VOA常速英语2016--伊拉克摩苏尔大坝面临随时决堤危险

伊拉克摩苏尔大坝面临随时决堤危险

Maintenance work began Thursday to shore up the dam's weakening structure, undermined by years of conflict and neglect. Iraqis living near the Tigris River are worried.

周四大坝的维修工作正式开始，这座大坝支撑的结构由于多年的战乱冲突及年久失修已变得脆弱不堪。在底格里斯河附近居住的伊拉克人对这座随时可能倒塌的大坝感到担惊受怕。

“We are afraid and we don't know if it's true or not true that the dam could collapse¹. We are worried because we have family and kids. And we are stressed. We live very close to the Tigris.”

“我们感到担心，不知道这座大坝倒塌的传言是真是假。我们之所以担心是因为我们有家庭和孩子。而且我们非常紧张。我们住的地方离底格里斯河太近了。”

The dam needs regular maintenance because the ground underneath² it is unstable³. The government this week signed a $300-million deal with Italy's Trevi group to repair and maintain the structure for 18 months. But many Iraqis fear the dam could collapse before the Italian engineers arrive and assemble their machinery⁴.

由于地下结构不稳，这座大坝需要定期进行维护。政府于本周与意大利特莱维集团签署了一项3亿美元的协议用作未来18个月内大坝的修复及维护工作。但许多伊拉克人还是担心大坝会在意大利工程师抵达进行修复之前倒塌。

“It is certain that the rising water levels will have a negative impact on citizens. We hope the relevant authorities will work hard to resolve this problem in order not to let the water leak into commercial interests and homes of locals.”

“肯定的是不断上升的水位对市民造成了负面影响。我们希望有关部门可以尽力解决这个问题，不让河水破坏商业经济，流到地居民家中。”

As the snow melts, the water pressure grows. A gate was opened to ease some of the water pressure, raising the levels of the Tigris River. But officials have downplayed the danger.

随着积雪融化，水位压力逐渐升高。为了减轻压力，政府部门已开启了一道闸门，这使得底格里斯河水位上升。但政府官员对这样的危险却置之不理。

“The quantities of water which flowed into the Tigris River have been utilized⁵ well in the agricultural plans drawn⁶ up by the Ministry⁷ of Water Resources in accordance with the Ministry of Agriculture. And big quantities of water have been used to flourish and revive the marshes⁸ which suffered a lot from water scarcity⁹ in the previous season. The U.S. Embassy said this week that the risk of the dam collapsing¹⁰ is "serious and unprecedented¹¹."

“流入底格里斯河的水一直被良好利用，这符合水利部门按照农业部起草的农业发展规划。而大量河水会用于灌溉旱季干涸的土壤，使湿地重获新生。本周美国大使馆表示，这座大坝倾塌的风险“非常严重而且前所未有。”

U.S. and Iraqi governments are working on a plan to evacuate¹² as many as 1.5 million Iraqis living along the Tigris. The dam deteriorated¹³ during the conflict, including a temporary capture by the Islamic State militants¹⁴. Its maintenance has remained insufficient¹⁵ in part because Islamic States still controls the factory that produces the cement for the dam's foundation.

美国及伊拉克政府正着手计划疏散底格里斯河附近居住的150万名伊拉克人。这座水坝在军事冲突中受到破坏，而且还曾被极端恐怖组织“ISIS”的武装分子短暂占领。这座大坝的修复工作仍未到位，部分原因是生产铸造坝基的水泥厂仍然被极端恐怖组织“ISIS”所掌控。

1 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。

2 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

3 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。

4 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

5 utilized   

v.利用，使用( utilize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• In the19th century waterpower was widely utilized to generate electricity. 在19世纪人们大规模使用水力来发电。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The empty building can be utilized for city storage. 可以利用那栋空建筑物作城市的仓库。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

7 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

8 marshes   

n.沼泽，湿地( marsh的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Cows were grazing on the marshes. 牛群在湿地上吃草。
• We had to cross the marshes. 我们不得不穿过那片沼泽地。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 scarcity   

n.缺乏，不足，萧条

参考例句：

• The scarcity of skilled workers is worrying the government.熟练工人的缺乏困扰着政府。
• The scarcity of fruit was caused by the drought.水果供不应求是由于干旱造成的。

10 collapsing   

压扁[平]，毁坏，断裂

参考例句：

• Rescuers used props to stop the roof of the tunnel collapsing. 救援人员用支柱防止隧道顶塌陷。
• The rocks were folded by collapsing into the center of the trough. 岩石由于坍陷进入凹槽的中心而发生褶皱。

11 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

12 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。

13 deteriorated   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her health deteriorated rapidly, and she died shortly afterwards. 她的健康状况急剧恶化，不久便去世了。
• His condition steadily deteriorated. 他的病情恶化，日甚一日。

14 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

15 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。