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VOA慢速英语2009-SCIENCE IN THE NEWS - Nations Take Steps to Prep

时间:2009-04-15 05:46:51

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(单词翻译)

VOICE ONE:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Bob Doughty1.

VOICE TWO:
 
Children in the Solomon Islands hunt for clothes after a tsunami2 hit their village of Titiana, where 15 people died, in April 2007

And I'm Shirley Griffith. Our subject this week is tsunamis3 -- the sea waves often caused by earthquakes.

VOICE ONE:

Our broadcast today begins a few years ago on a beautiful day in Thailand.

A British schoolgirl, Tilly Smith, was spending the day at Maikhao Beach in Phuket. Then Tilly saw that the water seemed to have disappeared from the beach. When she looked out to sea, the surface of the water looked strange.

The ten-year-old girl warned her parents. They warned others. People moved away from the water, saving themselves from almost sure drowning. Tilly had recognized the signs of a tsunami. She had studied tsunamis at school.

VOICE TWO:
 
A man on his phone near smashed cars along Patong Beach in Thailand in 2004

The young girl had witnessed a part of the historic tsunami of December twenty-sixth, two thousand four. In Thailand, some waves were as high as many buildings. The walls of water also struck a number of other nations, and killed more than two hundred thirty thousand people.

The incident produced a major effect on many countries. It has also led to actions to protect against future tsunamis.

VOICE ONE:

Some people say tsunamis are tidal waves. But tides are the ebb4 and flow of saltwater against the coast. Tsunamis are not normal tides. Instead, extreme events cause unnatural5 actions to form tsunamis. Scientists blame strong earthquakes for eighty to ninety percent of tsunamis. Other causes are landslides6 and underwater or nuclear explosions at sea. Still another is the crash of large asteroids7, minor8 planets that fall to earth.

A tsunami is not just one wave, but a series of waves. Some of the waves can be huge.

VOICE TWO:

Some scientists say the earthquake that caused the great tsunami of two thousand four measured nine points in intensity9. Others say it was nine point three. Whatever the force, it was among the strongest earthquakes many people could remember. The earthquake created a tsunami that killed people in eleven countries.

The earthquake of December twenty-sixth took place just east of the Sunda Trench10. The trench is an extremely deep hole on the floor of the Indian Ocean. It stretches about two thousand six hundred kilometers along the island of Sumatra. A tsunami formed near the place where the earthquake began and traveled outward in all directions.

The water reached the northern edge of Sumatra about twenty minutes after the earthquake. In Aceh Province alone, up to one hundred seventy thousand unsuspecting people died in a short time. Pictures taken from the air after the tsunami also showed a shocking loss of land.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

People all over the world reacted to the killer11 tsunami. They gave large amounts of money to help the victims. But they also made plans to protect against other terrible waves.

They built or improved existing walls and floodgates to block the waves. And they worked to create or improve tsunami warning systems. Such a system contains sensing equipment that notes danger. The system also operates the processes for spreading warnings to threatened areas.

Some countries, like Japan, already had good warning systems. Earthquakes often strike Japan. Some earthquakes cause tsunamis. Japan has suffered hundreds of tsunami waves over the years. For example, the Great Tsunami in nineteen thirty three killed more than three thousand people. But some tsunami waves were small, and looked just like normal waves.

VOICE TWO:

The United Nations agency UNESCO created the Intergovernmental Oceanic Commission, or I.O.C., in nineteen sixty. This organization has tsunami warning systems in many places. It supervised creation of a system for nations on the edges of the Indian Ocean after the great earthquake and tsunami of two thousand four.

Twenty-five stations watch for possible earthquake activity. The stations provide information to many national tsunami information centers and several deep ocean sensors12. The I.O.C. says its efforts are the beginning of a worldwide tsunami-warning program.

VOICE ONE:

Continuing disasters in the Indian Ocean made Indonesia decide it must have a warning system of its own. In two thousand five, almost one thousand people were killed in an earthquake near the island of Nias. But the earthquake did not create a tsunami. Still another tsunami took place after an earthquake near Java in two thousand six. That tsunami was not nearly as severe as the one in two thousand four. But it still killed hundreds of people.

Last year, a tsunami warning system began operating especially for Indonesia. The system probably will be completed by two thousand ten.

VOICE TWO:

The new system is called the German-Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System, or GITEWS. It has been busy recording13 earthquakes that could produce huge waves. On February eleventh, GITEWS reported a seven point three earthquake in Indonesia's Talaud Islands near Sulawesi. But no tsunami followed.

GITEWS is a joint14 project of Indonesia and the German government. Germany's national research center for geosciences organized the project. Germany, Indonesia and other partners helped make it financially possible.

VOICE ONE:

The Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres described new methods and technologies in the new warning system. The group says less time passes for an earthquake shock wave to reach a measuring instrument than in the past. But it is difficult to read and judge a wave when it is near.

To deal with that problem, the designers developed a special computer software program. They say the program can show the source, placement and size of several strong earthquakes within two minutes.

Another example of new methods in GITEWS involves how a tsunami behaves. A tsunami travels hundreds of kilometers per hour in deep water. But it slows down in water that is not deep. In coastal15 areas it can swell16, or enlarge, to waves of up to thirty meters high.

To save lives, a tsunami must be recognized as such before it can reach land. GITEWS provides nine new measuring stations in the Indian Ocean. That means Indonesia is not the only nation to receive the information. The system also can help other countries.

Technical and mechanical systems are also responsible for getting the news of huge waves to threatened areas. Local officials are responsible for broadcasting warnings as fast as they can, by any method they can.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

The Indian Ocean tsunami of two thousand four was among the worst that ever happened. But the Pacific Ocean area has experienced more of the deadly waves. Experts estimate sixty percent of tsunamis take place there. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center watches for earthquake activity that could cause tsunamis.

America's National Weather Service is an agency of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric17 Administration, or NOAA. Its experts serve as part of the Pacific Tsunami Warning System. They also keep watch on the American state of Hawaii from an operations center near Honolulu.

Hawaii suffered major tsunamis during the twentieth century. In nineteen sixty, the Great Chilean Earthquake caused waves that took many lives. That tsunami almost completely destroyed the city of Hilo.

VOICE ONE:

Last month, eighteen South Pacific countries sent representatives to a tsunami meeting in Samoa. Many expert observers also attended. Those taking part discussed the results of an exercise throughout the Pacific area last October. The exercise tested warning and emergency communications and national and local readiness.

NOAA's National Weather Service center in Palmer, Alaska supervises a warning station for the United States mainland and Canada.

In January of two thousand seven, Canada increased its protection. It opened the Canadian Atlantic Tsunami Warning System. The system was designed to especially protect the nation's Atlantic Ocean coast and the Gulf18 of Saint Lawrence. Canada's national government, five easternmost provinces and NOAA cooperated in the project.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Jerilyn Watson. Brianna Blake was our producer. I'm Shirley Griffith.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Bob Doughty. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 doughty Jk5zg     
adj.勇猛的,坚强的
参考例句:
  • Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质:脾气倔强,性格刚强。
  • The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。
2 tsunami bpAyo     
n.海啸
参考例句:
  • Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
  • Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。
3 tsunamis a759fe8c9bbe15580d54b753ecec1e73     
n.海啸( tsunami的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Our oceans are alive with earthquakes, volcanoes, and more recently, tsunamis. 海中充满着地震、火山,包括最近发生的海啸。 来自常春藤生活英语杂志-2006年2月号
  • Please tell me something more about tsunamis! 请您给我讲讲海啸吧! 来自辞典例句
4 ebb ebb     
vi.衰退,减退;n.处于低潮,处于衰退状态
参考例句:
  • The flood and ebb tides alternates with each other.涨潮和落潮交替更迭。
  • They swam till the tide began to ebb.他们一直游到开始退潮。
5 unnatural 5f2zAc     
adj.不自然的;反常的
参考例句:
  • Did her behaviour seem unnatural in any way?她有任何反常表现吗?
  • She has an unnatural smile on her face.她脸上挂着做作的微笑。
6 landslides 5a0c95bd1e490515d70aff3ba74490cb     
山崩( landslide的名词复数 ); (山坡、悬崖等的)崩塌; 滑坡; (竞选中)一方选票占压倒性多数
参考例句:
  • Landslides have cut off many villages in remote areas. 滑坡使边远地区的许多村庄与外界隔绝。
  • The storm caused landslides and flooding in Savona. 风暴致使萨沃纳发生塌方和洪灾。
7 asteroids d02ebba086eb60b6155b94e12649ff84     
n.小行星( asteroid的名词复数 );海盘车,海星
参考例句:
  • Asteroids,also known as "minor planets",are numerous in the outer space. 小行星,亦称为“小型行星”,在外太空中不计其数。
  • Most stars probably have their quota of planets, meteorids, comets, and asteroids. 多数恒星也许还拥有若干行星、流星、彗星和小行星。
8 minor e7fzR     
adj.较小(少)的,较次要的;n.辅修学科;vi.辅修
参考例句:
  • The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
  • I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。
9 intensity 45Ixd     
n.强烈,剧烈;强度;烈度
参考例句:
  • I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
  • The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。
10 trench VJHzP     
n./v.(挖)沟,(挖)战壕
参考例句:
  • The soldiers recaptured their trench.兵士夺回了战壕。
  • The troops received orders to trench the outpost.部队接到命令在前哨周围筑壕加强防卫。
11 killer rpLziK     
n.杀人者,杀人犯,杀手,屠杀者
参考例句:
  • Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
  • The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。
12 sensors 029aee483db9ae244d7a5cb353e74602     
n.传感器,灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时,有很大变化。 来自辞典例句
13 recording UktzJj     
n.录音,记录
参考例句:
  • How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间?
  • I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。
14 joint m3lx4     
adj.联合的,共同的;n.关节,接合处;v.连接,贴合
参考例句:
  • I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤,肩膀脫臼了。
  • We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。
15 coastal WWiyh     
adj.海岸的,沿海的,沿岸的
参考例句:
  • The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
  • This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。
16 swell IHnzB     
vi.膨胀,肿胀;增长,增强
参考例句:
  • The waves had taken on a deep swell.海浪汹涌。
  • His injured wrist began to swell.他那受伤的手腕开始肿了。
17 atmospheric 6eayR     
adj.大气的,空气的;大气层的;大气所引起的
参考例句:
  • Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
  • Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。
18 gulf 1e0xp     
n.海湾;深渊,鸿沟;分歧,隔阂
参考例句:
  • The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
  • There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

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