新西兰英语 436 Inquest into deaths from earthquake

 　　Yesterday the coroner held an inquest so that he could write death certificates for nine people who died during the earthquake on February 22nd. These nine have not been identified because their bodies were too badly burnt or damaged. All of them were in the CTV building. Four of them were Chinese students learning English at Kings Education. One was a student from the Philippines. Another was the director of studies at Kings Education. The other three worked for CTV.

　　The coroner had to be sure that they had died. He wanted evidence. One example of evidence was a witness who said he saw one of those people in the building just before the earthquake. The wedding ring of another person was found. One man who died had called a friend to say that he and a woman were trapped by rubble¹ and they couldn’t move. His body was found but not hers.

　　Experts have identified 172 bodies, using fingerprints², photos, clothing, dental records and DNA³. However, these nine bodies could not be identified. Now the coroner will write death certificates.

　　The inquest was a very sad time for the families.

　　Listen to March 20th 2011 for more about the process of identifying those who died during the earthquake.

　　Listen to Jan 28th 2011 to find out about the Pike River Coal Mine Inquest and why we need an inquest.

　　Vocabulary

　　Rubble – broken bricks, timber and other rubbish which fell during the earthquake

　　Questions

　　See the questions following January 28th and March 20th.

1 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

2 fingerprints   

n.指纹( fingerprint的名词复数 )v.指纹( fingerprint的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Everyone's fingerprints are unique. 每个人的指纹都是独一无二的。
• They wore gloves so as not to leave any fingerprints behind (them). 他们戴着手套，以免留下指纹。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。