美国有线新闻 CNN 回顾十年前重创美国的超强龙卷风

We start today with a celebration. In a central U.S. city of about 50,000 people, folks are going to work.

今天的节目首先来关注一场庆祝活动。在美国中部一座人口约5万的城市，人们将开始工作。

High school and college students recently graduated. A memorial run was held over the weekend.

高中生和大学生刚刚毕业。上周末举办了一场具有纪念意义的跑步活动。

That sounds like a slice of life in any American city but it's particularly meaningful here.

这听起来像是美国任何一座城市的生活片段，但在这里却特别有意义。

This is Joplin, Missouri, a community that has been rebuilt after being hit by the deadliest tornado¹ this century.

这里是密苏里州乔普林市，这个社区在遭受本世纪最致命的龙卷风后已经重建。

It struck 10 years ago on May 22nd.

那场龙卷风发生在10年前的5月22日。

Its wind speeds were greater than 200 miles per hour making it an EF-5 tornado, the strongest classification² on the Enhanced³ Fujita Scale.

其风速超过每小时200英里，这使它成为EF-5级龙卷风，是改良藤田级数中的最强级别。

In some places the twister was a mile wide. So big that one witness said it looked like a thunderstorm.

有些地方的龙卷风达到一英里宽。大到一名目击者说它看起来像一场雷雨。

Some people in Joplin might not have taken shelter immediately because false alarms had sounded over the years.

乔普林市可能有些居民没有及时避难，因为多年来响起的都是错误警报。

Many others didn't really have a safe place to go.

还有很多人没有安全的地方可去。

Affiliate⁴ WDRB reports that 82 percent of the homes in Joplin didn't have basements or storm shelters when the tornado struck

CNN附属机构WDRB报道称，龙卷风来袭时，乔普林市 82%的家庭没有地下室或庇护所，

and the bathrooms and closets people went to didn't provide enough protection.

人们躲避的浴室和壁橱没有提供足够的保护。

The tornado was on the ground for 22 miles.

龙卷风袭击面积达22英里。

It destroyed almost 30 percent of Joplin, 161 people were killed, more than 1,000 were injured,

这造成乔普林市近30%的土地被毁，161人遇难，超过1000人受伤，

7,500 homes and 500 businesses were either damaged or destroyed.

7500所房屋和500家企业遭到破坏或毁损。

With damage estimates⁵ exceeding⁶ $3 billion, this was the costliest⁷ tornado to hit the U.S. since record keeping began in 1950.

由于损失估计超过30亿美元，这是自1950年有记录以来致美国损失最严重的龙卷风。

1 tornado   

n.飓风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• A tornado whirled into the town last week.龙卷风上周袭击了这座城市。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

2 classification   

n.分类，分级；类别，级别

参考例句：

• These things belong in a different classification.这些东西属于不同的类别。
• This is a good system for classification.这是一个很好的分类法。

3 enhanced   

a.加强的

参考例句：

• Peak updraft strength is slightly enhanced with hodograph curvature. 山顶上升气流强度随速矢端迹曲率加大而稍有加强。
• The black wimple enhanced the whiteness of her skin. 黑色的包头巾使她的皮肤显得更加白皙。

4 affiliate   

vt.使隶(附)属于；n.附属机构，分公司

参考例句：

• Our New York company has an affiliate in Los Angeles.我们的纽约公司在洛杉矶有一个下属企业。
• What is the difference between affiliate and regular membership?固定会员和附属会员之间的区别是什么？

5 estimates   

估计

参考例句：

• Unofficial estimates put the figure at over two million. 非官方的估计数字为200万以上。
• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 exceeding   

adj. 超越的, 非常的 动词exceed的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• They fell a lack of warmth in his exceeding formal congratulatory speech. 他们感到他那过于刻板的祝词缺乏热情。
• The police stopped him for exceeding the speed limit. 因为超速行车，警察挡住了他。

7 costliest   

adj.昂贵的( costly的最高级 )；代价高的；引起困难的；造成损失的

参考例句：

• At 81 billion dollars, Katrina is the costliest natural disaster in American history. “卡特里娜”飓风造成了近810亿美圆的损失，是美国历史上最严重的自然灾难之一。 来自互联网
• Senator John Kerry has proposed a tax on the costliest health plans sold by insurance companies. 参议员约翰？克里(JohnKerry)已经提议对保险公司销售的高价值的保险计划征税。 来自互联网