VOA慢速英语2015 印度持续高温已导致超过1100人死亡

AS IT IS 2015-05-29 Extreme Heat in India Kills Over 1100 印度持续高温已导致超过1100人死亡

Usually hot weather is affecting people across large parts of India. Temperatures reached and even topped 46 degrees Celsius¹.

Indians who had a choice stayed inside buildings or at home to escape the killer² heat. But tens of thousands of people did not have that choice. Many of them are employed as construction workers, taxi drivers and street vendors³, who make a living by selling goods to passersby⁴.

Shaibaz Qureshi drives an auto⁵ rickshaw in the city of Hyderabad. 

He says that the weather is a problem. But if he stops working, he will not be able to earn money.

The number of heat-related deaths has climbed over the past week.  Most of the deaths have been reported in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. That is where the highest temperatures were recorded.

Y.K. Reddy is a weather expert and the head of the Meteorological Department in Hyderabad. He told VOA this is the worst heat wave to hit the area in nearly 10 years.

He says this summer season three records have been broken. In other places records are not broken, but they have reached 47 degrees plus in coastal⁶ Andhra Pradesh.

High temperatures are common in India in May and June. Dry winds blowing from the Northwest have intensified⁷ the heat recently all across northern and central India. The hot weather has reached the capital, New Delhi. A national newspaper, Hindustan Times, showed a picture of street tar⁸ and paint melting on the stripe markings of a walkway.

Sunil Kumar Aledia is with the Center for Holistic⁹ Development in New Delhi. He says homeless people are the most at risk from the extreme heat. He says these men and women usually spend the night in government shelters during the winter months. But they get no break from hot weather at this time of year.

Mr. Aledia says the shelters are usually cabins or tin structures, and in the summer they are only 10% full. He says this is because they lack electric fans, coolers or drinking water facilities. So they become very hot.

Officials in the worst affected¹⁰ states advise people to stay inside buildings during the afternoon, when temperatures are the highest. They also say people should drink plenty of fluids and not go outside without a hat. In some places, doctors were told to cancel their leave plans because hospitals had so many cases of heat stroke, a serious heat-related disorder¹¹.

Many taxis in Indian cities operate without air conditioning equipment. In Kolkata two taxi drivers died from heat stroke last week. Their deaths led labor¹² unions to tell taxi drivers that they could turn down passengers in the afternoon. In the eastern state of Orissa, the government advised laborers¹³ to suspend hard work between late morning and four o’clock in the afternoon.

The arrival of monsoon¹⁴ rains could offer some help from the oppressively high heat. But the worst affected states may not get an early break. That is because the rains get to the south and west of India first, before arriving in the northern and eastern plains. But in Hyderabad, Mr. Reddy is hoping that a rare thunder shower will lower temperatures in the coming days.

Words in This Story

construction – adj. related to the building industry

auto rickshaw – n. a small motorized vehicle that is used to transport people short distances

heat wave – n. a time of unusually hot weather

1 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

2 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

3 vendors   

n.摊贩( vendor的名词复数 )；小贩；（房屋等的）卖主；卖方

参考例句：

• The vendors were gazundered at the last minute. 卖主在最后一刻被要求降低房价。
• At the same time, interface standards also benefIt'software vendors. 同时，界面标准也有利于软件开发商。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

4 passersby   

n. 过路人(行人,经过者)

参考例句：

• He had terrorized Oxford Street,where passersby had seen only his footprints. 他曾使牛津街笼罩了一片恐怖气氛，因为那儿的行人只能看到他的脚印，看不到他的人。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学
• A person is marceling on a street, watching passersby passing. 街边烫发者打量着匆匆行人。

5 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

6 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。

7 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 tar   

n.柏油，焦油；vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于

参考例句：

• The roof was covered with tar.屋顶涂抹了一层沥青。
• We use tar to make roads.我们用沥青铺路。

9 holistic   

adj.从整体着眼的，全面的

参考例句：

• There is a fundamental ambiguity in the use of word "whole" in recent holistic literature.在近代的整体主义著作中，“整体”这个词的用法极其含混。
• In so far as historicism is technological,its approach is not piecemeal,but "holistic".仅就历史决定论是一种技术而论，它的方法不是渐进的，而是“整体主义的”。

10 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。

11 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

12 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

13 laborers   

n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工

参考例句：

• Laborers were trained to handle 50-ton compactors and giant cranes. 工人们接受操作五十吨压土机和巨型起重机的训练。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Wage-labour rests exclusively on competition between the laborers. 雇佣劳动完全是建立在工人的自相竞争之上的。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言

14 monsoon   

n.季雨，季风，大雨

参考例句：

• The monsoon rains started early this year.今年季雨降雨开始得早。
• The main climate type in that region is monsoon.那个地区主要以季风气候为主要气候类型。