美国国家公共电台 NPR--3 people are dead after an Amtrak train hits a truck and derails in Missouri

3 people are dead after an Amtrak train hits a truck and derails in Missouri

Transcript¹

An Amtrak train traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago derailed Monday in Missouri. Two people from the Amtrak train were killed in addition to one person in the dump truck, authorities say.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

An Amtrak passenger train derailed yesterday after colliding with a dump truck at a crossing in rural Missouri. Three people were killed. Dozens were injured. Frank Morris of member station KCUR has the story.

FRANK MORRIS, BYLINE²: Early yesterday afternoon, Blaine Bessemer from Atlanta was speeding through the green, rolling countryside of northern Missouri. Suddenly, he says, the brakes screeched³.

BLAINE BESSEMER: When he hit those brakes, we all kind of lunged forward, and then there was a loud, loud bang.

MORRIS: Like a bomb, says Bessemer - hard to describe.

BESSEMER: Well, now that I know what happened, it was like a giant piece of steel hitting a giant piece of stone.

MORRIS: The train struck a big dump truck loaded with rock. It tore the truck apart. The driver was killed. But the train rolled on about 100 yards more before all the cars slowly toppled over.

BESSEMER: And then people were falling and - people falling everywhere. And then, of course, we came to a stop pretty quickly, and then silence - silence - until everybody realized what just happened. Ugh. And here we are.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: We have some baby wipes and ibuprofen and aspirin⁴ and stuff over here.

MORRIS: Bessemer's sitting in a high school gym in tiny Mendon, Mo., where first responders brought most of the 275 passengers after the wreck⁵. Sitting a few bleachers down, with her suitcase, Vernie Williams, a nurse from Springfield, Ohio, tears up remembering the camaraderie⁶ inside the train.

VERNIE WILLIAMS: People just pitched in and helped everybody. Everybody was helping⁷ everybody. Even children were helping. It was really a - such a tragic⁸ - it - people were amazing. (Crying) And some didn't make it.

MORRIS: Two passengers died yesterday. More than 50 were injured. Ambulances and helicopters took dozens, including Williams' brother, to area hospitals. In a remote place like this, many first responders are volunteers, and Williams says the giving here has been almost overwhelming.

WILLIAMS: I mean, just everything - we'll get your luggage, we'll do this, you know? They've just - I don't know anything that they haven't done. They've been absolutely wonderful. (Crying) They really have.

MORRIS: The fatal intersection⁹ here is marked only by a simple railroad crossing sign - one without lights or bells or arms that swing down to block traffic. Chicago attorney Kristofer Riddle¹⁰ says such so-called unguarded crossings are inherently dangerous, especially to passenger trains.

KRISTOFER RIDDLE: Here we're talking about a train that was carrying over 200 people. And when there's a mistake that occurs, when somebody makes a poor judgment¹¹, somebody isn't paying attention, when there's human error - which there always will be - the stakes are way too high.

MORRIS: Just last weekend, another Amtrak train hit a car in the same type of unguarded crossing, this one in Northern California, killing¹² three people in the sedan and critically injuring two others. No one in the train was hurt. The National Transportation Safety Board is reviewing both accidents. For NPR News, I'm Frank Morris.

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1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 screeched   

v.发出尖叫声( screech的过去式和过去分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫

参考例句：

• She screeched her disapproval. 她尖叫着不同意。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The car screeched to a stop. 汽车嚓的一声停住了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 aspirin   

n.阿司匹林

参考例句：

• The aspirin seems to quiet the headache.阿司匹林似乎使头痛减轻了。
• She went into a chemist's and bought some aspirin.她进了一家药店，买了些阿司匹林。

5 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。

6 camaraderie   

n.同志之爱，友情

参考例句：

• The camaraderie among fellow employees made the tedious work just bearable.同事之间的情谊使枯燥乏味的工作变得还能忍受。
• Some bosses are formal and have occasional interactions,while others prefer continual camaraderie.有些老板很刻板，偶尔才和下属互动一下；有些则喜欢和下属打成一片。

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

8 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

9 intersection   

n.交集，十字路口，交叉点；[计算机] 交集

参考例句：

• There is a stop sign at an intersection.在交叉路口处有停车标志。
• Bridges are used to avoid the intersection of a railway and a highway.桥用来避免铁路和公路直接交叉。

10 riddle   

n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜

参考例句：

• The riddle couldn't be solved by the child.这个谜语孩子猜不出来。
• Her disappearance is a complete riddle.她的失踪完全是一个谜。

11 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

12 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。