CNN 2011-01-17

The number of people left homeless or displaced by the floods has in thousands. Agencia Brasil, the official Brazilian news agency, reports that nearly 75,000 people in this mountainous area are without power. Civil Defense¹ officials report there have been at least 30 mudslides in the region in the last two days. Meanwhile, in the state of Sao Paulo, at least 24 people were killed as heavy rains continued to batter² ground already soaked. To complicate³ matters even more, a dam gave way, flooding streets in Sao Jose dos Campos near the city of Sao Paulo. Non-stop rains have been pounding the region since the beginning of the year and forecasters expect storms to continue until the end of this week.

The suburb I'm in in Fairfield is completely underwater. You wouldn't even recognize it. It just looks (INAUDIBLE). All you see is rooftops poking⁴ out at the moment. I haven't been able to go down there this morning. It's a ghost town.It could take up to two months before we can even get in there and try to salvage⁵ anything because there's so much damage and so much debris⁶.  I've been told that we have seen the worst of it this morning. But there's always a possibility that we could get another high tide.

Yet another country's affected⁷ by heavy flooding-- Sri Lanka, where thousands of troops are working to rescue nearly a million people threatened by high water levels. Officials say at least 13 people have been killed in the central, north and eastern provinces. Sri Lanka’s president made a visit to one stricken area earlier this week. But then the bad weather forced him to cut the trip short.

“As you've heard from the president yesterday, it is true, she did have spontaneous eye opening yesterday and she is becoming more and more alert at this time period”.

“She is still holding her own, she is still following simple commands. And for me, that tells that her higher brain center is working. But as you heard from the president, she is now starting to open her eyes spontaneously. I was there when she was surrounded by her friends from the Congress and Senate. I think it was a combination, perhaps of the unexpected but familiar, that really prompted her to open her eyes.

“Violence is never, ever acceptable. We had people that died. We had people whose lives will be changed forever because of the deranged⁸ actions of a mad man. Those are not American.”

1 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

2 batter   

v.接连重击；磨损；n.牛奶面糊；击球员

参考例句：

• The batter skied to the center fielder.击球手打出一个高飞球到中外野手。
• Put a small quantity of sugar into the batter.在面糊里放少量的糖。

3 complicate   

vt.使复杂化，使混乱，使难懂

参考例句：

• There is no need to complicate matters.没有必要使问题复杂化。
• These events will greatly complicate the situation.这些事件将使局势变得极其复杂。

4 poking   

n. 刺，戳，袋 vt. 拨开，刺，戳 vi. 戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢

参考例句：

• He was poking at the rubbish with his stick. 他正用手杖拨动垃圾。
• He spent his weekends poking around dusty old bookshops. 他周末都泡在布满尘埃的旧书店里。

5 salvage   

v.救助，营救，援救；n.救助，营救

参考例句：

• All attempts to salvage the wrecked ship failed.抢救失事船只的一切努力都失败了。
• The salvage was piled upon the pier.抢救出的财产被堆放在码头上。

6 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

7 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

8 deranged   

adj.疯狂的

参考例句：

• Traffic was stopped by a deranged man shouting at the sky.一名狂叫的疯子阻塞了交通。
• A deranged man shot and killed 14 people.一个精神失常的男子开枪打死了14人。