STEP 44

THE SMASH

We are on a road which goes through a town. It has been raining and the road is wet. Two automobiles are going up the slope and, at the top of the slope; a third is coming out from a side road at a right angle to the one we are on. Suddenly there is a noise of brakes being put on hard, but they are of little use on the wet road. One automobile is overturned and another goes into the back of a waiting cart from which bags of meal were being taken into a store. The poor horse is on its knees, with part of the damaged cart resting on its back. The automobile which was coming out from the side road has been given a hard blow. One of its front wings has been damaged and some of the woodwork is smashed. The driver of the overturned automobile is pinned down by the driving-wheel, and the woman who was with him is stretched out in the road. The drivers of the two other automobiles get out. 0ne of them has a deep cut in his head and his face is covered with blood.

Before the smash there was almost no one about, but now men and women are running from all directions to see what has taken place. They seem to have come from nowhere. They are pushing one another to get a view of the woman in the road. Is she dead or only unconscious? The onlookers are uncertain what to do. Then someone makes the suggestion that a medical man is needed. A woman says that there's one living down the road and sends her son to get him. At the same time another person goes to get the police. The man in the overturned automobile is crying for help and some of the onlookers get him out. His arm is broken and he is feeling the effects of shock, but when he sees the woman in the road he makes them take him to her. She is his daughter.

When the medical man gets there, he goes down on his knees by the woman. After looking at her with care and getting her clothing loose, he says to the unhappy father that the woman is not dead but that her condition is serious and she will have to have an operation without loss of time. He gets up, saying "Will someone get in touch with the hospital straight away? A servant from one of the houses opposite, where there is a telephone, says she will do so. While she is away, the woman is lifted and taken to the sidewalk under the medical man's direction.

A man now comes back with two policemen. By this time there are two lines of automobiles sounding their horns because the persons in the road are in their way and they are unable to go past. One of the policemen gets the road clear, while the other gives help to the medical man, who is keeping watch by the side of the unconscious woman. They do their best for her and then go to the two drivers who are needing attention. First, the medical man has a look at the one with the cut. He gets the wound clean with a bit of cotton-wool and some liquid which he takes from his bag. A bit of glass has to be taken out. The damage is not very serious, but if the wound had been a quarter of an inch farther to the left a blood vessel would have been cut. Someone is sent to a chemist's store to get a dressing to put on it. The man with the broken arm is in great pain. The medical man gives him something to make the pain less and says that he will have to go to hospital and have an X-ray picture taken. "It's a good thing for you," he says, that it's your left arm," but unhappily the man is left-handed.

While the medical man is looking at the arm, the policeman gives the man's breath a smell. "You have been taking alcohol, haven't you?" he says. The man's story is that he went into a bar before starting and had only one drink, not enough to have any effect on his driving. He gives his word that what he says is true. "If my word is doubted," he says, "get a statement from the barman." On being questioned further, he says that he was overtaking another automobile when it suddenly came out into the middle of the road, forcing him to go to the right. He then saw that an automobile was coming out from a side road, and he quickly put on his brakes. He was driving at not more than twenty-five miles an hour and all would have been well but for the wet road. His automobile got out of control and went into the automobile in front of him. It was sent sideways by the force of the blow and was overturned.

Feeling that the policeman is against him, the man does his best to make it seem as if the two other drivers were responsible: There wouldn't have been a smash, he says, if they had taken more care. At this point there are strong protests from the two drivers in question, but the policeman makes a sign to them to keep quiet, saying that they will be questioned in turn. Turning to the man who has been talking, he says that he had no right to overtake anything on a slope when he was unable to see what was in front of it. "Moreover," he goes on, "a good driver never takes chances on a wet road." He then makes a request to see his driver's card. "You have been in trouble before," he says, looking at the card. "I am not surprised." He takes out a note-book and pencil. The lead of the pencil is broken and someone gives him another. He puts down the man's name and details of where he is living, and makes some notes.
While the policeman is writing, the driver sees that a newspaper man is making some notes in shorthand. He makes a request to him to keep the story out of the papers, saying that he has a responsible public position and that it would be very hard on him if his name got into the headlines. His words have no effect on the hard-hearted newspaper man, who goes on writing.

What is that bell? The men from the hospital are coming at last. The driver is sounding his bell to make everyone who is on the road get out of the way and let him past. When the men get to the place of the smash they quickly take out a stretcher. The woman is lifted onto it with care, and she and the driver with the broken arm are taken away to hospital. The medical man goes with them because the woman may be in need of attention on the journey.

While all this has been going on, the second policeman has been helping to get the horse out of the cart. Happily, though its knees are cut, it is not badly damaged. The cart is completely smashed. It was old and in bad condition, so the loss is not serious, but the owner is hoping to get the price of a new cart from whoever was responsible. The driver has taken the horse away. The cart, which has been pulled to the side of the road, will be taken away later.

The policemen take note of the position of the three automobiles on the road and of the condition they are in. Then they put some questions to the two other drivers. These men give a straightforward account of what took place and, bit by bit, the facts come to light.

The driver of the automobile which was overtaken says that he had to go out into the middle of the road because he saw the horse and cart in front of him when he was almost at the top of the slope. He put out his arm as a sign to the driver of the other automobile, who was, however, going so quickly that he was unable to come to a stop. After going past him at about forty miles an hour, this automobile got out of control. He was forced to go to the left side of the road to get out of the way when it was overturning. This was how he went into the back of the cart. "Didn't you put on your brakes?" says one of the policemen. "Yes." the man says. "That is clear from the marks on the road. But the road was wet and my wheels were unable to get a good enough grip."

The driver who came out from the side road says that his automobile wasn't even moving at the time of the smash. In fact, the engine was turned off. He had only come out a little way to see if the road was clear. He was taken by surprise when an automobile suddenly came into view on the wrong side of the road. It was going at such a rate that he had no time to put his foot on the self-starter and get out of the way.

Another man, who was present at the time of the smash, makes a statement in support of what the two drivers have said. The policeman with the note-book takes down every word. When he has made his notes, he says that the three men will be needed later and that the police will get in touch with them. One of the onlookers puts forward the view that it would be a good thing if the driver who had been the cause of the trouble was sent to prison. "There is so much bad driving these days," he says, "that one is facing death every time one goes on the roads. The time has come to put a stop to it." Judging from the sounds of approval from others who are present, this is the general view.

Notes:

Read Carefully, this are some sentences of the text, and here is the explanation form them.

The five further International words used in this Step are: alcohol, automobile, bar, chemist, police.

The smash: What is being talked of here is a special sort of smash caused by a cart, train, automobile, and so on going violently against something.

At right angles to: A right angle is an angle of 90°. A thing is at a certain angle to another when it is forming that angle with it, and when the angle is a right angle, the form at right angles is commonly used. The line AB is at right angles to the line CD.

A 90°
|
C __ B __ D

Overturned: Turned over. The word is used of things which are turned over by falling or in some other violent way.

Goes into the back of a waiting cart: Go into may be used, as here, in the sense of 'go violently against'.

Bags of meal: The sense of meal here is 'powdered grain'.

One of its front wings: Wing has been used earlier for the wing-like part of a building. Here it is used for another wing-like part, the curved metal plate over the wheel of an automobile.

The woodwork: The parts made of wood.

Pinned down: A thing is said to be pinned down when it Is kept down by some weight resting on It.

Driving-wheel: Wheel for controlling the direction of an automobile.

A deep cut: A cut is a wound or hole made by cutting.

Onlookers: An onlooker is one looking on, that is looking at, watching, and some event.

An operation: The word is here used in the special medical sense of cutting the body to put right some condition which is causing trouble.

Without loss of time: As quickly as possible.

Sidewalk: By expansion, a walk is a way specially made for walking on and a sidewalk is such a walk at the side of a road.

Under the medical man's direction: A thing which is done under time direction of a person is done under his control, as ordered by him.

Sounding their horns: Certain instruments of music, which are sounded by sending a current of air through them with the mouth, and which were at on time made of horn, are named horns. In addition, the apparatus on an automobile which makes a sound like the sound made by such horns is a horn.

Are in their way: A thing is said to be in the way or in a persons way when it takes up space where it is not desired or is so placed that it keeps a person from moving forward or doing something. The opposite form out of the way is used later in the Step.

Keeping watch: By expansion, watch = observation for the purpose of keeping something safe, seeing any signs of danger. To keep watch is to be watching for this purpose.

Cotton-wool: Cotton in its natural form used far medical and other purposes.

Blood vessel: Blood vessels are the pipes which take blood through the body.

A dressing: Putting medical substances on a wound and covering it with linen and so on, is dressing it. and what is put on is named a dressing.

X-ray: A certain long-wave ray, able to go through solid substances, which is used for medical purposes.

Left-banded: Using the left hand better than the right. Normally persons are right handed.

Gives the man's breath a smell: Smell is here the act of using one's sense of smell. Take note that give is used.

Overtaking: To overtake is to get level with or go past something in front of one which is moving in the same direction.

Forcing him to go to the right: In England, drivers have to keep to the left side of the road. In the rest Europe and in North America, driving is on the right.

Sent sideways: Sideways = 'to one side, not straight forward or back ' or 'with the side hi the direction of motion', or sometimes, as here, the two senses together.

Makes a sign to them to keep quiet: Makes a sign to them that they are to keep quiet. The same short form is used after order, request, and motion (in the sense of 'sign'), and after the “-ing” forms of these words.

In turn: One after another, everyone having a turn.

Moreover: In addition to this (used in putting forward a further argument, reason, and so on, giving more force to what is said).

His driver's card: That is, the card giving him authority far driving an automobile.

The lead of the pencil: The stick of lead-coloured substance in a pencil is its lead.

Newspaper man: Man writing or getting facts for a newspaper.

Shorthand: System of special signs for writing quickly (a short form of handwriting).

A responsible public position: A responsible position is one needing a responsible person.

The headlines: The lines of print, using great black letters, at the head of a newspaper page.

Hard hearted: Not readily moved to be kind.

Stretcher: Frame with canvas stretched on it, used as a bed for transporting ill persons on.

Take note of: Give attention to, make a note of in one's mind.

A straightforward account: A straight, open account. Straightforward is commoner than straight in this sense. In addition, it may have the sense of 'simple, not hard to do or get clear about', which is another development from the root sense of straight as 'without twists and turns'.

Bit by bit: By degrees, one bit at a time.. Make a comparison with one by one, step by step, noted in Step 41.

The facts come to light: That is, they become clear, discovery is made of then.

Taken by surprise: A thing takes a person by surprise if it takes place when he isn't ready far it, causing him surprise.

Self starter: Electric apparatus far starting the engine of an automobile.

Another man who was present: A person, who is at a place, is present there.

In support of: Supporting (here, by giving the same facts).

Facing death: Facing maybe used, as here, in connection with something which is in front alone in time. In the time sense, it is chiefly used of future events which are unpleasing. To keep one's face turned to danger or trouble is the opposite of running away from it, and so facing sometimes has the further sense of 'meeting without fear', of which, however, there is no suggestion here.

The sense of these complex words is clear without a note : barman, policeman.

Test

1. Make use of these in statements:

(a) Took note of
A:

(b) In support of
A:

(d) Get out of the way
A:

(e) In turn
A:

(f) Under his direction
A:

2. Make these statements complete by putting a complex word into every space:

(a) By using _____, the secretary was able to make notes of everything he said.
A:

(b) Judging by the _____, there is not much news in the paper today.
A:

(d) Before it gets to those houses, the automobile will_____ the cart in front of it.
A:

(e) Please give me a_____ answer to my very simple question.
A:

(f) When the cow gave a kick, the bucket was _____ and all the milk went on the floor.
A:

3. Make up the questions a policeman might put to the driver of an automobile which had been in a smash, and give the driver's answers. Give your questions and answers in Basic.

4. Make statements using these words in two senses

(a) Lead
A:

(b) Present
A:

(d) Horn
A:

(e) Meal
A:

(f) Dressing
A:

5. Put other words with the same sense in place of those in black print:

(a) The policeman was looking at the cards of all the drivers one after another.
A.

(b) By degrees the work was done.
A:

(d) The rail makes an angle of 90° with the upright rod.
A:

(e) These books on the floor are taking up space where they are not desired.
A:

(f) Get a stretcher as quickly as possible.
A:

6. In every group of statements there is one word which will make all the statements complete. Put in the right word.

(a) The play was produced under the_____ of a new man.
What _____ did the sound come from ?
The _____s for use are on the bottle.
A:

(b) One _____ of the house is being used as a hospital.
The _____ feathers are grey.
Some paint has been taken off the left _____.
A:

(c) The boy's head came down _____ on the floor.
He's a man who is used to _____ work.
The player in the red shirt gave the ball a _____ kick.
It was_____ on the woman to send her son to prison.
The heat will make the bricks _____.
A:

(d) The _____ is made of gold.
A policeman is keeping _____ at the door to see that no one gets into the building.
There were thousands of persons _____ing the ship come into the harbor.
A:

7. Give your answers in Basic:

(a) Who was crying for help and who got him out of the automobile?
A:

(b) How was the woman lifted to the sidewalk?
A:

(c) What damage was done to the automobile which was coming out from the side road?
A:
(d) Why were the drivers of the automobiles sounding their horns?
A:

(e) What did the two policemen do when they came to the place of the smash?
A:

(f) What was going to be done at the hospital for the man with the broken arm?
A:

(g) Why would the wound of the man with a cut in his head have been more serious if it had been a quarter of arm inch farther to the left?
A:

(h) Where was the dressing for the wound got from?
A:

(i) What made the medical man say that the man with the broken arm had been taking alcohol?
A.

(j) What account did the man with the broken arm give of the smash?
A:

(k) Which details of his story were not in agreement with the accounts given by others?
A:

(l) What sort of account did the other two drivers give of the smash?
A:

(m) Why did someone give the policeman another pencil?
A:

(n) Why did the driver with the broken arm make a request to the newspaper man to keep the story out of the papers?
A:

(o) Why did the newspaper man give no attention to his request?
A:

(p) Why was the driver who came out from the side road unable to get out of the way?
A: