英闻天下——549 Dead Ducks Found in Sichuan River

 　　More than 1,000 dead ducks have been found dumped in the Nanhe River in South-Western China's Sichuan province.

 

　　Although the Nanhe River is not a source of drinking water for local residents, this does come just a few days after thousands of dead pigs were found dumped in a Shanghai waterway.

 

　　Zhang Mingzhe, the director of Pengshan County's flood control office, says the duck carcasses have now been disposed off safely and that there's no threat to humans or livestock¹ along the river.

 

　　"We have arranged personnel to fish out dead ducks at the site immediately according to our emergency measures to make a comprehensive cleanup. After that, we disposed of the dead ducks with harmless treatment under the guidance of the livestock bureau and relevant technology requirements."

 

　　Investigations² are now looking in to what killed the ducks in the first place.

 

　　Li Hongji, from Pengshan County's livestock bureau though, says the possibility of infectious disease has been ruled out for now.

 

　　Li Hongji, deputy director of livestock bureau in Pengshan County:

 

　　"The reason for the dead ducks could come from feeding stuff or the weather. Infectious disease has been initially³ excluded as there has been no massive disease spread in our area or even in Sichuan province since this year."

 

　　This latest incident of dumping dead carcasses in water bodies adds to the large-scale dumpings which have already set off a wave of public outrage⁴ over food safety.

1 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

2 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

3 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

4 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。