2007年VOA标准英语-Bush Tours Tornado-Devastated Town in Midwester

By Paula Wolfson
White House
09 May 2007

President Bush offered comfort Wednesday to the victims of one of the worst tornados² to hit the United States in years. VOA's Paula Wolfson reports from the White House, Mr. Bush spent the day touring the small midwest town of Greensburg, Kansas, where 11 people died and most of the homes and businesses were destroyed by the twister that touched down last Friday.

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U.S. President Bush (l) comforts residents, as he tours tornado damage in Greensburg, Kansas, 09 May 2007

The president first surveyed the damage by helicopter, flying over devastated³ homes, and streets littered with rubble⁴.

Then he toured the town by car -- seeing nothing for blocks on end but pulverized⁵ homes and cars. In between were tree trunks stripped of limbs and branches.

The brief tour ended at a dealership⁶ where farm tractors and other heavy equipment were once sold.

The tornado ripped off the roof, and today the building is filled with broken chunks⁷ of metal, pools of water, and pieces of wood. The remaining pieces of equipment sit in various stages of disrepair -- some on their sides, most stripped of paint.

The president spoke⁸ privately⁹ to some of the survivors¹⁰ of the tornado, and then publicly to reporters. He said in Greensburg, which has suffered so much, the human spirit is intact.

"I am struck by the strength of the character of the people who live here in the Plains -- people who refuse to be -- who refuse to have their spirit affected¹¹ by this storm; as a matter of fact, who are willing to do what it takes to rebuild in a better way," said President Bush.

Local and state officials who traveled with the president echoed that sense of resolve. Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius said the town will be rebuilt, but acknowledged no one knows at this point just how much money will be needed.

Earlier, the governor said while the federal government had met all her requests for help, she remains¹² concerned about the foreign deployment¹³ of national guard units which typically are used to assist the states during natural disasters.

National guard units and their heavy equipment are normally at the disposal of state governors for use in emergency situations, but many units are now deployed¹⁴ in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Some Democrats¹⁵ have complained that with another hurricane season coming soon, America's emergency preparedness may be compromised.

President Bush made no mention of the controversy¹⁶ during his visit, though other top administration officials have emphasized that disaster relief services will not be affected. Instead, he took on the role of consoler-in-chief, offering sympathy and moral support to a shattered town.

"My mission today, though, is to lift people's spirits as best I possibly can and to hopefully touch somebody's soul by representing our country, and to let people know that while there was a dark day in the past, there are brighter days ahead," he said.

The president said that although many people were able to wait out the tornado in basements, too many others died and the nation mourns their passing.

1 tornado   

n.飓风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• A tornado whirled into the town last week.龙卷风上周袭击了这座城市。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

2 tornados   

n.龙卷风，旋风( tornado的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• And the national weather service reports several tornados touch down. 国家气象中心报告预测龙卷风将来袭。 来自互联网
• They had stock footage of lightning, tornados, and hurricanes. 他们存有关于闪电、龙卷风和飓风的电影胶片。 来自互联网

3 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

4 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。

5 pulverized   

adj.[医]雾化的，粉末状的v.将…弄碎( pulverize的过去式和过去分词 )；将…弄成粉末或尘埃；摧毁；粉碎

参考例句：

• We pulverized the opposition. 我们彻底击败了对手。
• He pulverized the opposition with the force of his oratory. 他能言善辩把对方驳得体无完肤。 来自辞典例句

6 dealership   

n.商品特许经销处

参考例句：

• The car dealership has a large inventory of used cars. 这家汽车经销商拥有数量庞大的二手车。
• A key to this effort is the experience in the dealership. 达到这个成果的关键是销售的体验。

7 chunks   

厚厚的一块( chunk的名词复数 )； （某物）相当大的数量或部分

参考例句：

• a tin of pineapple chunks 一罐菠萝块
• Those chunks of meat are rather large—could you chop them up a bIt'smaller? 这些肉块相当大，还能再切小一点吗？

8 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。

9 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

10 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

11 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。

12 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

13 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

14 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

15 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。