2010/04/14

This Day in History April 14… 歷史上的今天 4月14日

It was at 11:40 PM on this date in 1912 when one of the most famous events in history took place. In the dark waters of the North Atlantic, a loud call broke the silence─"Iceberg, right ahead!" Soon after, the RMS Titanic hit an iceberg during its first and only trip across the ocean. It was designed by experienced engineers and had all the latest technology at that time. However, nothing could be done to stop the RMS Titanic from sinking. Over 1,500 people died in the incident, most of them freezing to death in the cold water.
在1912年這一天 晚上的11點40分,史上最有名的事件之一發生了。在黑暗的北大西洋海域,一聲響亮的叫喊劃破了寂靜:「冰山,就在前面!」不久後,皇家郵輪鐵達尼號在其 首度也是唯一一次的跨海航途中撞上了冰山。這艘郵輪是由經驗豐富的工程師所設計,並配有當時所有最新進的技術。然而,沒有什麼能阻止皇家郵輪鐵達尼號的沉 沒。超過1500人在這起事件中喪生,其中多數都是在寒冷的海水裡凍死的。

單字片語

◎take place 發生
例:There were no witnesses when the accident took place, so the police don't know exactly what happened.(這場意外發生時沒有目擊者,所以警方不知道到底發生了什麼事。)
◎break the silence 打破寂靜;打破沉默
例:Gina decided to break the silence by telling the police what she knew about the murder.(吉娜決定打破沉默告訴警方她所知道關於該謀殺案的一切。)
◎Soon after, S + V 不久後,……
例:Karen met David at her sister's wedding. Soon after, they began dating.(凱倫在她姊姊的婚禮上認識大衛。不久後,他們就開始交往。)
◎stop sb/sth from + V-ing 阻止某人/某事物做……
例:Bruce tried to stop his son from driving too fast, but his son never listened.(布魯斯試圖阻止他兒子開快車,但他兒子總是充耳不聞。)

知識大補帖

正如許多歷史災難一樣,鐵達尼號(圖,資料照片)的沉沒也充滿許多傳說, 其中一項出現在船難發生的14年前,美國一位小說家摩根.羅伯遜(Morgan Robertson)在他的小說《徒勞無功》(Futility)中預言了船難的發生。小說中所有細節幾乎與「鐵達尼號事件」一模一樣,例如,小說中的船 名叫Titan,而真船的名字為Titanic。因此1912年船難發生後,該小說立即被譽為令人驚異的預言小說,但作者後來卻在家中舉槍自盡,自殺原因 不明,更為這起事故增添懸疑色彩。

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