2007年VOA标准英语-Colorado Storms Trigger Avalanches

By Paul Sisco
Washington, DC
10 January 2007
 
watch Avalanche¹ Safety report

 
"Avalanche!" is the most frightening alert a mountain traveler can hear.  Uncontrollable snow slides in the world's mountainous regions -- from the Himalayas to the Alps to North America's Rocky Mountains -- claim many lives annually².  Over the past 100 years, the overall death toll³ from snow avalanches⁴ may be well over 50,000 lives.  Not only skiers, but those who live in mountainous areas or travel through them can be at risk.  VOA's Paul Sisco set out to find what causes avalanches and what you should do if you are caught in one.

The most common and most dangerous types of avalanches look like an enormous "slab⁵" of snow sliding down a mountainside.  There can be many thousands of tons of snow -- enough to rip large trees from the ground, shift boulders⁶ and crush homes and cars. 

The amount of snow resting on a mountainside, the angle of a slope and the weather are some of the factors that combine to trigger an avalanche.  Scientists know the most dangerous slopes are inclined between 35 and 45 degrees, but beyond that there is no precise formula to decide when the risk is greatest.  Almost anything can set the snow mass in motion -- a loud sound or the weight of a single person crossing a snowfield.

In the United States, there are about 100,000 snowslides every year.

A few days ago an enormous avalanche in the western state of Colorado swept two cars off a road.  Those inside lived to tell about it.

 
Dave Boon⁷ and friend, Gary, are avalanche survivors⁹
Dave Boon, is one such avalanche survivor⁸. He said, "It's just amazing the force we were hit with, and that we are even alive today."

Dave Boon, his wife and a young friend survived.

Boon describes what happened. "So I pushed my hand out through the window and found daylight and started, started digging out at that  point, ... asked June if she was with me and okay, ... asked Gary if he was with me, and they both answered, so I said we got air.  We're going to be all right."

Gary adds, "When we got out of the car and looked at it, an Aspen branch of a tree or something was through the windshield, and right next to the passenger seat, and I was sitting right behind the passenger seat, so I just knew that I was lucky and somebody was watching over me."

These Americans were lucky.  Experts say for every one killed in an avalanche, five survive.

At many ski resorts, crews trigger small snowslides deliberately¹⁰, before conditions become dangerous.

But if a large avalanche develops, anyone caught in the snow's path should know it is impossible to outrun an avalanche.  If you are caught up by a rolling wave of snow, the best tactic¹¹ is to create space around you, by "swimming" through the snow.

Ethan Green of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center explains that the largest-volume objects in an avalanche -- cars, or people flailing¹² their arms -- almost always wind up near the surface when the snow comes to a stop.  "An avalanche rolling down the hill is going through a lot of motion, and the small particles tend to fall down into the cracks and that motion pushes the largest particles up onto the surface."

No one died in this week's near disaster in Colorado, and control teams are out on the slopes working hard to keep conditions safe for skiers.

1 avalanche   

n.雪崩，大量涌来

参考例句：

• They were killed by an avalanche in the Swiss Alps.他们在瑞士阿尔卑斯山的一次雪崩中罹难。
• Higher still the snow was ready to avalanche.在更高处积雪随时都会崩塌。

2 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

3 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。

4 avalanches   

n.雪崩( avalanche的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The greatest dangers of pyroclastic avalanches are probably heat and suffocation. 火成碎屑崩落的最大危害可能是炽热和窒息作用。 来自辞典例句
• Avalanches poured down on the tracks and rails were spread. 雪崩压满了轨道，铁轨被弄得四分五裂。 来自辞典例句

5 slab   

n.平板，厚的切片；v.切成厚板，以平板盖上

参考例句：

• This heavy slab of oak now stood between the bomb and Hitler.这时笨重的橡木厚板就横在炸弹和希特勒之间了。
• The monument consists of two vertical pillars supporting a horizontal slab.这座纪念碑由两根垂直的柱体构成，它们共同支撑着一块平板。

6 boulders   

n.卵石( boulder的名词复数 )；巨砾；（受水或天气侵蚀而成的）巨石；漂砾

参考例句：

• Seals basked on boulders in a flat calm. 海面风平浪静，海豹在巨石上晒太阳。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The river takes a headlong plunge into a maelstrom of rocks and boulders. 河水急流而下，入一个漂砾的漩涡中。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 boon   

n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠

参考例句：

• A car is a real boon when you live in the country.在郊外居住，有辆汽车确实极为方便。
• These machines have proved a real boon to disabled people.事实证明这些机器让残疾人受益匪浅。

8 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

9 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

10 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

11 tactic   

n.战略，策略；adj.战术的，有策略的

参考例句：

• Reducing prices is a common sales tactic.降价是常用的销售策略。
• She had often used the tactic of threatening to resign.她惯用以辞职相威胁的手法。

12 flailing   

v.鞭打( flail的现在分词 )；用连枷脱粒；（臂或腿）无法控制地乱动；扫雷坦克

参考例句：

• He became moody and unreasonable, flailing out at Katherine at the slightest excuse. 他变得喜怒无常、不可理喻，为点鸡毛蒜皮的小事就殴打凯瑟琳。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His arms were flailing in all directions. 他的手臂胡乱挥舞着。 来自辞典例句