VOA慢速英语20060828b

THIS IS AMERICA - One Year After Katrina Smashed Into Gulf¹ Coast, Uneven² Progress Marks Recovery EffortsBy Jerilyn Watson

Broadcast: Monday, August 28, 2006

VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Doug Johnson. This week, our subject is the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. The storm hit land three times in the final days of August of two thousand five. Its third landfall, on August twenty-ninth, was the one that caused the most damage.

VOICE ONE:


Two breeches in the Florida Street levee, looking toward the Mississippi River, are shown Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005, in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina moved through the area.

Katrina was blamed for about one thousand eight hundred deaths along the Gulf of Mexico coast. Property damage estimated at around seventy-five thousand million dollars made it the most costly⁴ hurricane in American history.

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VOICE TWO:

In the year since Hurricane Katrina, people in the affected⁵ areas have heard many promises and seen some progress.

Congress and state governments have provided for thousands of millions of dollars in aid. Engineers are developing plans that they say will improve flood protection systems. And emergency officials say they are planning better ways to get people to safety.

But the progress has not been enough to satisfy many of the people who lived through the storm. They say they will believe the promises when they see the results.

VOICE ONE:

The National Association of Community Health Centers estimates that as many as two million people had to leave their homes because of Katrina. Many found they no longer had a home or a job to return to. A year later, some are still trying to re-establish their lives.

Across the affected states, progress has been uneven.

Rebuilding has begun. But workers have yet to clear away many of the homes and other buildings wrecked⁶ by the storm.

Thousands of people now live in temporary trailer housing provided by the government. Many homeowners are still waiting for insurance payments or government help to rebuild.

Many people have left to make new lives in other places.

Today, perhaps half of New Orleans appears normal or near normal. But other areas of the city look as if Katrina struck yesterday. Almost half of the public schools are still closed.

Before Katrina, New Orleans had nine hospitals. Now only a few are open. Katrina was not the only problem. Hurricane Rita caused additional flooding in September.

VOICE TWO:


Hurricane Katrina rescue

About one thousand six hundred people from the state of Louisiana died as a result of Katrina. More than two hundred thirty were killed in Mississippi. Florida, Alabama and Georgia also had victims.

The remains⁷ of about fifty people are still unidentified in Louisiana. Some were found months after the storm.

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VOICE ONE:

During the past year, investigations⁹ examined government responses to Hurricane Katrina. Rescue operations and evacuations of communities were painfully disorganized. Many thousands of people went for days without receiving food, water or medical care.

Government officials blamed each other. And almost everyone blamed FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency. But, as one investigation⁸ put it, there was enough blame to share.

VOICE TWO:

On June first, the Army Corps¹⁰ of Engineers accepted responsibility for faults in the New Orleans levees. These barriers were built to protect the city which sits below sea level.

The corps released a six-thousand-page report that described many problems with engineering and design of the flood protection system.

Several levees failed as a result of Katrina and Rita. Water rushed through and covered everything in its path.

Saltwater flowed into Lake Pontchartrain. For a while, even areas far inland looked like part of the Atlantic Ocean.

In some inland areas, people are still finding pieces of boats that Katrina blew in from the Gulf of Mexico.

VOICE ONE:

The Army Corps of Engineers repaired the broken levees. Now the corps says it will begin a project to reduce the damage that future hurricanes might cause. The work includes adding floodgates and pump stations. The project is supposed to be finished by September of two thousand seven.

The current hurricane season began June first and will continue through November. Government weather scientists say this Atlantic season probably will not be as severe as the last one. But they still expect an above-normal number of storms.

The existing flood protection system is not designed for a Category Five hurricane -- the most severe. For a time Katrina had been at Category Five strength. But the storm lost some of that strength by the time it hit land southeast of New Orleans on August twenty-ninth.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Some parts of New Orleans were not heavily affected by Katrina. The famous entertainment area around Bourbon Street, for example, began to re-open not long after the storm.

But damage was severe and widespread in some other areas of the city, including some of its poorest communities.

Some people in New Orleans and other areas hit by Katrina had stayed in their homes after they were warned of the coming storm. They stayed for different reasons. Some had no transportation. Others had survived earlier hurricanes in their homes. They thought they could live through this one.

Some were lucky -- they were pulled from rooftops by helicopters or rescued by boats. Others were not -- their bodies were found in the weeks and months after Katrina.

VOICE ONE:

In New Orleans today, the mostly black community that was the Lower Ninth Ward³ is almost empty. Film director Spike¹¹ Lee has made a four-hour documentary on HBO television about the suffering of the Lower Ninth.

When the Levees Broke: A Requiem¹² in Four Acts has received praise but also some criticism. Some people say it could give the wrong idea that mostly black people suffered in Katrina.

VOICE TWO:

The United States Census¹³ Bureau released its most recent population estimates for the affected Gulf Coast areas in January. The report showed that the population of New Orleans was sixty-four percent smaller than before. Only about one hundred fifty-eight thousand people were left in the city.

Before the storms, two out of three people in New Orleans were black. Now the average citizen is more likely to be white, a little older and better off financially compared to the averages a year ago.

Before Katrina and Rita, thirty-six percent of the people in the New Orleans metropolitan¹⁴ area were black. That number dropped to twenty-one percent.

But Katrina increased the populations of cities like Houston, Texas, that received thousands of people needing shelter.


Harry¹⁵ and Silvia Pulizzano walk across debris¹⁶ from Hurricane Katrina in search of Silvia's brother's home in Waveland, Miss., on Thursday, Sept. 1, 2005

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The American Psychological Association says many Katrina survivors¹⁷ suffer from depression. They are also at increased risk of drug and alcohol problems.

Many displaced families moved several times after the storm. The children may have attended two or three schools, or more. Not surprisingly, some have trouble keeping their minds on their schoolwork.

Katrina destroyed a large number of community medical centers that had been providing care to poor people. These centers were under pressure for resources long before the storm. Now the ones that remain do not have enough doctors and nurses. In Louisiana, community health care officials say seventy percent of local doctors and nurses have yet to return to damaged parts of the state.

VOICE TWO:

In some Gulf Coast communities, strong economic influences have been the driving force to rebuild. Biloxi, Mississippi, is a good example. Before Katrina, eight to ten million people each year came to Biloxi to gamble. Katrina destroyed or heavily damaged the city's famous riverboat casinos. Fifteen thousand employees had no work.

Today Biloxi is recovering. Seven of its nine casinos are operating again or will soon. Visitors are returning. City official Vincent Creel says Biloxi has lived through hurricanes before. He tells us, Biloxi will endure and prevail.

A young woman who lives and works in New Orleans shows the same spirit about the city that people call the Big Easy. In her words, There will always be a New Orleans.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Our program was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by Caty Weaver¹⁸. Transcripts¹⁹ and archives of our shows can be found at www.unsv.com. I'm Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Doug Johnson. We hope you can join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

1 gulf   

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。

2 uneven   

adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的

参考例句：

• The sidewalk is very uneven—be careful where you walk.这人行道凹凸不平—走路时请小心。
• The country was noted for its uneven distribution of land resources.这个国家以土地资源分布不均匀出名。

3 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

4 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

5 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。

6 wrecked   

adj.失事的，遇难的

参考例句：

• the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
• the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

8 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。

9 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

10 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

11 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

12 requiem   

n.安魂曲，安灵曲

参考例句：

• I will sing a requiem for the land walkers.我会给陆地上走的人唱首安魂曲。
• The Requiem is on the list for today's concert.《安魂曲》是这次音乐会的演出曲目之一。

13 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

14 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

15 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

16 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

17 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

18 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

19 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句