马尼拉发生火灾至少75人丧生

 

Manila Fire Kills at Least 75

Kristina Luz

Manila

18 Aug 2001 05:09 UTC

 

A six-story hotel, which is located in a busy northern district of Manila, went up in 1)flames at dawn Saturday. The 2)death toll¹ is rising, and firefighters are still combing the 3)rubble for bodies.

The hotel was packed with 4)missionaries including groups from the United States - attending a religious conference in Manila. The fire department has yet to release the names of those found dead, but as of early Saturday, no foreigners were reported to have died. Many of the dead were found packed in their bathrooms after apparently² trying to escape from the 5)blaze that 6)engulfed the hotel.

Huge traffic 7)jams caused by heavy rains made it almost impossible for firefighters to reach the scene immediately. Guests at the hotel said they began to pull out air-conditioners from the walls in their rooms in order to escape. They said the streets were filled with people and buses, creating a traffic jam and preventing fire trucks from reaching the hotel. It took firefighters three and half hours to put out the fire.

The hotel's manager told VOA the fire may have been caused by an 8)explosion in the hotel's power generation system. Heavy monsoon³ rains disrupted power supply to the hotel on Friday and the generator⁴ was used to restore power supply. The fire department has launched an investigation⁵ into the causes of the fire.

 

(1)      flame[fleIm]n.火焰, 光辉, 光芒, 热情, 激情

(2)      death toll n.死亡人数

(3)      rubble[5rQb(E)l]n.碎石

(4)      missionary[5mIFEnErI; (?@) 5mIFEnerI]adj.传教的, 传教士的n.传教士

(5)      blaze[bleIz]n.火焰, 光辉vi.燃烧, 照耀, 激发

(6)      engulf[In5^Qlf]vt.卷入, 吞没, 狼吞虎咽

(7)      jam[dVAm]n.果酱, 拥挤, 堵塞vt.挤进,混杂,使堵塞vi.堵塞, 轧住, 拥挤

(8)      explosion[Ik5splEJV(E)n]n.爆发, 发出, 爆炸

 

 

1 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

2 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

3 monsoon   

n.季雨，季风，大雨

参考例句：

• The monsoon rains started early this year.今年季雨降雨开始得早。
• The main climate type in that region is monsoon.那个地区主要以季风气候为主要气候类型。

4 generator   

n.发电机，发生器

参考例句：

• All the while the giant generator poured out its power.巨大的发电机一刻不停地发出电力。
• This is an alternating current generator.这是一台交流发电机。

5 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。