高中英语Chapter 15 Disasters and Accidents 天灾人祸英语听力

Chapter 15 Disasters and Accidents 天灾人祸 Bush Tours TornadoDevastated Town in Midwestern State of Kansas听力理解President Bush offered comfort Wednesday to the victims of one of the worst tornados to hit the United States in years. VOAs Paula Wolfson reports from the White House, Mr. Bush spent the day touring the small midwest town of Greensburg, Kansas, where 11 people died and most of the homes and businesses were destroyed by the twister that touched down last Friday.The president first surveyed the damage by helicopter, flying over devastated homes, and streets littered with rubble.Then he toured the town by car - seeing nothing for blocks on end but pulverized homes and cars. In between were tree trunks stripped of limbs and branches.The brief tour ended at a dealership where farm tractors and other heavy equipment were once sold.The tornado ripped off the roof, and today the building is filled with broken chunks of metal, pools of water, and pieces of wood. The remaining pieces of equipment sit in various stages of disrepair-some on their sides, most stripped of paint.The President spoke privately to some of the survivors of the tornado, and then publicly to reporters. He said in Greensburg, which has suffered so much, the human spirit is intact.I am struck by the strength of the character of the people who live here in the Plains-people who refuse to be-who refuse to have their spirit affected by this storm; as a matter of fact, who are willing to do what it takes to rebuild in a better way.Local and state officials who traveled with the President echoed that sense of resolve. Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius said the town will be rebuilt, but acknowledged no one knows at this point just how much money will be needed.Earlier, the governor said while the federal government had met all her requests for help, she remains concerned about the foreign deployment of national guard units which typically are used to assist the states during natural disasters.National guard units and their heavy equipment are normally at the disposal of state governors for use in emergency situations, but many units are now deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.Some Democrats have complained that with another hurricane season coming soon, Americas emergency preparedness may be compromised.President Bush made no mention of the controversy during his visit, though other top administration officials have emphasized that disaster relief services will not be affected. Instead, he took on the role of consoler-in-chief, offering sympathy and moral support to a shattered town.My mission today, though, is to lift peoples spirits as best I possibly can and to hopefully touch somebodys soul by representing our country, and to let people know that while there was a dark day in the past, there are brighter days ahead.The President said that although many people were able to wait out the tornado in basements, too many others died and the nation mourns their passing.Vocabulary|单词注释Dictation Tips | 听力难点1. on end在此意为连续地，They talked for hours on endon end还可以表示“竖着”的意思Stand the table on end2. rip off俚语，在此意为撕掉、掀去。还有偷窃的意思I was ripped off.; 还表示欺骗，The false advertising campaign ripped off many consumers. 带rip的常用短语还有rip into. 意为攻击，猛烈批评。They ripped into her opponents political record.3. wait out延迟直至终止。wait out a war; waited out the miniskirt crazeTranslation | 全文翻译布什视察堪萨斯州中西部的龙卷风灾区星期三布什总统慰问了龙卷风的受害者，这次龙卷风是多年来袭击美国最厉害的一次美国之音记者保拉沃尔弗森在白宫为您报道布什在堪萨斯州的格林斯堡小镇视察了一天，在上周五的龙卷风中，有11人死亡，绝大多数的房屋和商店被毁布什总统首先乘坐直升机俯瞰被毁房屋和堆满乱石的街道，视察灾情。然后总统乘坐轿车视察该镇没有一个街区保持完整，只有面目全非的房屋和车辆，在这些房屋和车辆之间是些树枝和已经断折的树干。布什总统在一个以前销售农用拖拉机和其它重型设备的经销处结束这次短暂的视察。龙卷风掀掉屋顶，如今建筑物中满是破烂的金属块、水坑和木片。保留下来的设备部分都有不同程度的损坏一些倒在一边，大多数是被刮掉了漆。总统在和一些龙卷风中的幸存者私下谈话后，对记者公开发言。他说虽然格林斯堡遭受了如此重大的损失，但民众的精神没有受损。“居住在这平原上的人们的人性力量给我留下了深刻印象他们不愿意成为他们不愿意让这场龙卷风影响自己的精神。事实上，他们愿意竭尽所能以一种更好的方式来重建家园。”和总统一起视察的当地和州的官员们也以决心作为回应，堪萨斯州州长凯思琳塞贝利斯说该镇将会重建，不过她也承认，没有人知道大概需要多少钱。此前，该州长说虽然联邦政府满足了所有她需要帮助的要求，她还是担心国民警卫队在国外的部署，因为他们本来是特别用于协助政府抵御自然灾害的。国民警卫队和他们的重型装备通常由州政府控制并用于应付突发事件，但现在很多单位被部署于伊拉克和阿富汗。一些民主党人抱怨说，另一个飓风季节即将来临，美国的突发事件准备机制可能受到了损害。尽管其他高级行政官员强调灾难救援工作不会受影响，但布什总统在视察中并没有提及这一争论，而是担当起一个安慰者的角色，给一个毁损的城镇以情感和精神上的支持。“我今天的任务是尽我所能振奋人们的精神，并希望代表我们的国家触动一些人的灵魂。我希望公众能明白，尽管人们曾陷入黑暗的时刻，但光明的日子就在前方。”布什总统说尽管很多人能够躲在地下室里等到龙卷风结束，还是有很多其他人死亡，国家对他们的逝去深表哀悼。Exercises | 即听即练Fill in the blanks with the words you hear from the news:1. The tornado ripped off the roof, and today the building is filled with broken _, _, and _.2. Earlier, the governor said while the federal government had met all her requests for help, she remains concerned about the _ of national guard units which typically are used to _ during _.3. President Bush _ of the controversy during his visit, though other top _ have emphasized that disaster relief services will not be affected. Instead, he took on the role of consoler-in-chief, _ and moral support to a shattered town.News Link | 新闻链接美国飓风活跃 新奥尔良仍以撤离为主2020年遭到飓风卡特里娜重创的新奥尔良，目前仍在进行灾后重建。这个城市对下一个飓风的安全计划，可以归纳为两个字：撤离。美国陆军工程兵团已经花费至少十亿美元强化当初无力抵挡卡特里娜的堤防，但专家认为，要想保护大部分处于海平面以下的新奥尔良还需要投入数十亿美元经费。而路易斯安那州立大学飓风中心副主任范希尔登表示，如果类似卡特