VOA常速英语2016--伊拉克人担心摩苏尔大坝溃坝

Iraqis Fear Collapse¹ of Poorly-maintained Mosul Dam 伊拉克人担心摩苏尔大坝溃坝

WASHINGTON—

More than a million Iraqis are in danger of being killed if the poorly maintained Mosul dam collapses² and the Tigris River rushes out.  The government began urgent maintenance work on the dam Thursday. Authorities have warned people who live along the Tigris to move at least six kilometers away from the banks

Maintenance work began Thursday to shore up the dam's weakening structure, undermined by years of conflict and neglect. Iraqis living near the Tigris River are worried.

"We are afraid and we don't know if it's true or not true that the dam could collapse. We are worried because we have family and kids. And we are stressed. We live very close to the Tigris," said a local man.

The dam needs regular maintenance because the ground underneath³ it is unstable⁴.  The government this week signed a $300-million deal with Italy's Trevi group to repair and maintain the structure for 18 months.  But many Iraqis fear the dam could collapse before the Italian engineers arrive and assemble their machinery⁵.

''It is certain that the rising water levels will have a negative impact on citizens. We hope the relevant authorities will work hard to resolve this problem in order not to let the water leak into commercial interests and homes of locals,” said Baghdad resident Raad al-Quraishi. 

As the snow melts, the water pressure grows. A gate was opened to ease some of the water pressure, raising the levels of the Tigris River.  But officials have downplayed the danger. 

"The quantities of water which flowed into the Tigris River have been utilized⁶ well in the agricultural plans drawn⁷ up by the Ministry⁸ of Water Resources in accordance with the Ministry of Agriculture. And big quantities of water have been used to flourish and revive the marshes⁹ which suffered a lot from water scarcity¹⁰ in the previous season," said Ali Radhi Thamir of the state committee on irrigation and drainage projects.

The U.S. Embassy said this week that the risk of the dam collapsing¹¹ is "serious and unprecedented¹²."  U.S. and Iraqi governments are working on a plan to evacuate¹³ as many as 1.5 million Iraqis living along the Tigris.

The dam deteriorated¹⁴ during the conflict, including a temporary capture by the Islamic State militants¹⁵. Its maintenance has remained insufficient¹⁶ in part because Islamic State still controls the factory that produces the cement for the dam's foundation.

1 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

2 collapses   

折叠( collapse的第三人称单数 )； 倒塌； 崩溃； （尤指工作劳累后）坐下

参考例句：

• This bridge table collapses. 这张桥牌桌子能折叠。
• Once Russia collapses, the last chance to stop Hitler will be gone. 一旦俄国垮台，抑止希特勒的最后机会就没有了。

3 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

4 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。

5 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

6 utilized   

v.利用，使用( utilize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• In the19th century waterpower was widely utilized to generate electricity. 在19世纪人们大规模使用水力来发电。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The empty building can be utilized for city storage. 可以利用那栋空建筑物作城市的仓库。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

8 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

9 marshes   

n.沼泽，湿地( marsh的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Cows were grazing on the marshes. 牛群在湿地上吃草。
• We had to cross the marshes. 我们不得不穿过那片沼泽地。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 scarcity   

n.缺乏，不足，萧条

参考例句：

• The scarcity of skilled workers is worrying the government.熟练工人的缺乏困扰着政府。
• The scarcity of fruit was caused by the drought.水果供不应求是由于干旱造成的。

11 collapsing   

压扁[平]，毁坏，断裂

参考例句：

• Rescuers used props to stop the roof of the tunnel collapsing. 救援人员用支柱防止隧道顶塌陷。
• The rocks were folded by collapsing into the center of the trough. 岩石由于坍陷进入凹槽的中心而发生褶皱。

12 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。

13 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

14 deteriorated   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her health deteriorated rapidly, and she died shortly afterwards. 她的健康状况急剧恶化，不久便去世了。
• His condition steadily deteriorated. 他的病情恶化，日甚一日。

15 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

16 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。