7 危急時刻 6(doc)
7. At the Critical Moment “ Feel better, honey. I love you,” Erica Prater said, kissing her 11- year-old niece’s flushed cheek. “ I love you too," Heather Lepage coughed. 　　When the child had awakened not feeling well enough to accompany her sister Stephanie, 10, to school, Erica wanted to stay with her. But she and her husband Harvey had just started new jobs, and neither could skip1 work. 　　“ I’ll be just fine,” Heather had insisted, curling up2 on the couch. 　　We’re just five minutes away, Erica told herself now as she reluctantly left for work. 　　On her 11:15 a.m. break, Erica phoned to see how Heather was doing. “ I’m fine," she said. But moments after hanging up,Heather heard knocking at the front door. Who could that be? She wondered. Snapping3 off the TV, she crept4 to the blinds and peeked5 out. No one there! 　　Erica and Harvey had taught the girls never to open the door to anyone at any time. To test them, Harvey would sometimes knock on the door and hide. If they answered, he’d cry, “ It’s the boogeyman6!" 　　But this can’t be Uncle Harvey! Heather knew. Grabbing the portable phone, she dashed7 to her bedroom, away from all the doors, as she’d been taught. I’d better call Aunt Erica! She decided. But in her fear, she couldn’t recall the phone number! 　　I’ve got to get the number from the book in the kitchen, she told herself. Tiptoeing8 down the hallway, she eyed the front door warily9. No noise had sounded since the first knocks. Maybe I was just hearing things, she hoped, slipping across the living room. 　　But just as she reached the kitchen, a shadow loomed10 in the curtained glass of the back door. Heather froze. Someone’s breaking in! Run! 　　Fleeing into the living room, she started for the front door, but suddenly hesitated. Maybe someone else is waiting out there! She panicked11. Hide! She told herself. 　　Hearing the back door open, she ducked12 into her sister’s room. Where can I hide? She wondered wildly. 　　The closet! She decided. Jumping inside, she pulled the door partially closed, afraid a slamming door would attract attention, and crammed herself into13 the corner behind clothes. 　　Panting14 with terror, Heather dialed 911.“ I’m home alone and someone’s breaking into my house!" Heather told the operator. Then she confirmed her address. 　　“ Help’s on the way,” the voice told her. “ Stay on the line.” 　　“ No!” Heather gasped. “ He’s gonna hear me!” Clicking15 off, she pressed against the closet wall, praying she hadn’t been heard. He’ll kill me if he finds me, she thought, terrified. 　　She heard dresser drawers crashing to the floor. He’s in Aunt Erica’s bedroom now! She realized. 　　As the seconds ticked by, her heart pounded with every creak of the floor boards as the burglar made his way up the hallway to her room--ight next door! 　　Anger surged16 through her as she listened to him dumping her dresser drawers on the floor. But another sound froze her blood--the ripping of clothes from hangers! He’s going through the closets! Heather panicked. And next he’ll come in here! 　　Run! Her mind screamed. No! It’s too late! She realized. 　　And in the next instant, she heard the squeak of the burglar’s sneakers17 creeping closer...the whine18 of the hinges as her sister’s bedroom door swung open...the rasp19 of heavy breathing that wasn’t her own! 　　Oh, please, Heather prayed, tears streaming down her cheeks, don’t let him see me! 　　Then a crash sounded from the kitchen followed by the pounding of footsteps. Then she heard a voice shouting, “ Police! Freeze!” 　　Help’s here! Heather realized. But still terrified, she could only think of one thing to do: run! 　　Leaping from the closet, she raced through the house, out the back door and into the street, screaming, “ Help me!” Only when police scooped her up did the thought hit her: I’m safe! 　　When police came crashing in the back, the burglar had run out the front door --carrying a gun. A police dog had found him beneath a nearby house. 　　Called to the phone at work, Erica worried. Is Heather feeling worse? When the voice on the other end identified himself as a sheriff’s20 deputy, she gasped, “ Heather! Is... is she okay!” 　　As the officer assured her that Heather was fine and explained what had happened, Erica’s eyes flicked to the clock--11:30. “ But...but,” she sputtered21. “ I just spoke to her fifteen minutes ago!” 　　Dashing home, Erica and Harvey found Heather waiting anxiously. “ I didn’t open the door!” she cried, racing to her aunt. 　　“ I know you didn’t, honey,” Erica wept, sweeping her into her arms. Erica worried that Heather might be scared from her experience. But at bedtime,she looked up at her aunt and teased,“ Maybe I’ll be in the next Home Alone.” 危急時刻（六） “快點好起來，寶貝。我愛你，”埃里卡·普拉特一邊說，一邊親吻11歲的侄女通紅的 臉頰?！拔乙矏勰?，”希瑟·雷帕吉咳嗽著。 　　這孩子早上起床時感覺不舒服，不能和10歲的妹妹斯蒂芬尼一起去上學(xué)。埃里卡本 想留下來陪她，但是她和丈夫哈維都是剛開始做一份新工作，都不好不去上班。 　　“我沒事兒，”希瑟蜷縮在沙發(fā)上肯定地說。 　　我們上班的地方離家不過5分鐘的車程，埃里卡心中想著，就勉強(qiáng)上班去了。 　　上午11點15分休息時，埃里卡打電話問希瑟情況怎么樣。“我挺好，”她說。但是當(dāng) 希瑟掛上電話之后，不一會兒就聽見有人在敲大門。會是誰呢？她心想。她吧嗒一聲關(guān) 了電視機(jī)，悄悄地走到窗簾那兒偷偷地往外看。外邊沒有人！ 　　埃里卡和哈維教過她們姐妹倆，不管什么時候，不要給任何人開門。為了考驗她們 ，哈維有時會敲敲門再躲起來。她們要是答應(yīng)了，他就會叫道，“鬼來了！” 　　但這不會是哈維叔叔！希瑟知道。她抓起無繩電話飛快地跑到了自己的房間，按大 人教的那樣遠(yuǎn)離所有的門。我最好給埃里卡姑姑打電話！她決定。但由于害怕，她想不 起電話號碼了！ 　　我得從廚房里的電話本里找到號碼，她對自己說。她踮著腳尖沿著過道走過去，同 時警惕地看著大門。第一次敲門之后，就再沒聽到聲音。也許我是聽到別的什么聲音了 ，她這樣希望，悄悄地穿過起居室。 　　但是就在她到廚房時，有一個影子隱隱約約出現(xiàn)在后門掛了窗簾的玻璃上。希瑟嚇 呆了。有人要闖進(jìn)來！快跑！ 　　她跑到起居室以后就往大門走去，突然又猶豫起來。也許有另一個人在門外等著呢 。她驚慌失措。 　　躲起來！她心中想到。 她聽到后門被打開了，就飛快地沖到妹妹的房間里。我躲在哪兒好呢？她心慌意亂。 　　壁櫥里！她拿定主意后就跳了進(jìn)去，把門半掩著，怕關(guān)門聲會引起注意。她縮到角 落里，躲在衣服后面。 　　她害怕得氣喘吁吁地?fù)艽蛄?11?！拔乙粋€人在家。有人正在闖進(jìn)我的屋！”希瑟告訴 接線員，還確認(rèn)了自己的地址。 　　“救援馬上就到，”那個聲音說?！皠e掛電話?！?　　“不行！”希瑟急促地說。“他會聽見的！”她咔噠一聲關(guān)了機(jī)，緊靠著壁櫥板壁，心 中祈禱但愿自己沒被聽見。他要是找到了我會殺了我的，她想，害怕極了。 　　她聽到梳妝臺的抽屜掉到了地上。她意識到，他在埃里卡姑姑的臥室里！ 　　時間一分鐘一分鐘地過去。竊賊走過門廳到了她的房間——就在隔壁了！她的心隨著 地板發(fā)出的嘎吱聲而砰砰直跳。 　　她聽到他把梳妝臺的抽屜扔到地上，氣得要命。而另一個聲音卻使她血都凝固了—— 是從衣架上扯衣服的聲音！他在搜查壁櫥！希瑟嚇壞了。下一步他就會進(jìn)到這里來！ 　　跑！她心中驚呼。不行！太晚了！她明白。 　　不一會兒，她聽見竊賊漸漸地走近了，他的旅游鞋發(fā)出吱吱的聲音……聽見她妹妹臥 室的門打開時合葉發(fā)出的嘎嘎聲……還有刺耳的沉重的呼吸聲，那可不是她自己的呼吸聲 ！ 　　啊，求你不要讓他看見我！希瑟祈禱著，眼淚順著臉頰嘩嘩地往下淌。 　　這時，從廚房里傳來了嘩啦一聲巨響，緊接著又聽到沉重的腳步聲。后來她聽到一 個聲音喊道，“警察！不許動！” 　　救援到了！希瑟意識到。但她還是很怕，只想到做一件事：跑！ 　　她從壁櫥里跳出來，穿過屋子，從后門跑到街上，大叫，“救命呀！”直到警察將她 抱了起來，她才明白：我沒事了！ 　　警察們從后門沖進(jìn)房子時，竊賊已經(jīng)從大門跑出去了——手中拿著一支槍。有一只警 犬在附近的一所房子下面找到了他。 　　有人打電話到埃里卡上班的地方，她接電話時挺擔(dān)心，希瑟的病是不是厲害了？而 電話那邊傳來的卻是縣治安警官的聲音，她急切地問，“希瑟！她...她沒事吧！” 　　當(dāng)警官肯定地告訴她希瑟很好，并告訴她事情的經(jīng)過時，埃里卡瞟了一眼鐘——11： 30。“但是...但是，”她結(jié)結(jié)巴巴地說，“我15分鐘之前還跟她通過電話！” 　　埃里卡和哈維飛奔回家，看見希瑟正急切不安地等著?！拔覜]有開門！”她哭著，跑 向姑姑。 　　“我知道你沒開，寶貝兒，”埃里卡流著淚，立刻將希瑟抱了過來。埃里卡擔(dān)心，經(jīng) 過這件事希瑟可能會嚇壞了。但是到睡覺時，她卻抬頭看著姑姑調(diào)皮地說，“下次《小鬼 當(dāng)家》說不定就該由我來演了?！?1.skip[σκιπ]vt.有意不出席(會議等) 2.curlup蜷縮，扭曲身子 3.snap[σν“π]vi.突然中斷，突然停止 4.creep[κρι:π]vi.爬行，匍匐 5.peek[πι:κ]vi.偷看，窺視 6.boogeyman[5βυ:⊥ι7μ“ν]n.假想的怪物，鬼怪 7.dash[δ“Φ]vi.猛沖，飛奔，急馳 8.tiptoe[5τιπτΕυ]vi.躡手躡腳地走 9.warily[5ωΖΕρι]adv.謹(jǐn)慎地，警惕地 10.loom[λυ:μ]vi.隱約地出現(xiàn) 11.panic[5π“νικ]vi.驚慌失措 12.duck[δΘκ]vi.躲避，躲閃 13.cram[κρ“μ]vt.把…塞進(jìn)(與into搭配) 14.pant[π“ντ]vi.氣喘，(心等)悸動 15.click[5κλικ]vi.發(fā)出咔噠聲 16.surge[σΕ:δ
7 危急時刻 6(doc)