2006年VOA标准英语-Aid Reaching Indonesian Town Hit by Tsunami

By Kate Pound Dawson /Michael Coren
Hong Kong / Pangandaran, Indonesia
18 July 2006
 
 
Destroyed fishing boats are seen after a tsunami¹ swept past the beach in Kebumen, Central Java, Indonesia, Tuesday, July 18, 2006
  
A major earthquake off the Indonesian coast created a tsunami Monday that slammed into beach communities on the western shores of Java island.  More than 300 people died in the waves, and more than 100 are missing.  This was the fourth major earthquake Indonesia has suffered in less than two years, just a month ago in Yogyakarta an earthquake killed more than 5,800 people.  Michael Coren traveled to the town of Pangandaran, one of the worst hit areas in this latest disaster, and spoke² with VOA's Kate Pound Dawson in Hong Kong about conditions there.

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DAWSON:  "Michael, can you describe the scene there in the community? What are conditions like for the survivors³?"

COREN:  "When you drive in, the first thing you see is one of the largest mosques⁴ in the community and it is filled with perhaps more than a 100 people who obviously sought shelter there after the waves hit.  Most of the things that were not made of concrete have been swept away, at least across the way and into a residential⁵ neighborhood.  And most of the small fishermen's boats also are piled up on the other side or destroyed."

DAWSON:  "Has anyone come to help this community? Are aid workers there, have there been deliveries of food, water and emergency supplies?"

Indonesian soldiers search tsunami victims at a river in Cilacap, Central Java, Indonesia, Tuesday, July 18, 2006  
  
COREN:  "The Red Cross has a pretty strong presence here.  The U.N. has a special response team. They were sent in earlier today, however, they had trouble actually arriving late this afternoon.  There has been some trouble for some vehicles getting through this afternoon due to all the traffic. Now it seems there's quite a strong presence of aid vehicles and military."

DAWSON:  "Michael, you also have been on the scene of the May 27th earthquake in Yogyakarta.  How do conditions in Pangandaran compare?"

COREN:  "The damage here doesn't quite compare with the scope of the devastation⁶. Yogyakarta, something along the order of 150,000 homes were destroyed.  It does not seem to have flattened⁷ as many buildings [in Pangandaran].  The death toll⁸ has certainly been less."

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 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。

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 mosques   

清真寺； 伊斯兰教寺院，清真寺； 清真寺，伊斯兰教寺院( mosque的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why make us believe that this tunnel runs underneath the mosques? 为什么要让我们相信这条隧洞是在清真寺下？
• The city's three biggest mosques, long fallen into disrepair, have been renovated. 城里最大的三座清真寺，过去年久失修，现在已经修复。

5 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。

6 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 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。

8 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。