VOA标准英语2008年-China's Quake Lake Halfway Drained

By Daniel Schearf
Beijing
10 June 2008

China has said a massive lake formed by China's Sichuan earthquake is halfway¹ drained and now poses less of a threat. China says it has won a decisive victory in its battle to drain the lake; drainage efforts began Saturday, Chinese troops were forced to use anti-tank weapons to blast away rocks to speed up drainage. Meanwhile, China has punished more officials for doing a poor job with earthquake relief work. Daniel Schearf reports from Beijing.
　

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, waters flowing from Tangjiashan quake lake submerge part of a town in Beichuan County in Sichuan Province, 10 June 2008

China's official Xinhua news agency reports the Tangjiashan quake lake has drained more than halfway, significantly easing the threat from flooding.

The unstable² lake contained 250 million cubic meters of water and was formed when Sichuan's May 12 earthquake caused landslides³ to cut off a river.

Xinhua said there was now a balance between the inflow and outflow of water and that pressure on the lake's dam had eased.

More than 250,000 people had been evacuated⁴ from the area and more than one million others were directly under threat if the lake burst. But, Xinhua says only 50,000 people are still threatened.
　

Mao Qun'an, 10 June 2008

Mao Qunan, a spokesman for the Ministry⁵ of Health's news department, says if the barrier lake breaks it will probably flood a big area, posing a severe challenge to epidemic⁶ prevention work in the disaster area.

Soldiers had worked for days digging a channel and blasting obstacles with dynamite⁷ and short-range missiles to ensure a fast flow of water.

The draining water flooded large parts of Beichuan, a town devastated⁸ by the earthquake and now abandoned.

Xinhua reported televisions, refrigerators, and corpses⁹ floating in the water.

China's public security chief, Zhou Yongkang, toured the earthquake zone after protests by parents over alleged¹⁰ shoddy school construction. Thousands of students died in the earthquake after their schools collapsed¹¹ on them.

Chinese authorities have vowed¹² to investigate all school construction and severely¹³ punish any wrong-doing.

Xinhua said 15 officials in Sichuan were fired for their slow response to the disaster or for mishandling relief work and another 13 were given administrative¹⁴ punishment. The report gave no further details.

Meanwhile, wreckage¹⁵ from a rescue helicopter that had crashed in late May was found. All five crew and the 14 quake victims they tried to save died in the crash.

More than 69,000 people were killed and nearly 18,000 are missing from the earthquake.

1 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

2 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。

3 landslides   

山崩( landslide的名词复数 )； （山坡、悬崖等的）崩塌； 滑坡； （竞选中）一方选票占压倒性多数

参考例句：

• Landslides have cut off many villages in remote areas. 滑坡使边远地区的许多村庄与外界隔绝。
• The storm caused landslides and flooding in Savona. 风暴致使萨沃纳发生塌方和洪灾。

4 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

5 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

6 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

7 dynamite   

n./vt.(用)炸药(爆破)

参考例句：

• The workmen detonated the dynamite.工人们把炸药引爆了。
• The philosopher was still political dynamite.那位哲学家仍旧是政治上的爆炸性人物。

8 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。

9 corpses   

n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The living soldiers put corpses together and burned them. 活着的战士把尸体放在一起烧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Overhead, grayish-white clouds covered the sky, piling up heavily like decaying corpses. 天上罩满了灰白的薄云，同腐烂的尸体似的沉沉的盖在那里。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

10 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

11 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

12 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

13 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

14 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

15 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。