新西兰英语 453 Government will buy 5000 Christchurch houses

 　　The Prime¹ Minister, John Key, said today that the government will buy 5000 houses that have been badly damaged after the earthquakes in Christchurch. This is because the land in those areas is not safe for houses. These houses are mostly beside the Avon River in the east of the city.

　　Housing² areas in Christchurch have been divided into four zones – red, orange, green and white. Houses in the green zone are not badly damaged and can be repaired. Houses in the orange zone are waiting to be checked. Some of them can be repaired and others will be demolished³. Houses in the white zone are still in danger from rock falls and it is not clear what will happen to them. If there are more big after-shocks in that area, it will become a red zone. Houses in the red zone cannot be rebuilt in that area for many years as the land is too badly damaged by liquefaction.

　　John Key said that home owners had two choices. The first choice is to take the government’s offer to buy their land and house at the GV – the Government Valuation. The second choice is to let the government buy the land but then owners should talk to their insurance company about replacing their house in another place. Most people have replacement⁴ insurance which means⁵ the insurance company will build them a similar house.

　　The Government Valuation was done in 2007 but the Prime Minister said that house values have not changed much since then.

　　To find out more about earthquakes and liquefaction in Christchurch, enter “earthquake” in the search box.

　　Questions

　　1. There are more questions than answers at this stage – for example, is this a fair offer from the government? Can you think of a better way to do it?

　　2. If people start to move out of a red zone, what will happen to the local school in the meantime⁶?

　　3. Will home owners move to another town where house prices are cheaper?

　　4. How long will it take to build 5000 new homes? Where will people live in the meantime?

　　5. What about people in the orange zone? How much longer will they have to wait?

　　Can you think of other questions?

1 prime   

adj.首要的，主要的；最好的，第一流的

参考例句：

• The prime minister spoke of the general insecurity in the country.总理谈到了全国普遍存在的不安全。
• He met with the Prime Minister of Japan for an hour.他和日本首相会见了一个小时。

2 housing   

n.房屋，住宅；住房建筑；外壳，外罩

参考例句：

• Do you think our housing sales will turn around during this year?你认为今年我们的住宅销路会好转吗？
• The housing sales have been turning down since the summer.入夏以来，房屋的销售量日趋减少。

3 demolished   

v.摧毁( demolish的过去式和过去分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光

参考例句：

• The factory is due to be demolished next year. 这个工厂定于明年拆除。
• They have been fighting a rearguard action for two years to stop their house being demolished. 两年来，为了不让拆除他们的房子，他们一直在进行最后的努力。

4 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

5 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

6 meantime   

n.其时，其间；adv.同时，当时

参考例句：

• I continued working,meantime,he went out shopping.我继续工作，这期间他出去买东西。
• In the meantime we pressed on with the airlift.与此同时，我们加紧进行空运。