VOA标准英语2010年-US Hospital Ship Comfort Back From Hai

The US Navy hospital ship Comfort returned Friday to its homeport in Baltimore.  Families, friends and community members came out in support of the crew and medical personnel who returned from a nearly two-month medical mission to Haiti. 

The hospital ship was greeted with fanfare¹ as it pulled into its homeport after a seven-week medical mission to Haiti.

 

The Comfort arrived on the coast of Haiti in January to find a country destroyed after the magnitude 7 earthquake.

During the mission, the ship's medical personnel treated close to a thousand seriously injured Haitians.

Crew member Kenneth Leahey says working in the midst of the disaster meant the ship had a great impact.  "I feel like we made a really great difference one thing it really drives home is that we all need each other, one way or another.  We need to put all differences aside and take care of each other," he said.

Gregory Scott Peterson 2nd came to the homecoming with his school. He praised the sailors for doing just that.  "No matter what, we always pull through if we pick each other up," he stated.

The mission focused on treating the most critically injured patients in order to free up Haitian hospitals for those with less severe injuries. The commanding officer of the ship's medical facility is Captain James Ware².    

"We probably were able to help a distilled³ amount of about 1,000 people who were the worst of the worst patients, and we were able to make a difference in their lives," he explained. "We believe that we saved many lives and repaired to function many limbs."

Lesley Prasad, a leading operating room officer, shows the picture a Haitian man sketched⁴ while being treated in the hospital as a way for him to say thank you.

Although death and destruction flood the foreground, the Comfort can be seen approaching on the horizon. 

"Everybody used that picture as a motivational tool of why we're truly here, because regardless of what's going on and how devastating⁵ it is, there are still people that recognize and believe that the Comfort is here to help them," Prasad said.

The Haiti mission marked the first time in the Comfort's 23 year history that it operated at full capacity.  

Doctors performed more than 800 surgeries, with more than 1,500 medical and non-medical personnel involved in the mission.
 

1 fanfare   

n.喇叭；号角之声；v.热闹地宣布

参考例句：

• The product was launched amid much fanfare worldwide.这个产品在世界各地隆重推出。
• A fanfare of trumpets heralded the arrival of the King.嘹亮的小号声宣告了国王驾到。

2 ware   

n.(常用复数)商品，货物

参考例句：

• The shop sells a great variety of porcelain ware.这家店铺出售品种繁多的瓷器。
• Good ware will never want a chapman.好货不须叫卖。

3 distilled   

adj.由蒸馏得来的v.蒸馏( distil的过去式和过去分词 )；从…提取精华

参考例句：

• The televised interview was distilled from 16 hours of film. 那次电视采访是从16个小时的影片中选出的精华。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Gasoline is distilled from crude oil. 汽油是从原油中提炼出来的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 sketched   

v.草拟（sketch的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The historical article sketched the major events of the decade. 这篇有关历史的文章概述了这十年中的重大事件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He sketched the situation in a few vivid words. 他用几句生动的语言简述了局势。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。