万花筒 2012-03-16&03-18 一年后，重访日本海啸灾区

 Oversees now. As you know, we've been marking the anniversary of that devastating¹ 9.0 earthquake and tsunami² in northeast Japan. One year ago this weekend, thousands of lives were lost. NBC's Ian Williams was one of the first western correspondents to reach the scene of that disaster. He reported from there for several weeks thereafter. Tonight, he's returned to the region. He has this report on how some of the survivors³ are putting things back together. 

 

This was the terrifying moment all along the northeast coast of Japan. Almost 20,000 people died. A year later, the scene is very different. A massive cleanup has transformed the coast. The fishing town of Otsuchi was largely obliterated⁴ once the tsunami rolled in. Today, it looks almost serene⁵. In place of the twisted wreckage⁶, a barren wasteland. 

 

So you see the remains⁷ of towns along the coast have been piled into vast mountains of trash, some of it toxic⁸, 19 years worse in the worst affected⁹ area. More than half a million buildings destroyed or damaged and still, there's no real plan for how to get rid of it. There is no blueprint¹⁰ for rebuilding. Two thousand of Otsuchi survivors still live in tiny temporary homes, that's where we met 79-year-old who lost everything in the tsunami. She may never get her wish to go home but told me, I always try to be positive about what lies ahead. 

 

The authorities here have pledged to build a giant new 50-foot high seawall, that more than twice the height of the one tossed aside by the tsunami last year. But even that may not be enough to make this place livable again. 

 

Further down the coast, few towns were hit harder than Minamisanriku where the surging water funneled¹¹ on the narrow valley.The debris¹²' also been cleared here. And for the first time since the disaster, boats are back sea farming seaweed, something this town was famous for. That's been made possible by new equipment, a project supported by the US Charity Mercy Corp which has created jobs for 200 people here. 

 

It's gonna take a long long time to really rebuild. But I think what we see now a year later is just a really resilient comunity that coming back together again. 

 

There's no shortage of spirit here. And that may be the most important asset as these devastated¹³ communities look to the future. 

 

Ian Williams, NBC News, Minamisanriku, Japan.

1 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。

2 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。

3 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

4 obliterated   

v.除去( obliterate的过去式和过去分词 )；涂去；擦掉；彻底破坏或毁灭

参考例句：

• The building was completely obliterated by the bomb. 炸弹把那座建筑物彻底摧毁了。
• He began to drink, drank himself to intoxication, till he slept obliterated. 他一直喝，喝到他快要迷糊地睡着了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 serene   

adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的

参考例句：

• He has entered the serene autumn of his life.他已进入了美好的中年时期。
• He didn't speak much,he just smiled with that serene smile of his.他话不多，只是脸上露出他招牌式的淡定的微笑。

6 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

8 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

9 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。

10 blueprint   

n.蓝图，设计图，计划；vt.制成蓝图，计划

参考例句：

• All the machine parts on a blueprint must answer each other.设计图上所有的机器部件都应互相配合。
• The documents contain a blueprint for a nuclear device.文件内附有一张核装置的设计蓝图。

11 funneled   

漏斗状的

参考例句：

• The crowd funneled through the hall. 群众从走廊中鱼贯而过。
• The large crowd funneled out of the gates after the football match. 足球赛后大群人从各个门中涌出。

12 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

13 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。