美国有线新闻 CNN 2013-02-19

 Hi, I'm Carl Azuz, you know we think Fridays are awesome¹, but for the 4229 people aboard the "Carnival² Triumph" cruise ship. This Friday, probably seems especially awesome cause hopefully by now they are all off that ship. On Sunday, the ship lost power in the Gulf³ of Mexico after a fire in the engine room. Tugboats eventually came out to help pull the Trumiph in the port in Mobile, Alabama. But that's been very very slow,and when the passengers finally get off the ship, their nightmare may not be over. One doctor said conditions on board after the fire made the ship a floating petri dish, if that sounds kind of gross, that's his point.

No power means the toilets stop working. Raw sewage can be a major health risk, and we've heard of reports about sloshing across the floors and running down the walls. No power means food starts rotting, spoiled food can lead to E.coli or Salmonella, there haven't been any reports of any kind of outbreak on the ship, but the doctor says a full-blown infection might not show up for a couple of weeks.

So would you consider cruising again after going through something like this? On our facebook page, Mason said, "Sure, that was just one very unlucky cruise." Joseph and Unique both said, "No way." Reese would consider taking another cruise, but not for a very long time." And Kora's opinion, "If it happens again, it would definitely be something to tell your grandkids."

Remember a week or so ago when we talked about an asteroid⁴ that would fly by the earth, today is the day, scientists are sure it won't hit anything down here. But what about up there?

"This is 70,000 miles away, now if you're watching a dish or Direct TV, your satellite is 22,000 miles away, so yes there are some earth satellites here around the ring. The Moon is far away, the Moon is ten times farther away than what this thing is going to fly through our geosynchronous earth orbit. So, is there a chance of it hitting something? Yes."

A chance, sure, but it's not too likely, one analyst⁵ said, other objects pass through the same area every day, they don't cause any problems. This asteroid is a lot bigger than those, but that also means it's easier to keep track of, so scientists have a better idea of what it will or more likely will not hit.

1 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

2 carnival   

n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演

参考例句：

• I got some good shots of the carnival.我有几个狂欢节的精彩镜头。
• Our street puts on a carnival every year.我们街的居民每年举行一次嘉年华会。

3 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

4 asteroid   

n.小行星；海盘车(动物)

参考例句：

• Astronomers have yet to witness an asteroid impact with another planet.天文学家还没有目击过小行星撞击其它行星。
• It's very unlikely that an asteroid will crash into Earth but the danger exists.小行星撞地球的可能性很小，但这样的危险还是存在的。

5 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。