【英语趣味课堂】飓风-Hurricane Andrew

 Todd: So, Alexandra you were talking about a hurricane. What hurricane were you talking about?

 

Alex: I was talking about Hurricane Andrew, and as I said before, it was a category 5 hurricane. I was not in the city when it came through, however I did come back about 24 hours later and the difference in the city was amazing. I was driving down in the morning and it was before sunrise. There was no lights south of maybe Brower county¹, which is the next county north of Miami. It was dark. Normally² when you travel on a highway, there's lights on either side. There's lights of the city,the buildings, the waterways. Everythings lit. It's very strange to drive down a city with the only lights being from your car and as I was getting closer to where I lived, there was no lights. You had to be careful. There were things in the street. We even had friends who kept driving past the street where they lived but didn't recognize it because everything had changed. There was, all the markers, the trees, buildings, had completely either been demolished³, or just weren't there anymore. So I had one friend pass his street 3 times before he realized it was his street, so yeah, a lot of destruction⁴, a lot of people were in shock.

 

学习内容：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

came through

 

I was not in the city when the hurricane came through.

 

In this example "came through" can be replaced with "passed through" or "passed from one side of the town to the other."  Notice the following:

 

She came through the office this morning on her way to a meeting.

I have never come through the city from this direction before.

recognize

 

Didn't recognize the street because everything had changed.

 

To 'recognize' a place or a person it is to identify it from memory or an image that you have seen. Notice the following:

 

Do you recognize where we are?

Wow!  You look great!  I didn't even recognize you with your new haircut.

marker

 

All the markers, the trees, buildings had been demolished.

 

An announcement or a sign is a 'marker' or an indicator⁵ of a place to go.  Notice the following:

 

There is a marker next to the building.

They put up markers to lead people to the new location.

realize

 

Before he realized it was his street.

 

To 'realize' something is to comprehend⁶ or recognize it.  Notice the following:

 

Do you realize what you are doing?

I didn't realize that I had gone the wrong way until I had driven for thirty minutes.

in shock

 

A lot of people were in shock.

 

If you are 'in shock' about something you are really surprised and sometimes unable to act because you are surprised.  You can be in shock over good or bad events.  Notice the following:

 

After the earthquake a lot of people were in shock from all the drama and destruction.  

She was in shock for a few days after she won the lottery⁷.

 

1 county   

n.县，郡

参考例句：

• When the good news reached there,the whole county rejoiced.喜讯传到那里时，全县的人都欢欣鼓舞起来。
• In that year county after county fell to the enemy.那一年一个又一个的县城沦入敌人手中。

2 normally   

adv.正常地，通常地

参考例句：

• I normally do all my shopping on Saturdays.我通常在星期六买东西。
• My pulse beats normally.我脉搏正常。

3 demolished   

v.摧毁( demolish的过去式和过去分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光

参考例句：

• The factory is due to be demolished next year. 这个工厂定于明年拆除。
• They have been fighting a rearguard action for two years to stop their house being demolished. 两年来，为了不让拆除他们的房子，他们一直在进行最后的努力。

4 destruction   

n.破坏，毁灭，消灭

参考例句：

• The enemy bombs caused widespread destruction.敌人的炸弹造成大面积的破坏。
• Overconfidence was his destruction.自负是他垮台的原因。

5 indicator   

n.指标；指示物，指示者；指示器

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• His left-hand indicator is flashing.他左手边的转向灯正在闪亮。

6 comprehend   

vt.了解，理解，领会

参考例句：

• I did not comprehend his meaning.我不理解他的意思。
• If you can use a word correctly and effectively,you comprehend it.你如果能正确和有效地使用一个字，你就了解它了。

7 lottery   

n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事

参考例句：

• He won no less than ￡5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。
• They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。