2007年VOA标准英语-Bush: Congress Must Update US Foreign Surveilla

By Greg Flakus
Houston
03 August 2007

In Minneapolis, recovery work continues in the rubble¹ of the 35 West bridge, which collapsed³ during the afternoon rush hour Wednesday. Officials have now confirmed five deaths from the disaster, with eight people still listed as missing. Among visitors to the site Friday was First Lady Laura Bush. We learn more in this report by VOA's Greg Flakus in Houston.

collapse2 over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, 3 Aug. 2007" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070810/1026500.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

First Lady Laura Bush talks to first responders as she visits the site of the I-35W bridge collapse over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, 3 Aug. 2007

The First Lady came to the site on the banks of the Mississippi River to see the destruction with her own eyes and to offer whatever comfort and support she could to rescue workers who went into the turbulent waters over and over again looking for survivors⁴. Speaking later, Mrs. Bush said she was impressed by the spirit of the people in the so-called Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

"Over the last 43 hours, the whole country has seen the strength of the Minneapolis-St. Paul community, and because we have seen that strength, we all are confident that the bridge will be rebuilt and that your city will heal," she said.

President Bush is to visit the disaster site on Saturday.

The 160-meter-long bridge was located near the University of Minnesota campus and rose 20 meters over the Mississippi River. As many as 200,000 people crossed the bridge each day, traveling between the two cities. That traffic has now been routed around the disaster site.

Authorities have lowered the water level at the site by using dams and dikes installed higher up on the river, but recovery workers still face a daunting⁵ task. The broken concrete slabs⁶ and metal support beams that lie twisted and scattered⁷ under the water's surface present hazards for divers⁸ trying to locate bodies underwater. In addition, there are currents, which are actually swifter and more treacherous⁹ as a result of the water level having been lowered.

The collapse of the bridge has also wakened officials all over the country to the threat posed by bridges and other vital infrastructure¹⁰ that might be cracked or showing signs of fatigue¹¹ as well as to the need for new inspections¹³. Experts say there are nearly 600,000 bridges in the United States, and they have an average age of 42 years. More than 75,000 of them have ratings of "structurally¹⁴ deficient," as did the bridge in Minneapolis.

Authorities say that rating does not mean the bridges are in danger of imminent¹⁵ collapse, but that measures should be taken to either address the problems or replace them.

People in Minnesota are now asking why more was not done to repair the Minneapolis bridge, which was revealed to have problems in a 2005 inspection¹² and yet was not listed as needing to be replaced until 2020.

The effort to determine what exactly caused the collapse is expected to take many weeks. Federal and state engineers are working together to recover material from the bridge and to study videotapes from nearby security cameras that may provide clues as to what went wrong. 

1 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

2 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

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 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

5 daunting   

adj.使人畏缩的

参考例句：

• They were faced with the daunting task of restoring the house.他们面临着修复房子的艰巨任务。
• Starting a new job can be a daunting prospect.开始一项新工作有时会让人望而却步。

6 slabs   

n.厚板，平板，厚片( slab的名词复数 )；厚胶片

参考例句：

• The patio was made of stone slabs. 这天井是用石板铺砌而成的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The slabs of standing stone point roughly toward the invisible notch. 这些矗立的石块，大致指向那个看不见的缺口。 来自辞典例句

7 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

8 divers   

adj.不同的；种种的

参考例句：

• He chose divers of them,who were asked to accompany him.他选择他们当中的几个人，要他们和他作伴。
• Two divers work together while a standby diver remains on the surface.两名潜水员协同工作，同时有一名候补潜水员留在水面上。

9 treacherous   

adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的

参考例句：

• The surface water made the road treacherous for drivers.路面的积水对驾车者构成危险。
• The frozen snow was treacherous to walk on.在冻雪上行走有潜在危险。

10 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。

11 fatigue   

n.疲劳，劳累

参考例句：

• The old lady can't bear the fatigue of a long journey.这位老妇人不能忍受长途旅行的疲劳。
• I have got over my weakness and fatigue.我已从虚弱和疲劳中恢复过来了。

12 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

13 inspections   

n.检查( inspection的名词复数 )；检验；视察；检阅

参考例句：

• Regular inspections are carried out at the prison. 经常有人来视察这座监狱。
• Government inspections ensure a high degree of uniformity in the standard of service. 政府检查确保了在服务标准方面的高度一致。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 structurally   

在结构上

参考例句：

• The house roof was (structurally) unsound. 这屋顶（结构）不牢固。
• Pinhole on shot-hole damage is never structurally significant. 针孔和蛀洞所造成的危害对结构的影响不大。

15 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。