NPR 2010-02-28

The death toll¹ is up to 147 from one of the strongest earthquakes to ever hit Chile. The government says the 8.8-magnitude earthquake left central Chile in the state of catastrophe². But the ambassador to the US, Jose Goni, says his country is on top of things. “In general, the country is relatively³ very well prepared for this kind of a situations. The public sector⁴ that is already reacting, the president, Michelle Bachelet, from the very beginning, was in charge of the situation.” President Obama says the US stands ready to help Chile, but the US’s immediate⁵ concern is the tsunami⁶ that’s been triggered by that quake. A warning is in effect in countries around the Pacific Rim⁷ with less severe alerts issued for parts of California, as Bob Hensley of Capital Public Radio reports.

 

An advisory⁸ is the lowest level alert issued by the Weather Service. It means it could be strong currents and wave fluctuations⁹ of up to two feet. The most vulnerable places are beaches, harbors and bays. Along with the advisory, the Weather Service started spreading the word for people to stay away from the coast during the afternoon hours. The surges which could last as long as 30 minutes in duration are expected to reach Northern California around 1:30 local time. According to a statement from the US Geological Survey, the Coast Guard is encouraging those who live and work along waterfront to take extra precautions in preparation for the possibility of a surge. Operators of boats are being advised to secure their vessel¹⁰ and make sure that rough waters won’t result in sources of pollution. For NPR News, I’m Bob Hensley.

 

Sirens are blaring across Hawaii which is expecting potentially deadly tsunami waves within hours. Geophysicist Victor Sardina of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center says people need to avoid the coastline. “We want people to take it seriously and stay away from the coastline. If you cannot go, if you need not leave the inundation¹¹ zone, and for some reason, you cannot get away from the inundation zone, go high up.” Meanwhile, Navy’s pulling all the seaworthy craft out of Pearl Harbor.

 

Lawmakers this week say Toyota is agreeing to face parliamentarians in Canada to face questions about safety. Dan Karpenchuk reports.

 

The government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper wants the Committee on Transport, Infrastructure¹² and Communities to conduct hearings into the Toyota recall when Parliament resumes at the beginning of March. Opposition¹³ parties are supporting the move so that Canadian lawmakers can pose questions directly to Toyota officials as soon as possible. The head of the committee says he’s very concerned that Canadian families have been exposed to potentially unsafe vehicles. The questions facing the automaker are: how did this happen, how did the defect go undetected and what can be done to prevent the recurrence¹⁴. Two hundred and seventy thousand Toyota vehicles were recalled in Canada and 8.5 million worldwide. The company launched a media campaign in Canada this week to reassure¹⁵ consumers it’s working hard to alleviate¹⁶ any concerns. For NPR News, I’m Dan Karpenchuk in Toronto.

 

From Washington, this is NPR News.

 

Killer¹⁷ whale shows are now back on at SeaWorld, Orlando, although there are some noticeable changes. Trainers are now banned from being in the water with orcas after one of their colleagues was killed on Wednesday. Dawn Brancheau drowned when Tilikum, the killer whale, grabbed the trainer’s ponytail and pulled her underwater.

 

The final snowboarding race of the Winter Games in Vancouver is today, the parallel giant slalom. The USA has won five snowboarding medals so far, but NPR’s Dianna Douglas notes the US is an underdog in this final race.

 

Two snowboarders at a time race downhill in the parallel giant slalom, while they will speed around gates at about 40 miles an hour. This is not one of those X Game style races where everyone crashes into each other. It’s a good thing for the US’s Chris Klug. At 37, he’s back for his third Olympics and he’s something of a senior statesman for snowboarding. He competed in 1998 when it first became an Olympic sport and says he’s seen snowboarding come a long way. “You know, I’ve been involved in snowboarding now for about 27 years. I started on the old Burton Backhill, no metal edges and bungee-strapped bindings and moon boots lots of productive back then.” Chris Klug is also the only athlete to have won an Olympic medal after an organ transplant. He received a donor¹⁸ liver in 2000 and won a bronze in the snowboard parallel giant slalom in Salt Lake in 2002. Dianna Douglas, NPR News, Vancouver.

 

In the US, utility crews are slowly restoring power to the more than one million homes and businesses that went dark during this week’s winter storm in the Northeast. New Hampshire bore the brunt of the power outages; more than a quarter million customers lost electricity.

 

I’m Lakshmi Singh, NPR News, Washington.
 

1 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

2 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

3 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

4 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

5 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

6 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。

7 rim   

n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界

参考例句：

• The water was even with the rim of the basin.盆里的水与盆边平齐了。
• She looked at him over the rim of her glass.她的目光越过玻璃杯的边沿看着他。

8 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。

9 fluctuations   

波动，涨落，起伏( fluctuation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He showed the price fluctuations in a statistical table. 他用统计表显示价格的波动。
• There were so many unpredictable fluctuations on the Stock Exchange. 股票市场瞬息万变。

10 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

11 inundation   

n.the act or fact of overflowing

参考例句：

• Otherwise, inundation would ensue to our dismay. 若不疏导，只能眼巴巴看着它泛滥。
• Therefore this psychology preceded the inundation of Caudillo politics after independence. 在独立后，这一心态助长了考迪罗主义的泛滥。

12 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

13 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

14 recurrence   

n.复发，反复，重现

参考例句：

• More care in the future will prevent recurrence of the mistake.将来的小心可防止错误的重现。
• He was aware of the possibility of a recurrence of his illness.他知道他的病有可能复发。

15 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

16 alleviate   

v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等)

参考例句：

• The doctor gave her an injection to alleviate the pain.医生给她注射以减轻疼痛。
• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。

17 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

18 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。