VOA标准英语2009年-Earthquake Cripples Indonesian City of Pad

By Brian Padden
Padang, Indonesia
03 October 2009

 
Aerial image of buildings destroyed by earthquake in Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia, 03 Oct 2009
Foreign emergency rescue teams are working to reach areas in and around Indonesia's port city, Padang, which was devastated¹ by a powerful earthquake Wednesday. The undersea earthquake that hit the Indonesian island of Sumatra originated only 50 kilometers from the city.

Ambulances had trouble getting through the traffic jams in Padang. With the electricity out, the traffic lights were not working. Police had closed off some streets where rescue workers were digging through the rubble².  Crowds of bystanders spilled out onto the streets to watch.

In front of a collapsed³ storefront where the father, mother and two year old sister of Kendi Pratama now lie buried, friends and neighbors are flagging down cars and asking for donations to help the remaining family members. Pratama finds it difficult to speak. 

He says he feels sorry today and cannot think straight.

Many houses and offices in Padang suffered only structural⁴ damage. But some large commercial buildings, hospitals, hotels, mosques⁵ and churches were completely destroyed.

A local middle school is now just a pile of rubble. More than 60 students died when the school crashed down upon them. Indonesian Marine⁶ Lieutenant⁷ Alberto Nainggolan and his unit have been conducting rescue efforts at the school.

He says today they found only one body alive. Yesterday they found 16 bodies, all dead.

They are racing⁸ against time. Soon their mission will change from rescuing survivors⁹ to recovering the dead.

As they leave the site for the day, crowds of people descend¹⁰, looking for anything of value, clothing, copper¹¹ wire. One man finds a live rabbit.

With electricity out, most local broadcasting has stopped. But not Padang television. While their building was damaged, network employees have moved their equipment outside and are using a generator¹² for power.  Budi Syahrial is the news presenter¹³.

He says the building is damaged but the people need information.

Of course, most people in Padang cannot watch the news because they do not have power. But Syahrial says others outside the city can see and need to know the extent of the damage caused by the earthquake.

1 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。

2 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。

3 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。

4 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

5 mosques   

清真寺； 伊斯兰教寺院，清真寺； 清真寺，伊斯兰教寺院( mosque的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why make us believe that this tunnel runs underneath the mosques? 为什么要让我们相信这条隧洞是在清真寺下？
• The city's three biggest mosques, long fallen into disrepair, have been renovated. 城里最大的三座清真寺，过去年久失修，现在已经修复。

6 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

7 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

8 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

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 descend   

vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降

参考例句：

• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。
• We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。

11 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

12 generator   

n.发电机，发生器

参考例句：

• All the while the giant generator poured out its power.巨大的发电机一刻不停地发出电力。
• This is an alternating current generator.这是一台交流发电机。

13 presenter   

n.（电视、广播的）主持人，赠与者

参考例句：

• Most people think being a television presenter is exciting.很多人认为当电视节目主持人是一件刺激的事情。
• The programme dispensed with its most popular presenter.这个节目最受欢迎的主持人被换掉了。