【一起闲话英语】经历过的自然灾害-Have you ever been in a natural disaster?

Tom, U.K.

speaker I was in a typhoon¹ in Hong Kong, and I just arrived with a big heavy backpack, and I had to hide in a telephone box while the street flooded and the water came up around me.

 

Jess, U.K.

speaker Natural disaster? No, I haven't been been in a natural disaster. Unfortunately I was very close to a bomb which went off in Manchester when I was about sixteen years old, which was quite scary², but probably not as scary as a tsunami³ or a typhoon or something.

 

George, U.S.

speaker Oh, yes, yes. I have been in a natural disaster. I forget what year but Hurricane⁴ Yuniki in Hawaii, but I lived on Ohau so we got the eye of the hurricane so it wasn't like harsh⁵ at all. In fact, I remember when it hit, I remember telling my parents, I wanted to go out and fly a kite because it looked so nice outside, so it wasn't really that bad of an experience for me.

 

Pernais, Jamaica

speaker Yes, I have. I've been in a fire. A really big one actually. It was just very scary. There was just smoke everywhere, and I couldn't see anything. My eyes were hurting. I was choking⁶, and I really thought I was going to die, but I was rescued by an old man passing by.

 

Mike, Singapore

speaker OK, have I been in a natural disaster? Well, I've actually seen one happen while I was driving, and this was along I think the coast. I think it's called the Pacific Ocean Highway, if I'm not wrong. Anyway, there was in December 2004 I think, it was ... there was a big landslide⁷ during a the raining season in Los Angeles, and while I was driving I actually saw it, and then I didn't know what was damaged, but it was all over the news, and then it was bad.

 

Doron, U.K.

speaker Yeah, actually, I was staying with friends in Norway and we were camping and we got hit by a blizzard⁸ and it was really frightening, but luckily I was with some big Viking Norwegian guys, and they knew exactly what to do, because I didn't. It was really ... you couldn't see anything. It was so white and the snow was so heavy and it actually hurt quite a lot, and it didn't help that it was absolutely freezing.

1 typhoon   

n.台风

参考例句：

• A typhoon is now approaching Hong Kong.台风现正逼近香港。
• The typhoon hit the coastal areas.台风侵袭沿海地区。

2 scary   

a.引起惊慌的；害怕的

参考例句：

• What animal do you think is the most scary?你认为什么动物最可怕？
• Are you afraid of scary movies?你害怕恐怖电影吗？

3 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

4 hurricane   

n.飓风，暴风，暴风雨

参考例句：

• The hurricane destroyed the whole village.飓风把整个村子都毁掉了。
• A hurricane struck the city.飓风袭击了该城市。

5 harsh   

adj.严厉（酷）的，刺耳的，刺目的，毛糙的

参考例句：

• The sunlight is very harsh.太阳光很刺眼。
• Although his words are harsh,there is positiveness in them.虽然他的话很苛刻，但有建设性。

6 choking   

adj.窒息的，憋闷的，透不过气来的v.填塞( choke的现在分词 )；（使）窒息；（尤指感情激动）而哽咽；因紧张而失灵

参考例句：

• He was choking on a piece of toast. 他被一块烤面包噎得透不过气来。
• The pungent, choking smell of sulphur filled the air. 空气中弥漫着刺鼻呛人的硫磺气味。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 landslide   

n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利

参考例句：

• Our candidate is predicated to win by a landslide.我们的候选人被预言将以绝对优势取胜。
• An electoral landslide put the Labour Party into power in 1945.1945年工党以压倒多数的胜利当选执政。

8 blizzard   

n.暴风雪

参考例句：

• The blizzard struck while we were still on the mountain.我们还在山上的时候暴风雪就袭来了。
• You'll have to stay here until the blizzard blows itself off.你得等暴风雪停了再走。