美国有线新闻 CNN 2014-05-06

 75 million people, that's how many in the eastern U.S. has some risk of severe weather yesterday. That's what's first up this Wednesday on CNN Student News. 

 

Parts of Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee were raked by suspected tornadoes¹. The storms killed at least 17 people in those 3 states. In addition to those who died in the Central U.S. earlier this week, in Louisville, a logging town in east Mississippi the damage from twisters was severe. Same thing in Tupelo, in the northeastern part of the state. A newspaper reporter there said some buildings were just wiped away. A woman whose home was destroyed said that it hurts to look and not be able to come home, but she was grateful that her dog survived and wasn't hurt.

 

Forecasters are getting better at predicting these storms, sometimes as much as a day in advance. Communications are also improving, radio warnings, newscasts, social media posts are all helping² save lives. But not everyone has a safe place to go to, like an underground basement or a hardened safe room. So challenges remain.

 

From my experiences, it's the worst that I've experienced, but again, we just have to make it happen, and that's the IOC's approach.

 

We haven³'t had to, as an IOC, send people in like this before, we've been struggling to get them to understand the problem. Test events are starting this year, and yet in the test event department, these two people working.

 

Ok, that was the vice⁴ president of the International Olympic Committee, the IOC. He is saying that Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is way behind in preparing for the 2016 Olympic Games. Any city planning to host the Olympics is subject to scrutiny⁵. Will construction be done on time, will the area be safe? We heard concerns about Sochi, London, Beijing and now Rio. But the IOC says it's having to take a more hands-on approach this time around. There have been delays, communications problems, skyrocketing costs, and Rio is hosting the World Cup Soccer Tournament this summer, that it's been preparing for that too. The city's mayor there's no reason for concern about the Olympics. And Rio organizers say Brazil is spending almost 11 billion dollars to make sure everything comes together. This will be the first Olympics ever held in South America. 

 

As Rio scrambles⁶ to prepare and reassure⁷ future tourists that it's worth the trip, a Mexican city is working to lure⁸ tourists back. We are taking you to Puerto Vallarta, a resort in Mexico's Pacific coast, a haven for fishing, golf and sunbathing⁹. It's been hit by recession, sickness and concerns about the Mexican drug war, but it says that violence is hundreds of miles away. 

 

Where they are parasailing over the Pacific Ocean, or taking a tour on a historic ship on a beautiful afternoon, or dancing through the night at a trendy dance club. Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, seems to always be in a party mood.

 

And we are not just a another beach town.

 

Carlos Gerard-Guzman is a tourism director in Puerto Vallarta, a beach resort on the Mexican Pacific coast. His job is to revitalize an industry that was old but dead. Five years ago, drug violence throughout Mexico has driven away many tourists and then in 2009 an influenza¹⁰ scare made a bad situation even worse. 

 

We were basically paralyzed like almost three months with no guests, no cruise ships in three month. And then the &* no flights, peopele were afraid to fly. 

 

Many hotels laid off employees and kept the skeleton staff, some businesses closed down, and many wondered whether tourists would ever come back. Recovery has been slow but promising¹¹ thanks to significant investments in promotion¹² in Mexico and abroad. New or renovated¹³ infrastructure¹⁴ like this 2.4 million-dollar pier¹⁵ is also part of the plan.

1 tornadoes   

n.龙卷风，旋风( tornado的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Tornadoes, severe earthquakes, and plagues create wide spread havoc. 龙卷风、大地震和瘟疫成普遍的毁坏。 来自互联网
• Meteorologists are at odds over the working of tornadoes. 气象学者对龙卷风的运动方式看法不一。 来自互联网

2 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

3 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

4 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

5 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

6 scrambles   

n.抢夺( scramble的名词复数 )v.快速爬行( scramble的第三人称单数 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• The breaking of symmetry scrambles the underlying order of nature. 对称性的破坏会打乱自然界的根本秩序。 来自互联网
• The move comes as Japan scrambles for ways to persuade women to have more babies. 这一行动的出现正值日本政府想尽各种办法鼓励妇女多生育孩子。 来自互联网

7 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

8 lure   

n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引

参考例句：

• Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。
• He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。

9 sunbathing   

n.日光浴

参考例句：

• tourists sunbathing on the beach 在海滩上沐浴着阳光的游客
• We've been sunbathing on the beach. 我们一直在海滩上晒日光浴。

10 influenza   

n.流行性感冒，流感

参考例句：

• They took steps to prevent the spread of influenza.他们采取措施
• Influenza is an infectious disease.流感是一种传染病。

11 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

12 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

13 renovated   

翻新，修复，整修( renovate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He renovated his house. 他翻修了房子。
• The house has been renovated three years earlier. 这所房子三年前就已翻新。

14 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

15 pier   

n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱

参考例句：

• The pier of the bridge has been so badly damaged that experts worry it is unable to bear weight.这座桥的桥桩破损厉害，专家担心它已不能负重。
• The ship was making towards the pier.船正驶向码头。