VOA标准英语2009年-Typhoon Kills 300 Across Southeast Asia

By Daniel Schearf
Bangkok
30 September 2009

 
Vietnamese police officers provide goods, foods to flooded area in Quang Tri Province, 30 Sep 2009 
The death toll¹ from Typhoon Ketsana has passed 300 as the storm swept across Southeast Asia, destroying thousands of homes. The typhoon killed at least 11 people overnight in Cambodia and 30 in Vietnam.

The typhoon's powerful winds and rain battered² and flooded hundreds of thousands of homes across Southeast Asia Tuesday.

The typhoon knocked over and buried homes in landslides³, killing⁴ entire families in Vietnam and Cambodia. In Vietnam, floods submerged many old buildings in Hoi An, a United Nations World Heritage site.

Uy Samnath is the director of disaster management for the Cambodian Red Cross. He says about 100 families were affected⁵ by the typhoon but the agency is still assessing the damage.

"The infrastructure⁶ is mostly lost ... For Cambodia it is big. But, if you compare to other countries, it is not big," he said.

Cambodian authorities and aid groups are providing the needy⁷ with food, water, and temporary shelters.

The typhoon first hit the Philippines Saturday and Sunday, causing the worst flooding in 40 years and swamping parts of the capital.

At least 246 people were killed in the Philippines.

The storm then battered central Vietnam, sending tens of thousands looking for shelter.

After crossing into Cambodia, Ketsana was downgraded to a tropical depression before heading to Laos, where officials warned residents to be prepared for heavy rain.

In the Philippines, the government is warning citizens to prepare for more rain as another tropical storm approached the northern part of the country. 

1 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。

2 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

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 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

5 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。

6 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

7 needy   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的

参考例句：

• Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷，但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
• They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。