新西兰英语 273 Flooding in Queenstown

　　It has been raining for the last five or six days in Central Otago. The rivers are high. The rivers flow into four big lakes in that area: Lake Hawea, Lake Te Anau, Lake Manapouri and Lake Wakatipu. Queenstown is on the shores of Lake Wakatipu.
Roads and schools have closed in many places around these lakes. The telephone lines were down at Te Anau. Trampers in Fiordland National Park had to be taken off the tracks¹ by helicopter² because the rivers were too high to cross.
Now it looks as if Queenstown will flood overnight³. In 1999, flooding in Queenstown closed the shopping area and caused a lot of damage. Water was waist-deep in the street after 2m of rain in two days.
Now Queenstown is prepared. Many people have helped to put sand bags around the shore and pipes to break the waves. If the water from the lake comes into the shopping area, this time it will probably only be ankle-deep and affect about 35 shops. Those shopkeepers have moved things out of their shops.
The rain could continue for another few days.
Questions to think about
How can anyone prepare for floods?
What damage can a flood do to homes and shops?
What damage can a flood do to farms?

1 tracks   

n.小路( track的名词复数 )；跑道；路径；轨道v.跟踪( track的第三人称单数 )；跟踪摄影；留下（脏）足迹；追随（潮流等）

参考例句：

• Tracks led up the mountainside. 小径沿着山坡向上延伸。
• All the tracks have been digitally remastered from the original tapes. 所有的曲子都已经从原始录音带转录到了数码母带上。

2 helicopter   

n.直升飞机；vt.用直升飞机载送；vi.乘直升飞机

参考例句：

• The helicopter flying at a height of 5,000 meters.这架直升机正在五千米的高空飞行。
• The pilot landed the helicopter in a rice field.飞行员将直升飞机降落在一片稻田里。

3 overnight   

ad.前一天晚上，一夜间 a.前一天晚上的

参考例句：

• She stayed overnight in the hotel. 她在旅馆过了一夜。
• Our success is not won overnight. 我们的成功不是一夜之间得来的。