VOA标准英语2011--Thai Officials Say Bangkok Still Threatened By Flooding

Thai Officials Say Bangkok Still Threatened By Flooding

 

Thai authorities say the capital Bangkok is still facing a threat of flooding if it is hit with more heavy rains. Intense relief efforts are underway after the worst flooding in decades swept two-thirds of the country, swamping farmland and factories and leaving 300 people dead.

Thai officials are assuring the public that Bangkok is safe from flooding as they continue to build up barriers and mobilize relief efforts.

Despite waters pushing down on the city’s northern outskirts¹, authorities say flood waters are receding² and fast dredging of canals helped divert much of it away from the capital and out to sea.

Pracha Promnok is minister of justice and director of Thailand’s flood relief. He assured journalists Monday that they can manage the situation, unless, he says, there is more rain.

He says as far as the risk of Bangkok flooding is concerned, they are working to build a defensive³ wall. He names three areas surrounding Bangkok’s north that he says are acting⁴ as protective barriers. He says they are confident they will succeed.

But Thailand, like much of Southeast Asia, has been experiencing an unusually long wet season this year.

Thai flood relief volunteers, October 17, 2011.

Several tropical storms have swept across the region, leaving hundreds of people dead and swamping low-lying farmland and factories.

As hydropower dams filled to capacity, authorities were forced to release more water, adding to the misery⁵ downstream.

Hundreds of volunteers have massed at Bangkok’s Don Muang airport to help with flood relief efforts for thousands of people forced to evacuate⁶ their homes in the central plains.

Groups of students sit on the floor filling plastic bags with instant noodles, boxes of milk, and hygiene⁷ products such as instant hand sanitizer.

They then form a human chain passing the full bags onto massive piles which are later put on large trucks for distribution at evacuation shelters.

Anuttama Amornvivat is deputy government spokeswoman. She says Bangkok’s flood barriers can hold overflow⁸, so there is no need yet for residents in the capital to worry about evacuating⁹.

“If we have the situation that not… that will affected¹⁰ people, we will definitely have the press conference and warn people ahead of time, for sure, to evacuate and you know, moving out of the area, out of the danger area,” Amornvivat stated.

High tides expected at the end of the month could also slow draining of flood waters around Bangkok, which is only a couple of meters above sea level.

1 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

2 receding   

v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题

参考例句：

• Desperately he struck out after the receding lights of the yacht. 游艇的灯光渐去渐远，他拼命划水追赶。 来自辞典例句
• Sounds produced by vehicles receding from us seem lower-pitched than usual. 渐渐远离我们的运载工具发出的声似乎比平常的音调低。 来自辞典例句

3 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

4 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

5 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

6 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

7 hygiene   

n.健康法，卫生学 （a.hygienic）

参考例句：

• Their course of study includes elementary hygiene and medical theory.他们的课程包括基础卫生学和医疗知识。
• He's going to give us a lecture on public hygiene.他要给我们作关于公共卫生方面的报告。

8 overflow   

v.(使)外溢，(使)溢出；溢出，流出，漫出

参考例句：

• The overflow from the bath ran on to the floor.浴缸里的水溢到了地板上。
• After a long period of rain,the river may overflow its banks.长时间的下雨天后，河水可能溢出岸来。

9 evacuating   

撤离，疏散( evacuate的现在分词 )； 排空（胃肠），排泄（粪便）； （从危险的地方）撤出，搬出，撤空

参考例句：

• The solution is degassed by alternately freezing, evacuating and thawing. 通过交替的冻结、抽空和溶化来使溶液除气。
• Are we evacuating these potential targets? 能够在这些目标地域内进行疏散吗？

10 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。