万花筒 2008-09-23&09-24 芝加哥唐人街博物馆起火

One afternoon, the Friday afternoon fire that raced through a building in Chinatown, housing the Chinese-American Museum of Chicago. WGN's Tom Louis has the latest.

 

The Fire Department got a 911 call around two this afternoon, heavy smoke and flames pouring out of the Chinese-American Museum of Chicago in Chinatown.

 

It was in this structure where exactly catching¹ the fire, but burned in the walls and floors, and under heavy smoke conditions, the find is not easy.

 

The Department sent extra personnel. Ladder trucks doused² the four-storey building. The third floor collapsed³ entirely⁴. And once the fire was out, the worst fears were realized.

 

We start from scratch, and a lot of us are volunteers, and so we put in a lot of time in here.

 

Barely four years old, the museum is chronicle— the history of Chinese-Americans who settled in Chicago. The rich legacy⁵ and source of pride now covered in soot⁶ and in ash.

 

This is a huge step backwards⁷. The museum has been gathering⁸ money, and has been fortune enough to open two exhibits.

 

The exhibits were currently on display on the first two levels. These include historical papers, pictures and artifacts, many unknown from private donors⁹.

 

This is from people all over the world, actually. And it is going to be very difficult to tell the owner of the objects that were burned down, you know.

 

I am WGN's Tom Louis is reporting from CLTV News.

 

1 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

2 doused   

v.浇水在…上( douse的过去式和过去分词 )；熄灯[火]

参考例句：

• The car was doused in petrol and set alight. 这辆汽车被浇上汽油点燃了。
• He doused the lamp,and we made our way back to the house. 他把灯熄掉，我们就回到屋子里去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

4 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

5 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

6 soot   

n.煤烟，烟尘；vt.熏以煤烟

参考例句：

• Soot is the product of the imperfect combustion of fuel.煤烟是燃料不完全燃烧的产物。
• The chimney was choked with soot.烟囱被煤灰堵塞了。

7 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

8 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

9 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》