新西兰英语 449 Earthquake affects Christchurch east suburbs

 　　Suburbs in the east of Christchurch were very badly affected¹ again after Monday’s two earthquakes. Many houses lost underground services like water, power and sewerage and still today about 50,000 people have no water and cannot use their toilets. Some people have had to use a chemical toilet or a portable² toilet in the street (a “portaloo”) for the last 9 months. Most people now have power back on but 100 houses are still waiting for power. Temperatures at the moment are close to zero degrees at night and 10 degrees during the day. To add to this miserable³ situation, these are the same people that have more silt⁴ from liquefaction around their homes and in their street. Some volunteers are now offering to help clear the silt but students are in the middle of exams so they cannot help as they did in February.

　　Schools in the east are also affected. Today, 59 schools were still closed after Monday’s earthquakes. By next Monday they should all be open again.

　　Hill suburbs, especially Sumner, Redcliffs, Mt Pleasant and Lyttelton, which were close to the centre of the earthquakes, are also in trouble. Huge rocks came down in many places, closing roads and damaging buildings but fortunately no one was killed. One geologist⁵ who was measuring cracks on the edge of a cliff on Monday afternoon, was lucky to escape with his life. The cliff where he was standing⁶ slipped down into the sea. He managed to run to safety just in time.

　　Meanwhile, people in these areas are all waiting for the land report. This will give information about which areas cannot be rebuilt on. This report is expected soon.

　　Listen to March 1st 2011 to hear more about liquefaction, the student volunteer “army” and the “farmy army”.

　　Vocabulary

　　Portaloo is made up of two words: portable and loo. A loo is British English for toilet.

　　Questions

　　Can a city continue to provide underground services and roads to areas where these have been badly damaged and repaired three times because of liquefaction?

　　If the land report recommends that some areas should have no houses on them, what can the government do for the home owners?

1 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

2 portable   

adj.轻便的，手提式的；n.便携的东西

参考例句：

• I have a portable typewriter.我有一个便携式打字机。
• There is a pretty portable pair of steps in one corner of the room.屋角放着一架小巧玲珑的折梯。

3 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

4 silt   

n.淤泥，淤沙，粉砂层，泥沙层；vt.使淤塞；vi.被淤塞

参考例句：

• The lake was almost solid with silt and vegetation.湖里几乎快被淤泥和植物填满了。
• During the annual floods the river deposits its silt on the fields.每年河水泛滥时都会在田野上沉积一层淤泥。

5 geologist   

n.地质学家

参考例句：

• The geologist found many uncovered fossils in the valley.在那山谷里，地质学家发现了许多裸露的化石。
• He was a geologist,rated by his cronies as the best in the business.他是一位地质学家，被他的老朋友们看做是这门行当中最好的一位。

6 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。