Step by Step 3000 第2册 Unit9:Disasters(2)

 　　Part 2. News Items.

　　A. Keywords. fire, oil pipeline¹, fuel-loading area.

　　Vocabulary. pipeline, leak, blast, rip, depot², litter, char³, blaze, vandal, Lagos.

　　You're going to hear a pair of news items on the same topic presented in special and standard English.

　　Listen carefully and summarize the news according to the cues given.

　　Nigeria: more than 50 people have died in a fire from an oil pipeline explosion near Lagos.

　　The explosion and fire happened near a fuel-loading area owned by Nigeria's National Petroleum⁴ Cooperation.

　　This is the latest in a series of pipeline fires in Nigeria this year.

　　The series have killed hundreds of people.

　　The government says people who steal fuel from leaking pipes caused some of the fires.

　　It also blames people who cause damage on purpose.

　　More than 50 people are dead in Nigeria after a leaking oil pipeline burst into flames outside the commercial capital Lagos.

　　The blast and resulting fires Thursday ripped through an area near a fuel-loading depot owned by the state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Cooperation.

　　Witnesses report seeing burned bodies littering the charred⁵ grounds while many other victims are being treated for injures sustained in the blaze.

　　A spokesman for the petroleum company says the fire was caused by a vandal.

　　B. Keywords. accident, military plane, cable car, low-level flight.

　　Vocabulary. cable car, plunge⁶, dangle⁷, commander, suspend.

　　Here is another news item, complete the news summary and briefly⁸ answer the questions you hear.

　　A accident at a ski resort in Northern Italy in which an American military plane cut the wires of a cable car during a low-level training flight has killed 20 people.

　　One car plunged⁹ about 100 meters into the snow, killing¹⁰ everyone aboard.

　　An operator was rescued unhurt from a second car left dangling¹¹ in the air after the accident.

　　The plane returned to its base 60 kilometers away, the crew unaware¹² of the accident.

　　Commanders of the base have since started an investigation¹³ and suspended all low-level missions in Italy until further notice.

　　Questions. A. What is the cause of the disaster?

　　B. How many people have been killed?

　　C. How far away is the military base?

　　D. What have the commanders of the base done since the accident?

　　C. Keywords. floods, landslides¹⁵, shelters, houses, coastal¹⁶ area, relief and reconstruction¹⁷ efforts.

　　Vocabulary. landslide¹⁴, shelter, survive, urge, generous, devastating¹⁸, resolution, assembly, priority, barracks, Venezuela.

　　Now listen to the final pair of news items, summarize the news according to the cues given, then answer the questions you hear.

　　Venezuela: Tens of thousands of people are affected¹⁹ by recent floods and landslides are preparing to spend the Christmas and New Year holidays in shelters.

　　Officials estimated that the homes of as many as 140,000 people were destroyed.

　　Venezuela official say the floods and landslides may have caused the death of as many as 30,000 people.

　　Experts say poor city planning was a major cause of the damage.

　　Many houses were built on weak ground or on the sides of mountains along the northern coast.

　　The Venezuela Defence Minister says survivors²⁰ need to cooperate with government effort to move them away from the coastal area.

　　The United Nations has urged the international community to give quick and generous aid to Venezuela to help it recover from last week's devastating floods and mudslides.

　　A resolution passed in the general assembly said it was deeply concerned over tremendous loss of live and serve destruction of the country.

　　As many as 30,000 people are thought to have been killed.

　　Officials have estimated the relief and reconstruction efforts as costing some 50 billion dollars.

　　Officials here say that reconstruction efforts could take several years to complete.

　　They say the priority is to build new housing for the 150,000 people who'd been made homeless.

　　These people are now sleeping in an emergency shelters set up in stadium, car parks, airports and military barracks.

　　President Hugo Chavez says that he is looking at several different places across the country in which to build new houses, all in plain areas away from the coast.

　　Mr Chavez says that the government will not rebuild houses in the parts of northern coastal regions destroyed by floods and landslide.

　　Relief efforts are continuing in damaged coastal regions.

　　Questions. A. What has the United Nations urged the international community to do?

　　B. According to Venezuela officials, what is the priority now?

　　C. Where are the emergency shelter set up?

　　D. According to president Hugo Chavez, where will the new houses be built?

1 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

2 depot   

n.仓库，储藏处；公共汽车站；火车站

参考例句：

• The depot is only a few blocks from here.公共汽车站离这儿只有几个街区。
• They leased the building as a depot.他们租用这栋大楼作仓库。

3 char   

v.烧焦；使...燃烧成焦炭

参考例句：

• Without a drenching rain,the forest fire will char everything.如果没有一场透地雨，森林大火将烧尽一切。
• The immediate batch will require deodorization to char the protein material to facilitate removal in bleaching.脱臭烧焦的蛋白质原料易在脱色中去除。

4 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

5 charred   

v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式)；烧焦

参考例句：

• the charred remains of a burnt-out car 被烧焦的轿车残骸
• The intensity of the explosion is recorded on the charred tree trunks. 那些烧焦的树干表明爆炸的强烈。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 plunge   

v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲

参考例句：

• Test pool's water temperature before you plunge in.在你跳入之前你应该测试水温。
• That would plunge them in the broil of the two countries.那将会使他们陷入这两国的争斗之中。

7 dangle   

v.(使)悬荡，(使)悬垂

参考例句：

• At Christmas,we dangle colored lights around the room.圣诞节时，我们在房间里挂上彩灯。
• He sits on the edge of the table and dangles his legs.他坐在桌子边上，摆动著双腿。

8 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

9 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

10 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

11 dangling   

悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口

参考例句：

• The tooth hung dangling by the bedpost, now. 结果，那颗牙就晃来晃去吊在床柱上了。
• The children sat on the high wall,their legs dangling. 孩子们坐在一堵高墙上，摇晃着他们的双腿。

12 unaware   

a.不知道的，未意识到的

参考例句：

• They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
• I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。

13 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

14 landslide   

n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利

参考例句：

• Our candidate is predicated to win by a landslide.我们的候选人被预言将以绝对优势取胜。
• An electoral landslide put the Labour Party into power in 1945.1945年工党以压倒多数的胜利当选执政。

15 landslides   

山崩( landslide的名词复数 )； （山坡、悬崖等的）崩塌； 滑坡； （竞选中）一方选票占压倒性多数

参考例句：

• Landslides have cut off many villages in remote areas. 滑坡使边远地区的许多村庄与外界隔绝。
• The storm caused landslides and flooding in Savona. 风暴致使萨沃纳发生塌方和洪灾。

16 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

17 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

18 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

19 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。

20 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者