英语杂谈：70 China Earthquake Survivors

Rescuers continue to pull people out of the rubble¹, alive, more than one week after a massive earthquake struck southwestern China's Sichuan Province. The latest government figures confirm more than 40,000 people have died and more than 247,000 people have been injured. Meanwhile, as Stephanie Ho reports from Beijing, the disaster left in the quake's wake has sparked a massive outpouring of donations and contributions from around the country.

 

The heroic rescue came in the early hours of Tuesday. Mu Yuanjiang, 31, was pulled from the rubble in Wenchuan County, Sichuan, near the epicenter of last Monday's powerful earthquake.

Rescuers found Ma on Sunday and fed him sugar water through a straw until they could actually recover him.

There has been near total media saturation² of the relief efforts, bringing the disaster into millions of Chinese homes, around the country.

Chinese people have responded to the 24-hours-a-day coverage³, donating more than $243 million to Chinese charities, including the Red Cross.

At the Red Cross offices in Beijing, kindergarten students brought in more than $714 they had collected. Their donation consisted of plastic bags full of coins.

They say they are donating their pocket money so the children in the disaster area can rebuild their lives.

One Chinese teacher, who donated nearly $43, says he has no relatives in Sichuan, but in the past, has been to visit scenic⁴ areas near the quake's epicenter. He says he met many children during his trip there. Now, he says it is very upsetting to him to see so many the dead children.

He says the most unbearable⁵ thing is seeing dead children being pulled from under the rubble.

Chinese authorities are looking into why 7,000 schools completely collapsed⁶ during the earthquake, killing⁷ thousands of students and teachers inside.

At Beijing's Dehong Train Station, Station Manager Na Dexin was overseeing the delivery of relief supplies, headed for the disaster zone.

He says the goods on the train include tents, medicine, food, instant noodles, pickled vegetables, clothes and blankets.

Na said the 46 train cars full of relief supplies will take more than two days to reach the Sichuan provincial⁸ capital, Chengdu.

 

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 saturation   

n.饱和(状态)；浸透

参考例句：

• The company's sales are now close to saturation in many western countries.这家公司的产品销售量在许多西方国家已接近饱和。
• Road traffic has reached saturation point.公路交通已达到饱和点。

3 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

4 scenic   

adj.自然景色的，景色优美的

参考例句：

• The scenic beauty of the place entranced the visitors.这里的美丽风光把游客们迷住了。
• The scenic spot is on northwestern outskirts of Beijing.这个风景区位于北京的西北远郊。

5 unbearable   

adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的

参考例句：

• It is unbearable to be always on thorns.老是处于焦虑不安的情况中是受不了的。
• The more he thought of it the more unbearable it became.他越想越觉得无法忍受。

6 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

7 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。

8 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。