VOA标准英语2009年-Makeshift Church Building Collapse Kills 2

By Anjana Pasricha
New Delhi
30 September 2009

In Nepal, at least 23 people were killed and more than 60 others injured when a makeshift church building collapsed² in a town hosting a Christian³ conference.

 
People crowd around the site of a church dormitory after it collapsed in Dharan, Nepal, 30 Sep 2009
The accident occurred late Tuesday night, in Dharan, where nearly 1,500 Christians⁴ had gathered to attend a week-long annual convention of a church organization based in northeast India.

Dharan is about 350 kilometers southeast of the capital, Katmandu.

Police say many of the participants were sleeping in a makeshift three-story bamboo structure when its roof collapsed.

The makeshift building had been built to accommodate the hundreds of Christians who traveled from all over the country and from northeast India to attend the conference.

A home ministry⁵ spokesman in Kathmandu, Ekmani Nepal, told VOA that many of those killed or injured were sleeping on the ground floor.

Nepal says there were hundreds of people in what he calls the "tent" when the collapse¹ took place. He says at least 23 people were killed and that women and children are among the victims.

It is a common practice in Nepal to construct temporary tents for religious or social functions.

Ekmani Nepal says the home minister has visited Dharan to supervise the rescue efforts.

Nepal says the injured people have been taken to hospitals.

There are about half a million Christians in Nepal, a predominantly Hindu nation tucked in the Himalayan mountains.

The tragedy occurred during the holiday season in Nepal, which is celebrating its biggest annual festival, the Hindu festival of Dashain.

1 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

2 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。

3 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

4 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

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。