新西兰英语 19 Wahine Ferry Sank 40 Years Ago

　　Forty years ago today was our worst tragedy¹ at sea in living memory. The inter-island ferry², the Wahine, with 734 passengers, struck rocks in the Wellington harbour and sank. 51 people died. This was the Easter holiday and many people were travelling to the North Island. In 1968, air travel was not very common because it was very expensive.
At that time, the inter-island ferry between the North and South islands, left from Lyttelton Harbour (near Christchurch) around 8pm and usually arrived in Wellington in the early morning. Passengers slept in cabins³ on board. However, on April 9th when the ship left, there was a terrible storm which continued the next day, one of the worst storms New Zealand has ever had. Today, if the weather is really bad, the ferry does not sail. On April 10th, the ship reached the entrance to Wellington Harbour in the early morning but was unable to get into the harbour and then hit rocks. This damaged one propeller⁴ and the bottom of the ship, and water entered the engine room. Soon after 1pm, the passengers were told to leave the ship and jump into lifeboats. At 2.30pm the Wahine capsized which means⁵ it turned over.
The passengers landed all around Wellington Harbour which has many rocky⁶ places especially near Eastbourne, Many of the people who died were thrown onto the rocks when the lifeboats came near the shore. The sea was very rough⁷ and people were not able to control the small boats easily. Some died of the cold, even after they reached the shore because it was impossible to find everybody around the large harbour.
If you live in Wellington or visit, you can see more about the Wahine disaster in the Museum of City and Sea.

1 tragedy   

n.悲剧；惨事，惨案，灾难

参考例句：

• The news of the tragedy really knocked us out.关于这一惨案的消息确实使我们感到震惊。
• The play was a tragedy,but the acting was laughable.戏是悲剧，可是演得却令人发笑。

2 ferry   

n.渡船，渡口；v.渡运；(越海)空运

参考例句：

• You can cross the river by ferry.你可以搭渡船过河。
• We waited at the ferry for two hours.我们在渡口等了两个小时。

3 cabins   

n.小木屋( cabin的名词复数 )；（飞机上的）驾驶舱；客舱；（轮船上工作或生活的）隔间

参考例句：

• The cabins are in the bowels of the ship. 舱房设在船腹内。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Hsin-mei and Hung-chien formally thanked Ku and Li for the cabins. 辛楣和鸿渐为舱位的事，向郑重道谢。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

4 propeller   

n.螺旋桨，推进器

参考例句：

• The propeller started to spin around.螺旋桨开始飞快地旋转起来。
• A rope jammed the boat's propeller.一根绳子卡住了船的螺旋桨。

5 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

6 rocky   

adj.岩石的，像岩石的；多岩石的

参考例句：

• She drives carefully up the rocky lane.她驾车小心地从这条很多石头的小路上驶过去。
• There is only one port along this rocky coast.这个多岩石的海岸只有一个港口。

7 rough   

adj.粗糙的；粗略的，大致的；粗野的，粗暴的

参考例句：

• It's just a very rough translation.这只是一篇非常粗糙的译稿。
• His reply was a bit rough.他的答复过于粗鲁了一点。