VOA常速英语2021--德州出现天价电费

Nigeria's air force said one of its planes crashed just outside Abuja airport after reporting engine failure on Sunday, killing¹ all seven people on board. The plane was on its way to the city of Minna, 110 kilometers northwest of the capital when it reported engine failure. The chief of the air force has ordered an investigation². President Muhammadu Buhari in a statement said he was "deeply saddened by the fatal crash" and sent his condolences to the air force and to the families of the victims. Officials are investigating the cause of the crash.

尼日利亚空军称，周日，一架军用飞机在阿布贾机场外报告发动机出现故障后坠毁，机上7人全部遇难。该飞机在飞往位于首都西北110公里的明纳市途中报告发动机故障。空军司令已下令进行调查。穆罕默杜·布哈里总统在一份声明中说，他“对这次致命的坠机事件深感悲痛”，并向空军和遇难者家属表示慰问。官方正在调查坠机原因。

Millions of Texans are still without safe water on Sunday as officials field angry complaints over shockingly large power bills spawned³ by a cold weather crisis. The mayor of Houston, Sylvester Turner, said Sunday that the crisis was largely "preventable" as has long been clear that the state's electric grid⁴ was vulnerable to extreme weather conditions. The frigid⁵ air mass that paralyzed parts of the southern and central United States early in the week claimed more than 70 lives, left millions temporarily without power, rather, and froze water lines. Turner said Houston, the fourth-largest U.S. city, was making progress in restoring service despite a lack of repair supplies and enough people to do the work. Both Houston and nearby Galveston on Sunday lifted orders for residents to boil drinking water. But some 28,000 households remain without electricity and many Texans are suffering an added insult - residential⁶ electric bills sometimes running into the thousands of dollars.

周日，数百万德州人仍然没有安全饮用水，官员们愤怒控诉寒冷天气危机引发的巨额电费。休斯顿市长西尔维斯特·特纳周日表示，这场危机基本上是“可以预防的”，因为长期以来，德州的电网明显很容易受到极端天气条件的影响。本周早些时候的寒潮引发美国南部和中部部分地区瘫痪，造成70多人死亡，数百万人遭遇暂时断电，水管冻结。特纳表示，美国第四大城市休斯顿在恢复服务方面取得了进展，尽管仍然缺乏维修物资和足够的人力来恢复服务。休斯顿和附近的加尔维斯顿周日都取消了居民烧开饮用水的命令。但仍有约2.8万户家庭停电，许多德州人正遭受更大的难堪——居民电费有时高达数千美元。

President Joe Biden's nominee⁷ for attorney general says the Justice Department must ensure laws are "fairly and faithfully enforced" and that the rights of all Americans are protected. Judge Merrick Garland, who is set to appear Monday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, is expected to tell senators that the attorney general must act as a lawyer for the people of the United States, and not for the president. The Justice Department released a copy of Garland's opening statement late Saturday. In his prepared remarks, Garland, a federal appeals court judge who was a candidate for a seat on the Supreme⁸ Court in 2016, laid out his plan to prioritize the department's civil rights work after the nationwide protests last year over the deaths of Black Americans by police. He highlighted a key mission for the division - to protect the rights of all Americans and particularly the most vulnerable. If confirmed, Garland would inherit a Justice Department that endured a tumultuous time under President Donald Trump⁹ and criticism from Democrats¹⁰ over what they saw as the politicizing of the nation's top law enforcement agency. You can find more on this and all the stories we're covering at our website voanews.com. Via remote, I'm Marissa Melton, VOA news.

乔·拜登总统提名的司法部长候选人表示，司法部必须确保法律得到“公平和忠实的执行”，确保所有美国人的权利得到保护。梅里克·加兰法官将于周一出席参议院司法委员会，预计他将告诉参议员，自己必须作为美国人民的司法部长，而不是总统的私人律师。美国司法部周六晚些时候公布了加兰的开场陈词。曾在2016年成为最高法院席位候选人的联邦上诉法院法官加兰，在事先准备好的讲话中阐述了自己的计划，即在去年美国黑人遭到警察杀害引发的全国性抗议活动之后，优先考虑司法部的民权工作。他强调司法院的一项重要使命：保护所有美国人的权利，特别是最弱势群体的权利。如果得到确认，加兰将继承司法部。司法部曾在总统唐纳德·特朗普的领导下经历了一段动荡时期，民主党人也因目睹美国最高执法机构的政治化而对其大肆批评。您可以通过网址voanews.com浏览更多相关新闻及其他新闻。我是玛丽莎·梅顿，为您远程报道美国之音新闻。

1 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。

2 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。

3 spawned   

（鱼、蛙等）大量产（卵）( spawn的过去式和过去分词 )； 大量生产

参考例句：

• The band's album spawned a string of hit singles. 这支乐队的专辑繁衍出一连串走红的单曲唱片。
• The computer industry has spawned a lot of new companies. 由于电脑工业的发展，许多新公司纷纷成立。

4 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

5 frigid   

adj.寒冷的，凛冽的；冷淡的；拘禁的

参考例句：

• The water was too frigid to allow him to remain submerged for long.水冰冷彻骨，他在下面呆不了太长时间。
• She returned his smile with a frigid glance.对他的微笑她报以冷冷的一瞥。

6 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

7 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

8 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

9 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

10 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》