VOA常速英语2019--美国多地遭龙卷风重创

Severe weather has continued across the U.S. Midwest, with tornadoes¹ and storm damage reported in Texas and Oklahoma. Tornadoes that passed through the cities of Abilene and Ballinger early Saturday destroyed homes and left many without roofs. Tornadoes and high winds have swept through the central U.S. plains since Friday, affecting 75 million people in the path. In addition to Texas, the storms hit Arkansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Kansas. It was fast-moving storm. It was about 15 seconds. The trees that were planted here are 100 years old, so it’s really hard emotionally for us. Torrential rain has caused flooding in the Kansas City area. More than 3000 people lost power Saturday afternoon. The state governor issued a state of emergency declaration on Friday. The rising Mississippi River has caused flooding in southern states, notably² in the Baton³ Rouge⁴ area in Louisiana.

美国中西部的恶劣天气还在持续，据报道，龙卷风和暴风在德克萨斯州项目和俄克拉荷马州造成了损害。龙卷风于周六早些时候席卷了阿比林和巴林格，摧毁了许多房屋，掀翻了许多房顶。龙卷风和疾风自周五以来就席卷了美国中部平原，影响了沿路7500万人。包括德克萨斯州项目在内，暴风还横扫了阿肯色州、内布拉斯加州、俄克拉荷马州和堪萨斯州。这场暴风移速极快，只需要大概15秒的时间就席卷全境。这里曾经种植的那些树木有100岁了，所以我们很难不动情。瓢泼大雨还引发了堪萨斯城的洪水。3000多人于周六下午失去了供电。该州州长于周五发布了紧急状态声明。密西西比河水位不断上升，这引发南部多州的洪灾。洪灾严重的是路易斯安那州的巴吞鲁日地区。

Southern Texas also has been flooded especially in the Kingwood area. We have lost everything. A lightning strike at this home in Houston is being blamed for causing a fire that destroyed the two-million-dollar mansion⁵. The Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport has canceled or delayed hundreds of flights since Saturday evening. More than 100,000 households were left without power from Texas to Lowa during the height of the storms on Saturday. The excessive rain has been especially damaging to farmers in the Midwest, with some of their farmland unusable since March. Flooding also has disrupted shipping⁶ of agricultural products, fuel and construction materials that farmers need during the planting season. Mostly, we had soybeans and they can’t handle the flood. They are short. They grow close to the ground and you get a couple feet of water on them, and they’re trash. They’re no good. They’re worthless. Flooding should start retreating early next week in southern states, but it is expected to linger for at least another week in Central States. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric⁷ Administration’s Storm Prediction Center said weather conditions may produce tornadoes on Monday in the plain states.

德克萨斯州南部也未能幸免，受灾尤为严重是金伍德地区。我们失去了一切。休斯敦的这间房屋遭到了雷击后发生大火，导致这栋价值200万美元的房屋夷为平地。达拉斯-沃思堡国际机场或取消或延迟了数百次航班，这是自周六晚上以来发生的事情。有10万多所房屋都失去了供电，这些房屋来自于德克萨斯、爱荷华等州。雨水泛滥对中西部的农民损害尤为严重：自3月以来，他们的部分农田就一直处于不可用的状态。洪灾还扰乱了农产品、燃料、建筑材料的运输，而这些都是种植季节里农民的必需品。我们基本都会种大豆，但大豆无法抵御洪灾。大豆长得很矮，离地面很近，哪怕几公尺的水位，也足以把它们淹没，变得一文不值。洪灾大概下周就能在南部的几个州消退，不过洪灾预计还会在中部各州持续至少一周。国家海洋和大气管理局的风暴预报中心指出，天气情况可能会于周一引发平原各州的龙卷风。

1 tornadoes   

n.龙卷风，旋风( tornado的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Tornadoes, severe earthquakes, and plagues create wide spread havoc. 龙卷风、大地震和瘟疫成普遍的毁坏。 来自互联网
• Meteorologists are at odds over the working of tornadoes. 气象学者对龙卷风的运动方式看法不一。 来自互联网

2 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

3 baton   

n.乐队用指挥杖

参考例句：

• With the baton the conductor was beating time.乐队指挥用指挥棒打拍子。
• The conductor waved his baton,and the band started up.指挥挥动指挥棒，乐队开始演奏起来。

4 rouge   

n.胭脂，口红唇膏；v.(在…上)擦口红

参考例句：

• Women put rouge on their cheeks to make their faces pretty.女人往面颊上涂胭脂，使脸更漂亮。
• She didn't need any powder or lip rouge to make her pretty.她天生漂亮，不需要任何脂粉唇膏打扮自己。

5 mansion   

n.大厦，大楼；宅第

参考例句：

• The old mansion was built in 1850.这座古宅建于1850年。
• The mansion has extensive grounds.这大厦四周的庭园广阔。

6 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

7 atmospheric   

adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的

参考例句：

• Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
• Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。