2005年NPR美国国家公共电台九月-How the Dutch Mastered the North Sea?

When the floodwalls and levees gave way in New Orleans, the people of the Netherlands watched with special interest. 50% of the Netherlands lies below sea level, since medieval times, the Dutch have used dikes and levees to keep the country dry. Five decades ago, those dikes gave way in a storm, and the flooding killed nearly 2,000 people. After the catastrophe², the Dutch government built a system of dikes and sea walls designed not to fail. A.B. visited the see walls and she has this report.

In the southwestern Dutch province of Zeeland, the Rhine, the Meuse and the Schelde rivers meet the North Sea. It was here, in 1953, that the rising sea surged up the rivers, wiping out more than a hundred miles of dikes and submerging farmland/ and villages. 50 years later, three giant sea walls, known as Storm Surge Barriers, stretch along the coastline, protecting the fragile inlets and their dikes from the North Sea. While the mile and a half of barriers remains³ open in normal weather, during a storm surge their 63 hydraulic-powered sluice⁴ gates are lowered.

HY who works for the Dutch Ministry⁵ of Transport Public Works and Water Management is in charge of operating the 20-foot-high storm gates. "About 5 days before we know some storm is coming, 24 hours before storm surge is appear, we will be at this place with a lot people, and then we check our water levels, and predictions, etc. And then, one moment we have to decide whether we stay open or are we going to close?" Yarher says the decision to close is a difficult one and the gates have only been lowered 25 times since 1996.

A museum near the storm barriers recalls the 1953 disaster with a film and exhibits. The museum also celebrates the Dutch response to the disaster, known as the Delta⁶ Project, the 30-year, 3-billion-dollar plan built stronger and higher dikes and new sea walls to protect them. The Delta Plan seals off the country's coastline from North Sea surges and leaves only the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp to be left completely open.

In the nearby town of F Powder, 79-year-old retired⁷ farmer Fred Bouhah, lived through the floods of 1944 when the British bombed the dikes as well as the 1953 catastrophe. He says, seeing what's happening in New Orleans makes him thankful for the system of dikes and sea walls that protects the town today." Of course we really remembered just how we have here in 1953, the currents and the storm and New Orleans people are living too below sea level, I think they need/ the same system as well as we have here."

Dutch began claiming land from the sea as early as the 1500s by building clay dams or dikes between two higher points. When the tide went out, the dike¹ gates were closed and the water was not allowed back in again, enabling the land to dry. The names of Dutch's cities, such as Rotterdam and Amsterdam reflect the country's struggle with water. This school class was one of many visiting the Storm Surge Barrier. Teacher A D says the dikes are a point of pride in the country. "It's typically Dutch so it's a must-see in our country. And especially with the actual news from New Orleans of course, this is a hot item, of course."

Sea barrier operator Y says storm records dating back to 1130 helped them build dikes and sea walls to withstand the type of violent storm that would only occur once every 4000 years. But with climate change leading to rising sea levels, Y says they are no longer sure about their calculations. He illustrates⁸ the recent change in attitude by reading an inscription⁹ on a plaque¹⁰ dating from the inauguration¹¹ of the storm barrier in 1980.

"We control the tides, the moon, and the wind", it reads. "25 years ago, they thought they could control, and I think, nowadays, that's not true." Y says that scientists and engineers are struggling to take climate change into account. In the mean time, he says, the Netherlands will keep their dikes strong and continue to control every element they can, in the never-ending battle to hold back the sea.

From NPR News, I am A B .

1 dike   

n.堤，沟；v.开沟排水

参考例句：

• They dug a dike along walls of the school.他们沿校墙挖沟。
• Fortunately,the flood did not break the dike.还好，这场大水没有把堤坝冲坏。

2 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

3 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。

4 sluice   

n.水闸

参考例句：

• We opened the sluice and the water poured in.我们打开闸门，水就涌了进来。
• They regulate the flow of water by the sluice gate.他们用水闸门控制水的流量。

5 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。

6 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

7 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

8 illustrates   

给…加插图( illustrate的第三人称单数 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明

参考例句：

• This historical novel illustrates the breaking up of feudal society in microcosm. 这部历史小说是走向崩溃的封建社会的缩影。
• Alfred Adler, a famous doctor, had an experience which illustrates this. 阿尔弗莱德 - 阿德勒是一位著名的医生，他有过可以说明这点的经历。 来自中级百科部分

9 inscription   

n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文

参考例句：

• The inscription has worn away and can no longer be read.铭文已磨损，无法辨认了。
• He chiselled an inscription on the marble.他在大理石上刻碑文。

10 plaque   

n.饰板，匾，(医)血小板

参考例句：

• There is a commemorative plaque to the artist in the village hall.村公所里有一块纪念该艺术家的牌匾。
• Some Latin words were engraved on the plaque. 牌匾上刻着些拉丁文。

11 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。