PBS高端访谈:伦敦公寓大火已造成严重伤亡

 　　And now to the day's other major story. It is in London, where a fast-moving fire engulfed¹ a high-rise apartment building. It killed at least 12 people and injured scores.

　　We have a report from Dan Rivers of Independent Television News, and with a warning: Some of the images and sounds may be disturbing.

　　With horrifying² ferocity, the fire consumed Grenfell Tower in minutes, a 24-floor inferno³ from which there was no escape for some.

　　Trapped by smoke and flames, residents signaled their plight⁴ from on high as the building disintegrated⁵ around them.

　　On this mobile phone footage, the cries for help are chilling.

　　Help! Help! We saw people looking out of the windows, screaming help, screaming, help, help, flashing their lights and everything.

　　And now all those windows, people are gone, literally⁶ gone.

　　I saw one person trying to jump out. One actually jumped out, and obviously what happened. It's just a nightmare.

　　The streets around Grenfell Tower were soon full of those who escaped its flames, children among those suffering from the acrid⁷ fumes⁸.

　　An exhausted⁹ little girl is cradled as the shock and bewilderment sink in. Many here have lost everything.

　　Some are still unsure what's happened to neighbors, friends, loved ones.

　　And, above them, the fire raged on. As the sky lightened, the flames continued to devour¹⁰ the building.

　　This was the view from the SOUTH BANK, the plume¹¹ of smoke visible for 20 miles. With daylight, stories of extraordinary escape started to emerge.

　　A lady appeared at the window, gesturing, body language, from what she was saying, I'm about to throw my baby, please catch the baby.

　　And the baby, I think, was wrapped in some sort of bed sheet, blanket. And she threw the baby.

　　As the baby came down — and this was about approximately from the ninth or 10th floor — a member of the public, a gentleman ran forward and miraculously¹² grabbed the baby.

　　And, like I said, above you, from the left, from the right, mostly kids, it was harrowing, torturing screams for help, young kids.

　　And I think also, where the fire was now spread, people were reaching out from the front window, trying to grasp a bit of fresh air, trying to breathe in like they were struggling.

　　And there were, at one point, one window about four or five heads all squeezing their heads through. It was honestly like a horror movie.

　　Some had knotted sheets together in an attempt to escape. But even this left them several floors short of safety.

　　People were jumping off buildings. People were screaming, saying, help me, help me, help me.

　　The cause of the fire is unknown, but one resident claims it spread from her neighbor's flat, possibly a faulty appliance.

　　The fire started from the kitchen, but I don't know exactly — from which problem, I don't know. But it was from the kitchen, because the flat door was open.

　　It's already clear the death toll¹³ will be significant. Up to 600 people lived in Grenfell House in 120 flats.

　　For those who were on the very upper floors, the odds¹⁴ of survival seem slim.

　　Those fighting the fire confirmed today how challenging it's been to extinguish.

　　This was an unprecedented¹⁵ fire in terms of scale, speed, and spread. And just to reiterate¹⁶ that point, the incident continues to be a challenging incident for us.

　　There is speculation¹⁷ a gap behind a recently added external cladding may have created a chimney effect, allowing the flames to spread.

　　Some had to wait all night before they escaped. This man was still calling for help six hours after the fire started.

　　At times, he disappeared into clouds of smoke, but, incredibly, he did finally make it out, one of 65 rescued from Grenfell Tower today.

　　Tonight, while most of the flames have been put out, the charred¹⁸ shell of the tower block continues to smolder¹⁹.

　　It may be days before the final death toll is known, and much longer before the cause of this tragedy is pinpointed²⁰.

　　Prime Minister Theresa May promised a full investigation²¹, and the British government ordered safety checks at other high-rises undergoing renovations. undefined

1 engulfed   

v.吞没，包住( engulf的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was engulfed by a crowd of reporters. 他被一群记者团团围住。
• The little boat was engulfed by the waves. 小船被波浪吞没了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 horrifying   

a.令人震惊的，使人毛骨悚然的

参考例句：

• He went to great pains to show how horrifying the war was. 他极力指出战争是多么的恐怖。
• The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate. 战争的可能性太可怕了，真不堪细想。

3 inferno   

n.火海；地狱般的场所

参考例句：

• Rescue workers fought to get to victims inside the inferno.救援人员奋力营救大火中的受害者。
• The burning building became an inferno.燃烧着的大楼成了地狱般的地方。

4 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

5 disintegrated   

v.（使）破裂[分裂，粉碎]，（使）崩溃( disintegrate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The plane disintegrated as it fell into the sea. 飞机坠入大海时解体了。
• The box was so old;it just disintegrated when I picked it up. 那箱子太破旧了，我刚一提就散了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

7 acrid   

adj.辛辣的，尖刻的，刻薄的

参考例句：

• There is an acrid tone to your remarks.你说这些话的口气带有讥刺意味。
• The room was filled with acrid smoke.房里充满刺鼻的烟。

8 fumes   

n.(强烈而刺激的)气味，气体

参考例句：

• The health of our children is being endangered by exhaust fumes. 我们孩子们的健康正受到排放出的废气的损害。
• Exhaust fumes are bad for your health. 废气对健康有害。

9 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

10 devour   

v.吞没；贪婪地注视或谛听，贪读；使着迷

参考例句：

• Larger fish devour the smaller ones.大鱼吃小鱼。
• Beauty is but a flower which wrinkle will devour.美只不过是一朵，终会被皱纹所吞噬。

11 plume   

n.羽毛；v.整理羽毛，骚首弄姿，用羽毛装饰

参考例句：

• Her hat was adorned with a plume.她帽子上饰着羽毛。
• He does not plume himself on these achievements.他并不因这些成就而自夸。

12 miraculously   

ad.奇迹般地

参考例句：

• He had been miraculously saved from almost certain death. 他奇迹般地从死亡线上获救。
• A schoolboy miraculously survived a 25 000-volt electric shock. 一名男学生在遭受2.5 万伏的电击后奇迹般地活了下来。

13 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

14 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

15 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

16 reiterate   

v.重申，反复地说

参考例句：

• Let me reiterate that we have absolutely no plans to increase taxation.让我再一次重申我们绝对没有增税的计划。
• I must reiterate that our position on this issue is very clear.我必须重申我们对这一项议题的立场很清楚。

17 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

18 charred   

v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式)；烧焦

参考例句：

• the charred remains of a burnt-out car 被烧焦的轿车残骸
• The intensity of the explosion is recorded on the charred tree trunks. 那些烧焦的树干表明爆炸的强烈。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 smolder   

v.无火焰地闷烧；n.焖烧，文火

参考例句：

• The smolder will soon be a flame.闷火很快变为烈焰。
• It can smolder undetected for hours,then suddenly explode in fiery destruction.也有可能好几小时内不被发觉，突然激烈的爆炸。

20 pinpointed   

准确地找出或描述( pinpoint的过去式和过去分词 )； 为…准确定位

参考例句：

• His refusal to help simply pinpointed his cowardice. 他拒绝帮助正显示他的胆小。
• Computers pinpointed where the shells were coming from. 计算机确定了炮弹发射的位置。

21 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。