VOA慢速英语2012 TECHNOLOGY REPORT - Power Still Out For Many in New York City

 

TECHNOLOGY REPORT - Power Still Out For Many in New York City

科技报道 - 桑迪暴露美国基础设施问题 纽约大部分地区仍然断电

From VOA Learning English, this is the TECHNOLOGY REPORT in Special English.

这里是美国之音慢速英语科技报道。

Hundreds of thousands of people were without electricity last week in the northeastern United States. They lost power when Superstorm Sandy hit the area in late October. Last week, another storm brought more high winds and dropped snow on the already troubled New York City area.

上周美国东北部数十万人断电。他们在10月下旬遭遇超级风暴桑迪袭击时失去了电力。上周，另一场风暴带来了更大的狂风，还给早已陷入困境的纽约市区带来了降雪。

Officials are blaming Sandy for more than one hundred deaths and more than fifty billion dollars in property damage. The storm left about eight million people without power for days. This included nearly five million people in New York State and New Jersey¹.

有关官员称桑迪导致了一百多人死亡和五百多亿美元的财产损失。风暴造成约800万人数天断电，其中包括纽约州和新泽西州的近500万人。

Sandy flooded parts of New York City’s subway system and affected² other transportation. It delayed movement of trucks carrying fuel to gasoline stations, resulting in long lines at gas pumps.

桑迪淹没了纽约市部分地铁系统，还影响了其它交通系统。运送汽油到加油站的卡车因此发生延误，导致加油机前排起了长队。

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo spoke³ about the problems at a press conference last week.

纽约州州长安德鲁·库默（Andrew Cuomo）上周在新闻发布会上谈到了这一问题。

“Many of the gas stations, especially in Nassau, there’s gasoline in the tank in the ground but there’s no power to run the pump. And that’s been the problem.”

他说：“很多加油站，特别是拿骚县（Nassau）的加油站，它们地下油罐里有汽油，但没有电来运转电泵（把汽油抽上来）。这就是问题所在。”

Governor Cuomo said Superstorm Sandy has exposed problems with New York’s infrastructure⁴.

库默州长表示，超级风暴桑迪暴露了纽约基础设施的问题。

“These systems are the circulatory systems of the region. And you stop the circulatory system, and you paralyze⁵ the region.”

他说：“这些系统是该地区的循环系统，它一停止运转，该地区就陷入了瘫痪。”

He said the failure of the city’s public utility system is of real concern.

他说，城市公共设施系统的崩溃是最大的担忧。

“The utility system we have was designed at a different time for a different place. I believe the system is archaic⁶ and is obsolete⁷ in many ways.”

他说：“我们公共设施系统的设计经历了时空转换，我认为该系统已经太老，在很多方面已经过时了。”

The storm has led to calls for power companies to bury more electrical lines underground. But, at least one expert says similar efforts did not help New York. Otto Lynch is vice⁸ president of Power Line Systems in Wisconsin.

风暴还引发人们呼吁电力公司将更多电力线路埋到地下。但是至少有一位专家表示，类似措施没能帮助到纽约。奥托·林奇（Otto Lynch）是康斯威星州电力系统副总裁。

“The reason many people in New York are out of power is because it was underground and when the water came onshore, water and electricity don’t mix. And they’ve got problems and it takes forever to find the problems. And when you do find the problems, it’s not just a quick fix. You have to dig. You have to work. Out of sight, out of mind is great until there’s a problem.”

“纽约很多人断电的原因是因为电力线路埋在地下，当水涌上陆地时，水电不相容。它导致了问题却又难于发现。当你确实发现问题，也无法快速解决，你必须挖开地面。在没发生问题前的确是眼不见心不烦。”

Otto Lynch says a bigger national problem has to do with electrical distribution poles. He says the current poles do not have to meet industry weather requirements. And he says the ones in New York did not.

林奇表示，需要解决的一个更大的全国性问题是配电电杆。他说目前的电杆无需满足工业级气象标准，纽约的电杆就未满足。

“The structures aren’t designed for the ninety-mile per hour winds that occurred and there were a lot of distribution failures.”

他说：“这些设施不是为刚发生的90英里每小时的大风设计的，配电问题很多。”

Mr. Lynch is a member of the America’s Infrastructure Committee at the American Society of Civil Engineers. The group produced its last report on the nation’s infrastructure in two thousand nine.

林奇先生是美国土木工程师学会下属的基础设施委员会成员。该组织2009年就国家基础设施发布了最新报告。

“The two thousand nine grade for energy was a D+. That’s actually better than most of the rest of the infrastructure. The average grade for all of America’s infrastructure was a D.”

“2009年能源等级为D+。其实已经优于其它基础设施。美国基础设施平均等级是D。”

1 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

2 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。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 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。

5 paralyze   

vt.使瘫痪，使丧失作用，使呆若木鸡

参考例句：

• The fear that you might make a mistake or fail in your efforts can paralyze your progress.担心你可能会犯错或者你的努力将会失败，这会阻碍你的进步。
• The snake uses its venom to stun or paralyze its victims.蛇用其毒液使受害者失去知觉或瘫痪。

6 archaic   

adj.(语言、词汇等)古代的，已不通用的

参考例句：

• The company does some things in archaic ways,such as not using computers for bookkeeping.这个公司有些做法陈旧，如记账不使用电脑。
• Shaanxi is one of the Chinese archaic civilized origins which has a long history.陕西省是中国古代文明发祥之一，有悠久的历史。

7 obsolete   

adj.已废弃的，过时的

参考例句：

• These goods are obsolete and will not fetch much on the market.这些货品过时了，在市场上卖不了高价。
• They tried to hammer obsolete ideas into the young people's heads.他们竭力把陈旧思想灌输给青年。

8 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。