Section_ⅢLesson 2 & Lesson 3 - Prereading
A
Do Chuc is a fortyeightyearold① Vietnamese farmer whose two daughters and an aunt were killed by American soldiers in My Lai that day②. He and his family were eating breakfast when③ the American soldiers entered the village and ordered them from their homes. Together with④ other villagers they were marched⑤ a few hundred metres into the village square where they were told to sit. "Still we had no reason to be afraid⑥," Chuc remembers."Everyone was calm. We'd seen it all before." Then, in surprise⑦ he watched as the soldiers set up⑧ a machine gun. The calm ended. The people began weeping⑨ and begging. One man showed his identification papers to a soldier, but the American simply said,"Sorry." Then the shooting⑩ started. Chuc was wounded in the leg⑪ and almost unconscious⑫, but he was covered by a pile⑬ of dead bodies and thus saved. After waiting an hour, he fled⑭ the village.
(Adapted from My Lai by Seymour Hersh)
①fortyeightyearold是由"num.+n.+adj."构成的复合形容词,常作前置定语。
②whose two daughters and an aunt是whose引导的定语从句,修饰farmer。
③be doing ... when是固定句式,意为"正在做......这时......"。
④together with ...与......一起
⑤march vt.使同行,强迫(某人)一起走
⑥have no reason to do sth.没有理由做某事
⑦in surprise吃惊地,惊奇地
⑧set up竖起,架设;建设,建立(建筑物、组织、机构等)
⑨weep/wiːp/vt. & vi.哭泣,流泪
⑩shoot/ʃuːt/vt. & vi.射击
⑪wound sb. in the leg伤了某人的腿
leg前用the,不用one's。
⑫unconscious/ʌn'kɒnʃəs/adj.失去知觉的
⑬pile/paIl/n.堆
a pile of ...一堆......
⑭flee vt. & vi.逃离