救济物资送达印尼生还者，海啸后三周仍在不断发现尸体

Aid Reaching Tsunami¹ Survivors² in Indonesia 3 Weeks after Disaster,

 Bodies Still Being Found

救济物资送达印尼生还者，海啸后三周仍在不断发现尸体

 

It has been three weeks since the devastating³ earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean killed more than 100,000 people in Indonesia's Aceh Province. Recovery efforts are progressing. But in the Uhle Lheu neighborhood of Banda Aceh, relief workers are just beginning to clear debris⁴, and they are still retrieving⁵ hundreds of bodies each day.

 

It is mid⁶ morning in the Uhle Lheu suburb of Banda Aceh, a spit of land that stretches west from the city center out along the coast. The mostly residential⁷ neighborhood was flattened⁸ last month by the earthquake and tsunami, which cut a swath of destruction several kilometers deep through the area. A few solitary⁹ houses still stand but there are no trees. Mostly, only the foundations remain of a once thriving suburb.

 

The debris - wooden boards, bits of furniture, soggy mattresses¹⁰ and pillows - rises two meters high in some places. It spreads like a vast trash dump as far as the eye can see.

 

The main road into the area was only recently cleared. Workers using heavy equipment are now removing crashed cars and trucks from the along the strip.

 

An industrial crane carefully lifts a smashed dump truck out of the mud and swings it onto a wrecker.

 

Amnul, a 40 year-old foreman with a private construction company, is supervising the operation. He says in the past five days, his crew has removed 50 such vehicles from the mud.

 

Amnul says he cannot find words to express how sad he feels about this work. He says it will take months to clear the area.

 

Up the road, a group of about 40 volunteers from a youth group in central Aceh Province are searching for bodies in the ruins of what once was a small shopping center. Their leader, a wiry man named Suhardi, says his crew this morning has already retrieved¹¹ 200 bodies.

 

Mr. Suhardo says he feels deeply for the people here. They need help, he says, and we have to help each other. It is God's will.

 

A bit further, several young men are loading battered¹² hospital equipment onto a truck under the supervision¹³ of a portly older man.

 

Dr. Marzuki is salvaging¹⁴ what he can from the shell of his hospital, the Permata Hati. He says he survived because he was in Jakarta on business when the tsunami struck. But his three daughters and son -- who were working that morning - were killed along with 10 staff members and 17 patients.

 

Ten years to build the hospital, he says, and in one day, it is all gone.

 

Dr. Marzuki says he will store what equipment he can salvage¹⁵ and then look for some bank loans to reopen the hospital. Waving his hands above his head, he tells everyone he will return to Uhle Lheu.

 

Dr. Marzuki: Yeah, I'll come back here. I'll (be) working here again. I'm sure.

 

Engineers estimate it will take up to three months to clear the rubble¹⁶ of Uhle Lheu and recover all the bodies.

 

More than 70,000 bodies have been recovered so far. After three weeks in the muck, they are unrecognizable. Most of them are being buried in a mass graveyard¹⁷ on the airport road leading out of town.

 

Thousands of relief workers, including troops from several foreign nations, are struggling to set up a pipeline¹⁸ of food and emergency supplies to sustain the estimated one million homeless. They expect they will need help for at least six months, until they can find new homes and rebuild their lives.

 

The survivors from Uhle Lheu think of rebuilding also. But for them, and the volunteers who are helping¹⁹ them, the future has been postponed²⁰ until they finish clearing what is left of the past.

 

Scott Bobb, VOA news, Uhle Lheu, Banda Aceh.

 

注释：

devastating [5devEsteitiN] adj. 破坏性的，全然的

residential [7rezi5denFEl] adj. 居住的

debris [5debri:] n. 碎片，残骸

crane [krein] n. 起重机

supervision [7sju:pE5viVEn] n. 监督，管理

unrecognizable adj. 未被承认的

graveyard [5^reivjB:d] n. 墓地

1 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。

2 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

3 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。

4 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。

5 retrieving   

n.检索（过程），取还v.取回( retrieve的现在分词 )；恢复；寻回；检索（储存的信息）

参考例句：

• Ignoring all, he searches the ground carefully for any cigarette-end worth retrieving. 没管打锣的说了什么，他留神的在地上找，看有没有值得拾起来的烟头儿。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• Retrieving the nodules from these great depths is no easy task. 从这样的海底深渊中取回结核可不是容易的事情。 来自辞典例句

6 mid   

adj.中央的，中间的

参考例句：

• Our mid-term exam is pending.我们就要期中考试了。
• He switched over to teaching in mid-career.他在而立之年转入教学工作。

7 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

8 flattened   

[医]（水）平扁的，弄平的

参考例句：

• She flattened her nose and lips against the window. 她把鼻子和嘴唇紧贴着窗户。
• I flattened myself against the wall to let them pass. 我身体紧靠着墙让他们通过。

9 solitary   

adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士

参考例句：

• I am rather fond of a solitary stroll in the country.我颇喜欢在乡间独自徜徉。
• The castle rises in solitary splendour on the fringe of the desert.这座城堡巍然耸立在沙漠的边际，显得十分壮美。

10 mattresses   

褥垫，床垫( mattress的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The straw mattresses are airing there. 草垫子正在那里晾着。
• The researchers tested more than 20 mattresses of various materials. 研究人员试验了二十多个不同材料的床垫。

11 retrieved   

v.取回( retrieve的过去式和过去分词 )；恢复；寻回；检索（储存的信息）

参考例句：

• Yesterday I retrieved the bag I left in the train. 昨天我取回了遗留在火车上的包。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He reached over and retrieved his jacket from the back seat. 他伸手从后座上取回了自己的夹克。 来自辞典例句

12 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

13 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

14 salvaging   

（从火灾、海难等中）抢救（某物）( salvage的现在分词 )； 回收利用（某物）

参考例句：

• A shipping company has made a claim for the cost of salvaging a sunken ship. 某轮船公司要求赔赏打捞沉船的费用。（make a claim 要求）
• It is not uncommon to hear that a shipping company has made a claim for the cost of salvaging a sunken ship. 航运公司为打捞沉船的费用而提出要求，这并非奇闻。

15 salvage   

v.救助，营救，援救；n.救助，营救

参考例句：

• All attempts to salvage the wrecked ship failed.抢救失事船只的一切努力都失败了。
• The salvage was piled upon the pier.抢救出的财产被堆放在码头上。

16 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

17 graveyard   

n.坟场

参考例句：

• All the town was drifting toward the graveyard.全镇的人都象流水似地向那坟场涌过去。
• Living next to a graveyard would give me the creeps.居住在墓地旁边会使我毛骨悚然。

18 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。

19 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

20 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。