Face To Face With Hurrica ne Camille迎战卡米尔号飓风约瑟夫•布兰克1 John Koshak, Jr., knew Hurricane Camille would be bad. Radio and televisionwarnings had soun ded throughout that Sun day. Last August 17, as Camille lashednorthwestward across the Gulf of Mexico. It was certain to pummel Gulfport, Miss.,where the Koshaks lived. Along the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, nearly 150,000 peoplefled inland to safer ground. But like thousa nds of others in thecoastal com mun ities, Joh n was relucta nt to aba ndon his home uni ess the family —his wife, Janis and their seven children, aged 3 to 11— was clearly endan gered.小约翰。
柯夏克已料到，卡米尔号飓风来势定然凶猛。
就在去年 8月17日那个星期天，当卡米尔号飓风越过墨西哥湾向西北进袭之时， 收音机和电视里整天不断地播放着飓风警报。
柯夏克一家居住的地方一一密西西比州的高尔夫港——肯 定会遭到这场飓风的猛烈袭击。
路易斯安那、密西西比和亚拉巴马三州沿海一带 的居民已有将近15万人逃往内陆安全地带。
但约翰就像沿海村落中其他成千上 万的人一样，不愿舍弃家园，要他下决心弃家外逃，除非等到他的一家人一一妻 子詹妮丝以及他们那七个年龄从三岁到十一岁的孩子一一眼看着就要灾祸临头。
lash (v.): move quickly or viole ntly 猛烈冲击；拍打pummel (n.): beat or hit with repeated blows ， esp . with the fist( 尤指用拳头 )连续地打2 Trying to reason outthe best course of action, he talked with his father and mother,who had moved in to the ten-room house with the Koshaks a month earlier fromCalifornia. He also consulted Charles Hill, a Iongtime friend, who had driven from LasVegas for a visit.为了找出应付这场风灾的最佳对策，他与父母商量过。
两位老人是早在一个月前 就从加利福尼亚迁到这里来，住进柯夏克一家所住的那幢十个房间的屋子里。
他 还就此征求过从拉斯韦加斯开车来访的老朋友查理 希尔的意见。
course (n.): a way of behavi ng ; mode 0f con duct 行为； 品行； 做法reason out : to find out an explanation or solution to a problem ， by thinking ofall the possibilities 寻找解决途径例：Let's reason this out in stead of quarrelli ng .让我们不要争吵，商量出事情的解决方案3 Joh n, 37—whose bus in ess was right there in his home (he desig ned anddeveloped educational toys and supplies and all of Magna Products 'orrespondence,engin eeri ng draw ings and art work were there on the first floor) — was familiar withthe power of a hurricane. Four years earlier Hurricane Betsy had demolished hisformer home a few miles west of Gulfport (Koshak had moved his family to a motel forthe night). But that house had stood only a few feet above sea level. “We replace has bee n here since 1915, and no hurrica ne has ever bothered it. We be as safe hereelevated23 feet, ” he told his father, a'gmdti we0 yards from the sea. Thell probaan yplace else. ”约翰的全部产业就在自己家里(他开办的玛格纳制造公司是设计、研制各种教育玩具和教育用品的。
公司的一切往来函件、设计图纸和工艺模具全都放在一楼)。
37岁的他对飓风的威力是深有体会的。
四年前，他原先拥有的位于高尔夫港以西几英里外的那个家就曾毁于贝翠号飓风(那场风灾前夕柯夏克已将全家搬到一家汽车旅馆过夜)。
不过，当时那幢房子所处的地势偏低，高出海平面仅几英尺。
“我们现在住的这幢房子高了23英尺，’他对父亲说，“而且距离海边足有250码远。
这幢房子是1915年建造的。
至今还从未受到过飓风的袭击。
我们呆在这儿恐怕是再安全不过了。
”a good : at least ，full 至少，最少例：They waited a good eight hours 他们等了至少8 个小时。
demolish (v.): pull down . tear down ，or smash to pieces (a building ，etc .)，destroy : ruin拉倒；打碎；拆毁；破坏；毁灭motel (n .):a hotel inten ded primarily for those traveli ng by car, usually withdirect access from each room to an area for cars 汽车游客旅馆4 The elder Koshak, a gruff, warmhearted expert machinist of 67 agreed. “Wecanbatte ndow n and ride it out, ” he said. “If we see sig ns of dan ger, we can get out before dark. ”老柯夏克67岁.是个语粗心慈的熟练机械师。
他对儿子的意见表示赞同。
“我们是可以严加防卫。
度过难关的，”他说？“一但发现危险信号，我们还可以赶在天黑之前撤出去。
”gruff (adj.): rough or surly in manner or speech ；harsh and throaty ；hoarse 粗暴的，粗鲁的；粗哑的。
嘶哑的batten (n.): fasten with battens 用压条钉住(或固定)5 The men methodically prepared for the hurrica ne. Si nee water mai ns might be damaged they filled bathtubs and pails. A power failure was likely, so they checked out batteries for the portable radio and flashlights, and fuel for the Ian tern. Joh n' s father moved a small generator into the downstairs hallway, wired several light bulbs to it and prepared a conn ectiorto the refrigerator.为了对付这场飓风，几个男子汉有条不紊地做起准备工作来。
自米水管道可能遭到破坏，他们把浴盆和提俑都盛满水。
飓风也可能造成断电，所以他们检查手提式收音机和手电筒里的电池以及提灯里的燃料油。
约翰的父亲将一台小发电机搬到楼下门厅里.接上几个灯泡。
并做好把发电机与电冰箱接通的准备。
methodically (adv.): orderly ，systematically 有秩序地；有条理地main (n.): a principal pipe, or line in a distributing system for water, gas,electricity, etc( 自来水，煤气，电等的)总管bathtub (n.): a tub ，now usually a bathroom fixture ，in which to take a bath 浴盆，浴缸gen erator (n.): a mach ine for cha nging mecha ni cal en ergy into electricalenergy ；dynamo 发电机，发动机6 Rain fell steadily that after noon; gray clouds scuddedi n from the Gulf on the rising wind. The family had an early supper. A n eighbor, whose husba nd was in Viet nam, asked if she and her two childre n could sit out the storm with the Koshaks. Ano ther neighbor came by on his way inland—would the Koshaks mind taking care of his dog?那天下午，雨一直下个不停.乌云随着越来越猛的暴风从海湾上空席卷而来。