VOA标准英语2013--Washington Week: Focus on Scandals and Tragedies

Washington Week: Focus on Scandals and Tragedies

President Obama traveled Sunday to Moore, Oklahoma to meet with and console residents of the midwestern town devastated¹ by a tornado² that killed 24 people and injured more than 200 others.  The president has pledged $3.4 million in federal aid to help the town rebuild.

“This is a strong community, with strong character.  There is no doubt they are going to bounce back, but they need help. Just like any of us would need help if we saw the kind of devastation³ that we are seeing here," he said.

Investigators⁴ are looking into the cause of two major transportation accidents in the United States - the collapse⁵ of a major road bridge in Washington state and a freight train collision in rural Missouri that caused the collapse of a highway overpass⁶.  Robert Sumwalt is a member of the National Transportation Safety Board.

“Anytime we have something like that, we are very concerned about it.  That is why we are here.  We are here to find out what happened so we can learn from it and keep it from happening again," he said.

The Federal Highway Administration says about a quarter of the country’s 607,000 bridges are structurally⁷ deficient⁸.

Secretary of State John Kerry travels from Ethiopia to Jordan for a World Economic Forum⁹ that is expected to include talks on Syria.

Speaking Saturday to cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Defense¹⁰ Secretary Chuck Hagel said he will work to change the military culture in light of a new Pentagon report showing that as many as 26,000 military service members may have been sexually assaulted last year.

"Sexual harassment¹¹ and sexual assault in the military are a profound betrayal - a profound betrayal - of sacred oaths and sacred trust.  This scourge¹² must be stamped out.  We are all accountable in ensuring this happens," he said.

And while Congress is not in session this week, calls for investigations¹³ into the Internal Revenue Service after learning it targeted conservative groups for special scrutiny¹⁴, and into the Justice Department’s decision to search the emails of journalists working on stories about national security, continue to dominate the news in Washington. 

1 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

2 tornado   

n.飓风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• A tornado whirled into the town last week.龙卷风上周袭击了这座城市。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

3 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 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。

6 overpass   

n.天桥，立交桥

参考例句：

• I walked through an overpass over the road.我步行穿过那条公路上面的立交桥。
• We should take the overpass when crossing the road.我们过马路应走天桥。

7 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。

8 deficient   

adj.不足的，不充份的，有缺陷的

参考例句：

• The crops are suffering from deficient rain.庄稼因雨量不足而遭受损害。
• I always have been deficient in selfconfidence and decision.我向来缺乏自信和果断。

9 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

10 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

11 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

12 scourge   

n.灾难，祸害；v.蹂躏

参考例句：

• Smallpox was once the scourge of the world.天花曾是世界的大患。
• The new boss was the scourge of the inefficient.新老板来了以后，不称职的人就遭殃了。

13 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

14 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。