VOA标准英语2009年-Indonesian Earthquake Efforts Shift to Reb

By Brian Padden
Padang, Indonesia
05 October 2009

The emergency response efforts to the earthquake that hit the Indonesian island of Sumatra is shifting to recovery and rebuilding efforts. More than a thousand people died in last week's quake and hundreds more are missing. Over 180,000 buildings were severely¹ damaged or destroyed. Here the clean up process is already beginning and earthquake survivors² are assessing how and if they will rebuild.

 
A man retrieves³ wood from the rubble⁴ in Padang, Indonesia, 05 Oct 2009
Excavators are at work throughout the city of Padang, clearing away the wreckage⁵ caused by the earthquake.

Although rescue workers are still searching for missing people in collapsed⁷ buildings, they no longer expect to find anyone alive.

Hospitals are no longer overwhelmed with new quake victims. But patients are still being treated in tents because the hospitals themselves were damaged. Dr. Peter Sukman, a recent volunteer with Doctors Without Borders, says they need more permanent facilities.

"They have problems with the [medical] equipment and the places because most of the buildings are broke down," he said.

The United States military says it will build a temporary hospital in Padang within the next few weeks.

Many earthquake survivors in Padang are already beginning the rebuilding process. Kasriel Ruslin was able start clearing away the rubble that was once his office building, because he owns a construction company.

"The first time [thing], we must clean up and then we must build the temporary to our office so we can run our business," he said.

Although construction contractors⁸ will be in high demand, he estimates that it will take about five years for his business to again make a profit.

The safety of buildings that remain standing⁹ is a major concern for people here. Tania Razif owned a clothing shop in a four-story shopping mall, which was severely damaged. She says she will not reopen the store or ever go in the mall again.

"I'm scared because this building is very, very unsafe," she said.

In the nearby city of Pariaman, officials have asked Patrick Coulombel to assess whether their damaged city office building is safe to use. Coulombel is an architect with a volunteer organization called Emergency Architects, which conducts safety inspections¹⁰ after natural disasters.

In the city hall auditorium¹¹ he notices that the walls are not straight.

"It is strange because the big wall is completely disconnected of the other wall and I think it could be a problem," said Coulombel.

He says shifted walls put greater stress on the ceiling and increase the risk that this room might collapse⁶ soon.

In another part of the building he is more optimistic. The structure is more sound and could be reoccupied in as early as two weeks with some simple clean up and repairs.

Overall he says much could be done in Indonesia to make future construction more earthquake resistant¹².

"Raise the level of education of architect in general. A lot of knowledge in the world but not enough connection between the Western countries and these kind of [developing] countries," he said.

But he cautions, not matter how strong you make a building, nature is stronger.

1 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。

2 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

3 retrieves   

v.取回( retrieve的第三人称单数 )；恢复；寻回；检索（储存的信息）

参考例句：

• The mole comes in later, retrieves the item and packs it back in his gear. 鼹鼠随后到达，找回东西然后用他的传送装置返回。 来自电影对白
• Retrieves the pitch of the current image, in bytes. 得到代表目前图像斜度的字节数。 来自互联网

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 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。

6 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。

7 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。

8 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

10 inspections   

n.检查( inspection的名词复数 )；检验；视察；检阅

参考例句：

• Regular inspections are carried out at the prison. 经常有人来视察这座监狱。
• Government inspections ensure a high degree of uniformity in the standard of service. 政府检查确保了在服务标准方面的高度一致。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 auditorium   

n.观众席，听众席；会堂，礼堂

参考例句：

• The teacher gathered all the pupils in the auditorium.老师把全体同学集合在礼堂内。
• The stage is thrust forward into the auditorium.舞台向前突出，伸入观众席。

12 resistant   

adj.(to)抵抗的，有抵抗力的

参考例句：

• Many pests are resistant to the insecticide.许多害虫对这种杀虫剂有抵抗力。
• They imposed their government by force on the resistant population.他们以武力把自己的统治强加在持反抗态度的人民头上。