新西兰英语 384 Earthquake after-shocks

　　It is surprising that Christchurch is still having after-shocks. It is now 4 months since the 7.1 earthquake on Sept 4th. Just as Christchurch people were starting to think that after-shocks had finished, the day after Christmas gave everyone an unpleasant surprise. There were about 20 shocks that day; the biggest one at 10.30 in the morning was 4.9 and right under the city. It caused a lot more damage to the central city. After-shocks are still continuing although not so big and not so often.
The mayor had hoped that all roads would be open again by the end of this month and all damaged buildings fenced off or repaired but that will not be possible. Some shops that were not damaged in September, were damaged on December 26th. Some may have to be demolished¹.
More people have made claims to the Earthquake Commission² for damage to their homes in the last two weeks. This brings the total of damaged homes to 152,000. Some of these homes are badly damaged while others just have broken chimneys. EQC has inspected and paid out for more than 70,000 claims but another 90,000 are waiting for an inspection³. EQC had hoped to have all these claims finished by the end of March but that is not possible now.
Questions
Will the central city survive or will people shop in the suburbs instead? What can be done to bring people back into the city?

1 demolished   

v.摧毁( demolish的过去式和过去分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光

参考例句：

• The factory is due to be demolished next year. 这个工厂定于明年拆除。
• They have been fighting a rearguard action for two years to stop their house being demolished. 两年来，为了不让拆除他们的房子，他们一直在进行最后的努力。

2 commission   

n.委托，授权，委员会，拥金，回扣，委任状

参考例句：

• The salesman can get commission on everything he sells.这个售货员能得到所售每件货物的佣金。
• The commission is made up of five people,including two women.委员会由五人组成，其中包括两名妇女。

3 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。