VOA标准英语2013--Floods Challenge Midwest Farmers

 

Floods Challenge Midwest Farmers

On his land outside Peoria, Darrel Kammeyer is keeping one eye on the rising Illinois River and another on the only thing standing¹ between it and his farmland, a seven-meter-tall levee.

“It was constructed to hold back the Illinois River so that this ground would not become a flood plain,” he said.

Planting concerns

As the water level rises, Kammeyer patrols the levee in an all-terrain vehicle. With the river now just half a meter below the top of the levee, Kammeyer said his biggest concern is not what could spill over, but what could slip underneath².  

“Right now we have to watch about the levee getting saturated³ and water trying to seep⁴ underneath of it. So we watch for spots that might be a potential problem,” he said.

Kammeyer knows that if a significant amount of water breaches⁵ the levee, that would prevent him from planting his fields.

Kammeyer has so far been able to avoid the Illinois River's wrath⁶. Peoria, however, was not as fortunate.  

Peoria gets flooded

Parts of the downtown area were under several meters of water, and that also played out in other towns along the river as the floodwaters slowly made their way downstream.

“The last record was 1943 and it broke all of those,” said Mike Zerbonia, operations manager for the Army Corps⁷ of Engineers on the Illinois River. His office was a casualty of the high waters. He said one immediate⁸ impact of the flooding is the interruption of shipping⁹.

“Scrap steel, grain, coal, concrete, and we can’t move any of it now. Because of the high water, the river is shut down,” said Zerbonia.

“If we have trouble moving grains down the river, if that slows down, it affects prices that we can get, mostly because the price of transportation gets higher because they can’t haul as much,” said Kammeyer.

Upside to rain

But there is a silver lining¹⁰ to the storm clouds that caused the flooding, said grains analyst¹¹ Ken¹² Smithmier.

“I think the market sentiment is more of a ‘well, we need the rain.’ It’s been fantastic, we’ve improved drought conditions. But we need to get planters rolling in the field. We’re well behind the average place of planting at this point in the crop year," said Smithmier.

“Right now we’re going to be two to three weeks behind,” said Kammeyer. He is looking ahead, to when his fields are dry enough that he can start planting. He hopes this season brings greater crop yields… fueled by just the right amount of rain. 

1 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

2 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

3 saturated   

a.饱和的，充满的

参考例句：

• The continuous rain had saturated the soil. 连绵不断的雨把土地淋了个透。
• a saturated solution of sodium chloride 氯化钠饱和溶液

4 seep   

v.渗出，渗漏；n.渗漏，小泉，水（油）坑

参考例句：

• My anger began to seep away.我的怒火开始消下去了。
• If meteoric water does not evaporate or run overland,it may seep directly into the ground.如果雨水不从陆地蒸发和流走的话，就可能直接渗入地下。

5 breaches   

破坏( breach的名词复数 )； 破裂； 缺口； 违背

参考例句：

• He imposed heavy penalties for breaches of oath or pledges. 他对违反誓言和保证的行为给予严厉的惩罚。
• This renders all breaches of morality before marriage very uncommon. 这样一来，婚前败坏道德的事就少见了。

6 wrath   

n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒

参考例句：

• His silence marked his wrath. 他的沉默表明了他的愤怒。
• The wrath of the people is now aroused. 人们被激怒了。

7 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

8 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

9 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

10 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

11 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

12 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.