VOA标准英语2010-L'Aquila Remembers 2009 Earthquake Victim

Sabina Castelfranco | Rome, Italy 06 April 2010

About 25,000 people gather in front of the city's cathedral during a candlelight vigil remembering the 308 people killed in the earthquake that devastated¹ the central Italian city of L'Aquila a year ago, 6 Apr 2010

One year ago, Italy experienced its deadliest earthquake in three decades in the central city of L'Aquila. Three hundred eight people were killed and tens of thousands were left homeless. Torch-lit processions were held on Monday night and a Roman Catholic mass was held at early Tuesday morning in the Basilica of Collemaggio to remember the victims.

At 3.32 a.m., the time the deadly quake struck last April 6, a requiem² was played in L'Aquila's central Piazza³ Duomo. The names of all 308 victims were read aloud. No one in the town has been able to forget the tragedy.

 

Sergio Bianchi lost his 22-year-old son, Nicola.

"It's difficult," he says. "There's lots of anger, discouragement and solitude⁴."

Residents were asleep in their beds when the 6.3 magnitude quake struck. People fled their homes in L'Aquila and in more than 40 surrounding towns and villages. Many were unable to get out fast enough. Thousands of buildings were reduced to rubble⁵, including centuries old churches.

Survivor⁶ Sergio Bianchi says poor construction heightened the death toll⁷.

He says earthquakes are natural events, but if homes were built properly, the L'Aquila quake would not have been so devastating⁸.

Most of downtown L'Aquila is still off-limits, as is the historic districts of most surrounding towns. Although tent cities have disappeared, tens of thousands of people still are living in some form of temporary housing.

The head of Italy's civil defense⁹ department, Guido Bertolaso, says much has been done over the past 12 months.

He says students have been able to return to school and new homes have been built for tens of thousands of people.

Joshua Lawrence used to live in L'Aquila. His house was severely¹⁰ damaged by the quake. He and his family are now renting an apartment in Pescara, Abruzzo's – a modern city on Italy's Adriatic coast. Lawrence says the L'Aquila he knew no longer exists.

"There's nothing. There's one bar open. There's no place to just hang out. There's no way to live in this city," Lawrence said. "There was a university in town. There were thousands of people animating¹¹ the downtown, keeping it alive. And that's just not there anymore."

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi says it will take years to rebuild L'Aquila delicate, urban and artistic¹² heritage. But he says, residents must be confident because the reconstruction¹³ is underway.

The mayor of L'Aquila, Massimo Cialente, sums up feelings of most people who experienced the quake.

"Don't forget us," he says. "That's what people here want – not to be forgotten because this is just the beginning."
 

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 requiem   

n.安魂曲，安灵曲

参考例句：

• I will sing a requiem for the land walkers.我会给陆地上走的人唱首安魂曲。
• The Requiem is on the list for today's concert.《安魂曲》是这次音乐会的演出曲目之一。

3 piazza   

n.广场；走廊

参考例句：

• Siena's main piazza was one of the sights of Italy.锡耶纳的主要广场是意大利的名胜之一。
• They walked out of the cafeteria,and across the piazzadj.他们走出自助餐厅,穿过广场。

4 solitude   

n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方

参考例句：

• People need a chance to reflect on spiritual matters in solitude. 人们需要独处的机会来反思精神上的事情。
• They searched for a place where they could live in solitude. 他们寻找一个可以过隐居生活的地方。

5 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。

6 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

7 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。

8 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。

9 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

10 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。

11 animating   

v.使有生气( animate的现在分词 )；驱动；使栩栩如生地动作；赋予…以生命

参考例句：

• Nature has her animating spirit as well as man who is nature's child. 大自然就象它的孩子――人类一样，有活生生的灵魂。 来自辞典例句
• They were doubtlessly the animating principle of many hours that superficially seemed vacant. 在表面看来无所事事的许多时刻中，它们无疑是活跃的因素。 来自辞典例句

12 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

13 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。