little more comfortable.

[06:01.69]Was that a shaft 46 of light

[06:04.76]he could see through the groove 47

[06:06.18]between the fingers of his left

[06:07.60]hand covering his eyes?

[06:09.57]He groped to clear a tiny

[06:12.42]bit more space for himself.

[06:14.72]The shutters 48 of his consciousness

[06:16.90]closed again.The galaxy 49 was

[06:22.15]being probed by lunar modules 50 shuttling

[06:25.87]between Earth and the other planets.

[06:28.28]As a member of a federation 51 of geologists 52,

[06:31.79]Jack and his team had to

[06:33.75]follow the seam of ore

[06:35.72]to its source, a pasture

[06:37.58]on a distant asteroid 53.

[06:39.44]Once again, Jack regained 54 lucidity 55.

[06:44.04]“Wow,” he thought, “that was

[06:46.66]like a bad paperback 56 novel

[06:48.74]about astronomy!” He sniffed 57 the air.

[06:51.81]It was foul 58 with the smell

[06:54.43]of death but qualitatively 59

[06:55.96]able to sustain life.

[06:58.80]Why was it so quiet?

[07:01.32]Was he deaf? Was the battle over?

[07:04.05]Was everyone dead? The weight

[07:07.12]on his legs was becoming oppressive.