A Traffic Accident
One night Mr Lee was driving his wife home from work. She was a nurse in a hospital. It was almost midnight and she was quite tired out. She soon fell asleep. Mr Lee looked at her and smiled.
Mr Lee was a careful and experienced driver. He knew it was safer to drive slowly on a dark night. After some time he noticed a car following him. It was travelling very fast. Suddenly it overtook① his car.
The driver of the car was in a hurry. He did not see the approaching lorry. To avoid hitting it, he suddenly tuned his car. It skidded② off the road and hit a big tree. The driver and his passenger were injured③ .They were badly cut by glass from the broken windscreen④.Mr Lee quickly stopped his car by the side of the road. His wife got out of the car to help the injured. The lorry driver also stopped to help. Mr Lee drove off to telephone the police . About twenty-five minutes later, a police car and an ambulance⑤ arrived. The injured were carried into the ambulance and taken to hospital.
The policemen took down details of the accident. Mr Lee and the lorry driver told them all they could remember. The policemen thanked them for their help. Mr and Mrs Lee got into their car and continued their journey home.
【词语解释】
① overtake [?+uv+'teik] v. 追上；赶上；超过
②skid[skid] v. （汽车等）打滑；滑向一侧
③injure['indN+] v. 损害；伤害 the injured（事故中的）受伤者
④ windscreen['windskri:n] n. （汽车等的）挡风玻璃
⑤ ambulance['$mbjul+ns] n. 救护车
【写法指要】
这篇文章按时间顺序平铺直叙地写出了事故发生的前前后后,表达了故事中的人们不顾疲倦抢救伤员的互助友爱精神.
文章除了开头交待的时间外,后面只用了“After some time”和About twenty-five minutes later”两处表达时间顺序的词语,其他地方则是由动作发生的先后来表达时间顺序的,但读后让人感到文章将事件的前因后果表达得清清楚楚,没有一点含糊.
注意学习其中表达紧张场面的副词,如 suddenly, quickly等.