PBS高端访谈:暴雨和洪水袭击德克萨斯

 　　GWEN IFILL: The flood disaster that's stricken Texas and Oklahoma claimed more lives and property today. At least 16 people have been killed since Saturday and dozens more are missing.

　　The latest deluge¹ hit Houston after an all-night downpour. Lightning snaked its way across the night sky and the rain fell and fell and fell, 11 inches in about six hours in Southwest Houston. By morning, parts of the nation's fourth largest city were underwater. Hundreds of cars were stopped in their tracks by rising water, causing all-night backups. In some cases, desperate drivers climbed onto the hoods² of their cars, waiting for help.

　　But even tow trucks got stuck. Houston Mayor Annise Parker declared the city a disaster area after more than 500 water rescues.

　　MAYOR ANNISE PARKER, Houston: The street flooding from the really torrential downpour last night, we have got cars really littered all over the city. And, as the floodwaters go down, that's one of the things we're doing is to make sure that no one was trapped in those vehicles.

　　GWEN IFILL: In all, about 2,500 vehicles were abandoned by people seeking higher ground. To the west, 40 people were still missing in the hard-hit vacation area of Wimberley, Texas on the Blanco River. Teams kept looking for Laura McComb and her two children, who were swept away in their vacation home. Her husband, Jonathan, was rescued.

　　Governor Greg Abbott declared disasters in more than three dozen counties. And, in Washington, President Obama promised federal help.

　　PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: We have FEMA personnel already on the ground. They are coordinating³ with Texas emergency management authorities. And I will anticipate that there will be some significant requests made to Washington.

　　GWEN IFILL: Meanwhile, on the Mexican border, the death toll⁴ from Monday's tornado⁵ in Ciudad Acuna rose to 14 after search teams found the body of a baby who'd been swept from its mother's arms.

　　So far, there's no estimate of the damage done in Texas and Oklahoma. But the National Weather Service is warning of more rain and thunderstorms this week.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: A federal judge's ruling that blocked a presidential order on immigration will stand a while longer. A federal appeals court panel refused today to set aside the ruling. It bars the president from shielding immigrants from deportation⁶. The Justice Department is expected to appeal.

　　GWEN IFILL: The government of Iraq has formally opened a campaign to retake its key western province, Anbar, from the Islamic State group. ISIS fighters captured the provincial⁷ capital, Ramadi, last week, after Iraqi forces abandoned the city.

　　Today's announcement of a counteroffensive came as Shiite militias⁹ said they are now taking the lead in the operation.

　　AHMED AL-ASSADI, Shiite Militia⁸ Spokesman (through interpreter): We can see that the city of Ramadi has been besieged¹⁰ from three sides. There are formations from the Iraqi armed forces stationed shoulder-to-shoulder with the formations of Shiite militia. Thus, the city of Ramadi will be blockaded completely. Then, the Iraqi troops will launch a wide-scale attack to liberate¹¹ Ramadi.

　　GWEN IFILL: U.S. officials raised concerns about the Shiite militia's involvement and their use of a sectarian code name that could offend Sunnis. Meanwhile, in Syria, state TV reported airstrikes in the northern province of Raqqa have killed 140 Islamic State militants¹².

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: Government-allied fighters in Yemen have scored their first major victory in months over Shiite Houthi rebels. Officials said today the pro-government forces captured Dhale, a city that lies on the road to the Port of Aden.

　　GWEN IFILL: China said today it will expand the reach of its navy and air force to protect its claims in the South China Sea. That came after — days after a U.S. reconnaissance plane flew over areas where the Chinese are building artificial islands. In Beijing, the Defense¹³ Ministry¹⁴ dismissed complaints about China's activities.

　　YANG YUJUN, Defense Ministry Spokesman, China (through interpreter): There are all kinds of constructions all over China everyday, such as building houses, roads, bridges and so on. From the sovereignty point of view, China's construction in the South China Sea is no different than the constructions in other parts of China.

　　GWEN IFILL: Meanwhile, Taiwan's president offered a plan aimed at easing the tensions. And Japan announced it will join U.S. and Australian forces in upcoming military exercises, for the first time.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: Back in this country, cyber-thieves have broken into an IRS database that holds records of more than 100,000 taxpayers¹⁵. The agency said today the hackers¹⁶ obtained tax returns and other information. The breach¹⁷ lasted from February through mid-May.

　　GWEN IFILL: Amtrak will install video cameras in locomotive cabs, starting in the Northeast Corridor. The announcement today follows this month's fatal derailment in Philadelphia. The engineer on that train suffered a head injury and has said he cannot remember what happened. Eight people died in the wreck¹⁸ and 200 were hurt.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: President Obama pressed the Senate today to extend Patriot¹⁹ Act provisions that authorize²⁰ bulk collection of phone records. He said — quote — “This needs to get done.” So far, opponents have blocked Senate action, but Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is calling a Sunday session, ahead of a midnight deadline.

　　GWEN IFILL: And Wall Street spent the day in a bearish²¹ mood over Greece's debt and the surging dollar. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 190 points to close near 18040. The Nasdaq fell 56 points. And the S&P 500 dropped 22.

1 deluge   

n./vt.洪水，暴雨，使泛滥

参考例句：

• This little stream can become a deluge when it rains heavily.雨大的时候，这条小溪能变作洪流。
• I got caught in the deluge on the way home.我在回家的路上遇到倾盆大雨。

2 hoods   

n.兜帽( hood的名词复数 )；头巾；（汽车、童车等的）折合式车篷；汽车发动机罩v.兜帽( hood的第三人称单数 )；头巾；（汽车、童车等的）折合式车篷；汽车发动机罩

参考例句：

• Michael looked at the four hoods sitting in the kitchen. 迈克尔瞅了瞅坐在厨房里的四条汉子。 来自教父部分
• Eskimos wear hoods to keep their heads warm. 爱斯基摩人戴兜帽使头暖和。 来自辞典例句

3 coordinating   

v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的现在分词 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• He abolished the Operations Coordinating Board and the Planning Board. 他废除了行动协调委员会和计划委员会。 来自辞典例句
• He's coordinating the wedding, and then we're not going to invite him? 他是来协调婚礼的，难道我们不去请他？ 来自电影对白

4 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。

5 tornado   

n.飓风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• A tornado whirled into the town last week.龙卷风上周袭击了这座城市。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

6 deportation   

n.驱逐，放逐

参考例句：

• The government issued a deportation order against the four men.政府发出了对那4名男子的驱逐令。
• Years ago convicted criminals in England could face deportation to Australia.很多年以前，英国已定罪的犯人可能被驱逐到澳大利亚。

7 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

8 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

9 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

10 besieged   

包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Paris was besieged for four months and forced to surrender. 巴黎被围困了四个月后被迫投降。
• The community besieged the newspaper with letters about its recent editorial. 公众纷纷来信对报社新近发表的社论提出诘问，弄得报社应接不暇。

11 liberate   

v.解放，使获得自由，释出，放出；vt.解放，使获自由

参考例句：

• They did their best to liberate slaves.他们尽最大能力去解放奴隶。
• This will liberate him from economic worry.这将消除他经济上的忧虑。

12 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

13 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。

14 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

15 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

16 hackers   

n.计算机迷( hacker的名词复数 )；私自存取或篡改电脑资料者，电脑“黑客”

参考例句：

• They think of viruses that infect an organization from the outside.They envision hackers breaking into their information vaults. 他们考虑来自外部的感染公司的病毒，他们设想黑客侵入到信息宝库中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Arranging a meeting with the hackers took weeks againoff-again email exchanges. 通过几星期电子邮件往来安排见面，他们最终同意了。 来自互联网

17 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

18 wreck   

n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难

参考例句：

• Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
• No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。

19 patriot   

n.爱国者，爱国主义者

参考例句：

• He avowed himself a patriot.他自称自己是爱国者。
• He is a patriot who has won the admiration of the French already.他是一个已经赢得法国人敬仰的爱国者。

20 authorize   

v.授权，委任；批准，认可

参考例句：

• He said that he needed to get his supervisor to authorize my refund.他说必须让主管人员批准我的退款。
• Only the President could authorize the use of the atomic bomb.只有总统才能授权使用原子弹。

21 bearish   

adj.(行情)看跌的，卖空的

参考例句：

• It is foolish not to invest in stocks,so I will show her how to be bearish without them too,if she chooses.不投资股票是愚蠢的，因此如果她选择股票，我会向她展示怎样在没有长期潜力的情况下进行卖空。
• I think a bearish market must be a good time for bargain-hunters to invest.我觉得熊市对于想买低的人可是个投资的大好机会。