美国有线新闻 CNN 寒潮致得州数百万人遭断电挨冻

Major winter storm strikes America hitting states like Texas especially hard. If that sounds familiar, it's because the country is weathering back-to-back winter systems and that's put about 125 million Americans, more than a 1/3 of the U.S. population under some sort of weather alert.

大型冬季风暴袭击美国，得克萨斯州等州遭遇的影响尤为严重。如果这听起来很耳熟的话，那是因为美国正在经历连续的冬季风暴，这使大约1.25亿美国人，即超过美国三分之一的人口处于某种天气警报之下。

Most of these warnings stretch from Texas to New England though winter weather has effected states from Washington to Michigan as well. Many of the people who are feeling it the most are those whose power have been knocked out. Several million of them in Texas and authorities are warning people to be especially careful if they're trying to warm their homes without the power on.

大多警告范围从得克萨斯州延伸到新英格兰州，不过华盛顿州至密歇根州也受到了冬季气候的影响。受影响最大的人经历了断电。得克萨斯州有数百万民众遭遇断电，有关部门警告人们，如果他们试图在没有通电的情况下取暖，要特别小心。

They say portable gas-powered generators¹ should never be used inside. Fireplaces, woodstoves and combustion² heaters should only be used if they're vented³ correctly to the outside. Cars should never be left running inside a garage even with the garage door open.

他们表示，便携式燃气发电机绝对不能在室内使用。壁炉、木炉和燃烧加热器只有在通风良好的情况下才能使用。即使车库门开着，也不能在里面启动汽车。

All of these raise the threat of carbon monoxide poisoning which has been blamed for several of the deaths that have been reported during these winter storms. In the southeastern Texas city of Houston, scores of people waited for up to six hours to get inside a shelter that was set up at a convention center.

上述所有情况都都增加了一氧化碳中毒的威胁，据报道，在这些冬季风暴期间，一氧化碳中毒已导致多人死亡。在得克萨斯州东南部城市休斯顿，许多人等待了长达6个小时才进入一个设在会议中心的避难所。

Volunteers brought food and warm clothing to help. Others whose electricity and water weren't running at home lined up in their cars for fast food in some cases waiting four hours to get to the drive-thru.

志愿者带着食物和温暖衣物来帮忙。其他家里没水没电的人在车里排队买快餐，有些人甚至要等4个小时才能到达汽车餐厅。

Last year natural gas and coal generated more than half of Texas' electricity. These plants need water to stay online and with water facilities frozen in the cold temperatures, some companies can't produce electricity. Wind turbines like these are responsible for around 25 percent of Texas' energy production.

去年，天然气和煤炭发电量占得州电力的一半以上。这些发电厂需要水来维持运转，由于供水设施在低温下冻结，一些公司无法发电。像这样的风力涡轮机大约占得州发电量的25%。

We told you yesterday how some froze up or shut down during the storms. Experts say the turbines weren't prepared with antifreeze for instance for the frigid⁴ weather. Nuclear power accounts for about 11 percent of Texas' electricity and at least one nuclear unit shut down because it also needs water. So the result of all of this, Texans are stuck in the cold.

我们昨天报道过，部分工厂在风暴期间被冻结或关闭。专家表示，涡轮机没有准备应对寒冷天气的防冻剂。核能发电约占得州电力的11%，至少有一个核电站因为缺水而关闭。因此，这一切的结果是，得州人被困在寒冷之中。

1 generators   

n.发电机，发生器( generator的名词复数 )；电力公司

参考例句：

• The factory's emergency generators were used during the power cut. 工厂应急发电机在停电期间用上了。
• Power can be fed from wind generators into the electricity grid system. 电力可以从风力发电机流入输电网。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 combustion   

n.燃烧；氧化；骚动

参考例句：

• We might be tempted to think of combustion.我们也许会联想到氧化。
• The smoke formed by their combustion is negligible.由它燃烧所生成的烟是可忽略的。

3 vented   

表达，发泄（感情，尤指愤怒）( vent的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He vented his frustration on his wife. 他受到挫折却把气发泄到妻子身上。
• He vented his anger on his secretary. 他朝秘书发泄怒气。

4 frigid   

adj.寒冷的，凛冽的；冷淡的；拘禁的

参考例句：

• The water was too frigid to allow him to remain submerged for long.水冰冷彻骨，他在下面呆不了太长时间。
• She returned his smile with a frigid glance.对他的微笑她报以冷冷的一瞥。