VOA常速英语2023 联邦发布有毒物质泄漏的报告

Federal safety investigators¹ have released a preliminary report on the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment and toxic² chemical release.

联邦安全调查人员发布了一份关于俄亥俄州东巴勒斯坦火车脱轨和有毒化学物质泄漏的初步报告。

The National Transportation Safety Board says the train's crew did not receive a critical warning about an overheated axle until just before dozens of cars went off the tracks.

美国国家运输安全委员会说，这列火车的工作人员直到几十节车厢脱轨之前才收到车轴过热的严重警告。

The reports released Thursday came as Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg made his first visit to East Palestine since the wreck³ nearly three weeks ago.

周四发布的报告是在交通部长皮特·布蒂吉格自近三个星期前沉船事故以来首次访问东巴勒斯坦时发布的。

He had some questions for local officials.

他向当地官员提出了一些问题。

"...what we see here is regardless of what kind of tank or gases are in

“…我们在这里看到的是，不管油箱或气体是什么样的，

if there's even one car on the train that's not at a high standard and it's flammable the rest at risk."

只要火车上有一节车厢不符合高标准，是易燃的，其余的都有危险。”

"Yes, it is."

“是的，是这样。”

A new poll finds a majority of Americans are concerned about China's global influence.

一项新的民意调查发现，大多数美国人担心中国的全球影响力。

AP correspondent Norman Hall has that story.

美联社记者诺曼·霍尔报道。

The poll finds that just 40 percent of U.S. adults approve of how President Joe Biden is handling relations with China.

调查发现，只有40%的美国成年人认同拜登总统处理对华关系的方式。

About 6 in 10 say they are gravely concerned about China, the world's second largest economy after the United States.

大约60%的人表示，他们非常担心中国这个仅次于美国的世界第二大经济体。

The survey was done by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

这项调查是由美联社- 全国民意公共事务研究中心完成的。

Tensions with China intensified⁴ after the U.S. shot down a Chinese spy balloon two weeks ago.

两周前，美国击落了一架中国气球后，美中紧张关系加剧。

Biden administration has reserved tariffs⁵ on imports from China and restricted the sale of advanced computer chips to the country.

拜登政府保留了从中国进口的关税，并限制向中国出售先进的计算机芯片。

The poll was conducted February 16 through 20.

该调查于2月16日至20日进行。

The margin⁶ of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.

所有受访者的抽样误差范围为正负3.7个百分点。

Norman Hall, Washington.

诺曼·霍尔，华盛顿。

Northern Irish police have arrested three men in relation to the attempted murder of a senior detective shot

北爱尔兰警方逮捕了三名涉嫌谋杀一名高级侦探未遂的男子。

in front of his son in the town of Omagh Wednesday evening that they suspect was carried out by the new IRA Irish national militant⁷ group.

这名侦探星期三晚上在奥马镇当着他儿子的面被枪击，警方怀疑凶手是新成立的爱尔兰共和军。

The detective is in critical condition.

这名侦探目前情况危急。

He was shot by two gunmen after a coaching session with a youth soccer team.

他在参加完一支青年足球队的训练课程后被两名枪手开枪击中。

U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price had this to say on Thursday.

美国国务院发言人内德·普莱斯周四表示:

"Our thoughts are with the family, friends and colleagues of the officer at this time

“此时，我们与这名警官的家人、朋友和同事同在，

and we'll continue to be in touch with our colleagues and counterparts on this."

我们将继续与我们的同事和同行保持联系。”

While in 1998 peace deal largely ended three decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland,

虽然1998年的和平协议在很大程度上结束了北爱尔兰30年的宗派暴力，

police officers are still sporadically⁸ targeted by splinter groups.

但警察仍然时不时地成为分裂组织的袭击目标。

Health officials in Cambodia have confirmed the death of an 11-year-old girl from H5N1,

柬埔寨卫生官员证实，一名11岁女孩死于H5N1型禽流感病毒，

the country's first known human bird flu infection since 2014.

这是柬埔寨自2014年以来已知的首例人感染禽流感病例。

Also known as avian flu, the H5N1 wasn't seen as a threat to humans until a 1997 outbreak.

H5N1也被称为禽流感，直到1997年爆发才被视为对人类的威胁。

It was linked to people who had frequented live poultry⁹ markets in Hong Kong.

该病毒与经常出入香港活禽市场的人有关。

Out of 18 people infected, 6 people died.

18名感染者中有6人死亡。

1 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

3 wreck   

n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难

参考例句：

• Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
• No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。

4 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 tariffs   

关税制度； 关税( tariff的名词复数 )； 关税表； （旅馆或饭店等的）收费表； 量刑标准

参考例句：

• British industry was sheltered from foreign competition by protective tariffs. 保护性关税使英国工业免受国际竞争影响。
• The new tariffs have put a stranglehold on trade. 新的关税制对开展贸易极为不利。

6 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

7 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

8 sporadically   

adv.偶发地，零星地

参考例句：

• There are some trees sporadically around his house. 他的房子周围零星地有点树木。 来自辞典例句
• As for other aspects, we will sporadically hand out questionnaires. 在其他方面，我们会偶尔发送调查问卷。 来自互联网

9 poultry   

n.家禽，禽肉

参考例句：

• There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
• What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?