VOA标准英语2010-Disrupted Air Travel in Northern Europe f

Iceland's volcano erupted Wednesday and has since been spewing ash several miles into the air. The ash clouds include particles of rock, glass and sand that can get into an aircraft's engine and cause it to stall.

Selah Hennessy | London 17 April 2010

 

This aerial image shows the crater¹ at the summit of the volcano in southern Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull glacier², 17 Apr 2010

Northern European skies were clear of most commercial planes Saturday. The European air traffic agency said Iceland's volcanic³ eruption⁴, which began on Wednesday, will continue to impact European aviation until at least Sunday morning.  Thick clouds of ash continue to blow across the continent.

 

Hundreds of thousands of passengers around the world remain stranded⁵ for a third day as European flights were slashed⁶ Saturday down to one-quarter of their normal number.  The shutdowns are expected to continue for at least another several days.  

People have crowded onto trains, buses and ferries in a bid to carry out their travel plans - and cab companies say they are being paid thousands of dollars to ferry people across Europe by car.

 

The European air traffic control agency Eurocontrol said only 6,000 flights would take place in European airspace Saturday - down from the 22,000 normally expected.   On Friday, Eurocontrol said about 16,000 or Europe's usual 28,000 daily flights were canceled.  Airspace in northern France was closed until Monday morning.

Southern Europe, including Spain, southern Italy, Greece, and Turkey remains⁷ open for flights.

Martin Crozier, senior meteorological officer at the Guernsey Met Office in England, says the volcanic eruption in southeast Iceland that has sent European aviation into meltdown is showing no sign of easing up.

"The situation hasn't improved at all I'm afraid," he said. "The volcano over Iceland is still producing quite a lot of ash. The upper level winds are still transporting that down towards the U.K. and northwest Europe. So if anything we have a reinforcement of the ash that's already up there - so things aren't looking too good today I'm afraid."

Crozier says the wind patterns that are pushing the volcanic dust towards Europe are expected to persist for days to come. "I think we're going to get the upper level winds carrying that ash down for a few more days yet until the upper wind patterns change which will probably not happen until the time frame Thursday-Saturday. So really at a worst-case scenario⁸, with the volcano still going strongly, we could get airspace affected⁹ for the next few days," he said.

Iceland's volcano erupted Wednesday and has since been spewing ash several miles into the air. The ash clouds include particles of rock, glass and sand that can get into an aircraft's engine and cause it to stall.

The International Air Transport Association said Friday that the airline industry is losing more than $200 million in revenue a day - and they called this a conservative estimate.

Crozier says European aviation has never seen anything like it.  "In terms of disruption to aviation I think this is probably the worst it's been in northwest Europe," he said.

The last major disruption to European aviation followed the September 11 attacks in the United States almost a decade ago. U.S. airspace was closed for three days and European airlines cancelled all transatlantic flights.

The World Health Organization has warned people with breathing problems to remain indoors as much as possible when the ash is falling.

Airspace was closed Saturday in at least parts of more than a dozen countries - in some countries, the skies were emptied of commercial flights.

 

1 crater   

n.火山口，弹坑

参考例句：

• With a telescope you can see the huge crater of Ve-suvius.用望远镜你能看到巨大的维苏威火山口。
• They came to the lip of a dead crater.他们来到了一个死火山口。

2 glacier   

n.冰川，冰河

参考例句：

• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。
• The upper surface of glacier is riven by crevasses.冰川的上表面已裂成冰隙。

3 volcanic   

adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year.今年火山爆发了好几次。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

4 eruption   

n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作

参考例句：

• The temple was destroyed in the violent eruption of 1470 BC.庙宇在公元前1470年猛烈的火山爆发中摧毁了。
• The eruption of a volcano is spontaneous.火山的爆发是自发的。

5 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

6 slashed   

v.挥砍( slash的过去式和过去分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• Someone had slashed the tyres on my car. 有人把我的汽车轮胎割破了。
• He slashed the bark off the tree with his knife. 他用刀把树皮从树上砍下。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

8 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

9 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。