新西兰英语 412 Houses will be demolished

　　The Prime¹ Minister said that possibly 10,000 houses will have to be demolished² after the earthquake. The Head of Civil Defence thought the number was probably only 2,000. Time will tell. The important message from the Prime Minister is that the government will pay for the land if it is too badly damaged.
Most home owners have replacement³ insurance on their house. This means that the insurance company will give them enough money to replace the house. However, insurance companies do not pay for the land. After the Sept earthquake, the government had plans to repair the land where there was liquefaction. Now this has changed. There is so much liquefaction that the government decided⁴ it is too expensive to repair the land. It is better for people to build their houses on firm land. The land to the north and west is much firmer.
It is possible that many houses in the east will be demolished. The government will pay house owners for their land and insurance companies will pay to replace the house. House owners will be able to buy land in the north or west. The land in the east may become parks, golf courses or other areas for recreation.
Meanwhile, geo-technical experts are checking the land in the east. This could take three months. After that, we will know which areas will never be safe for re-building.
Some home owners say they want to leave their badly damaged area and never return. Others say that they have lived there for many years, the area feels like home and they don’t want to leave. They all want a choice, to stay or to go.
For more about liquefaction, listen to March 1st 2011.
Questions
The city was built more than 150 years ago. Who can we blame for building houses on soft land?
If the experts say that the land is not suitable for houses, can people stay there if they want to?

1 prime   

adj.首要的，主要的；最好的，第一流的

参考例句：

• The prime minister spoke of the general insecurity in the country.总理谈到了全国普遍存在的不安全。
• He met with the Prime Minister of Japan for an hour.他和日本首相会见了一个小时。

2 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。

3 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。