VOA常速英语2020--消失的住所

Pacifica is a small city just south of San Francisco, and it's known for its beautiful beaches, the open hills.But Pacifica has a problem related to sea level rise and bluff¹ erosion.Climate change will affect how fast sea level rises,and the stronger winter storms that are the major cause of erosion of the bluffs².That is the big problem.We've actually lost a couple of apartment buildings a few years ago and we have more under threat.I'm John Keener.I'm a former research biochemist and former council member and Mayor of Pacifica.This is the coastal³ trail over what once were houses and yards and so on.So, you can see the front door of the houses was almost even with the edge of the bluff now.This was my house, 556 Esplanade.There was a garage over here.There was also the most fabulous⁴ bathroom, with the bathtub right on the ocean.It was for me perfection.I loved living here.One day, I was just sitting in my living room which was on this side, and I went into my bedroom and part of the fence was missing.This whole part of the cliff had fallen down, but it was sand, so it just kind of went "wooosh".And then a few days later, the neighbor's hot tub fell in and then the city said, "You know, it looks like they're going to fall into the ocean,so we're going to demolish⁵ them."And the demolition⁶ guy got to my house and you could see the claw come out, reach for my house and before it even touched it...It just pulled off of its foundation, the house fell in like a Monopoly house.

帕西菲卡位于旧金山以南，是一个很小的城市，以美丽的海滩和开阔的山丘而闻名。但是帕西菲卡面临着海平面上升和断崖侵蚀的问题。气候变化会影响海平面上升的速度，更加猛烈的冬季风暴是造成断崖侵蚀的主要原因。这是个大问题。实际上，在几年前，我们已经失去了几栋公寓楼，现在还有更多的住房正在面临威胁。我是约翰·基纳，我以前是研究生物化学家，前帕西菲卡委员会议员和帕西菲卡市长。这是一条沿海小道，这里曾经有很多房屋和庭院。你可以看到，房子的前门现在几乎与悬崖的边缘齐平。这曾经是我的房子，滨海路556号。这里之前是车库。还有最棒的浴室，浴缸就正对大海。这是我心中完美的房子。我很喜欢住在这里。有一天，我正坐在靠这边的客厅里，当我走进卧室时，我发现有一部分房子的围栏不见了。整个悬崖都塌下去了，就只剩下沙子，就好像是一瞬间倒塌了。几天后，邻居的热水浴缸掉下去了，然后市政说，“看样子所有的房子都会掉进海里，所以我们要拆除这些房子。”之后，拆迁队就来了我家，你可以看到挖土机的爪子慢慢伸向我的房子，在机械爪碰到我房子之前……房子就支撑不住了，然后掉到了悬崖下面，感觉就像大富翁里的房子一样。

The coasts are just in trouble, big, big trouble.El Nino storms are speeding up erosion along Californias coast.Families urged to get out before their homes go over the edge.These apartment buildings are teetering on the verge⁷ of disaster.The apartment cliff dwellers⁸ of Pacifica changed status this morning, from residents to refugees.Well, I thought we would have to move sooner or later.It just happened sooner. Tonight, El Ninos fury ripping apart this chunk⁹ of the California coastline.Look at the edge. The pavement just crumbled¹⁰ away.Another 20 feet used to go out there, all of it falling over the edge over just the last two weeks.Right down there,there's only about 30 feet of bluff left,before these apartments become like those apartments down there.And so, that's why they're doing all this construction down on the beach is an attempt to reinforce the bluff and to stop the erosion.In the long run, it won't work.

沿海地区遭遇了大麻烦，很大的麻烦。厄尔尼诺风暴加速了加利福尼亚海岸的侵蚀。居民要求在断崖侵蚀逼近前紧急撤离房屋。这些公寓楼在灾难的边缘摇摇欲坠。帕西菲卡的悬崖公寓居民今早改变了身份，从居民变成了难民。我想我们迟早都得搬家。只是搬得更早罢了。今晚，厄尔尼诺风暴愤怒地撕碎了加利福尼亚州的海岸线。看看这片悬崖，上面的人行道刚刚坍塌了。20英尺范围在两周内全部跌落悬崖。看看这里，离悬崖只有大约30英尺的距离了，再侵蚀下去，这些房子也会像之前坍塌的那些一样。所以，他们在海滩上建设的这些工程，是为了尝试巩固崖体，抵御侵蚀。但长期看来，不会有效。

Yeah, good to see you, Charles.How are you?Good. How are you?Good. Quite a mess out here. Yeah.I know Charles from, he was one of the contractors¹¹ that helped us write the sea level part of our local coastal plan.We were sort of, I think, lulled¹² into a false sense of security in locations like this.We thought they were safe.When this building was built,the projection¹³ was that it would be safe for 75 years at least without a seawall.That was in 1972.Seawall was built about 40 years earlier than expected.So, the long-term solution is to pull back gracefully¹⁴.The idea of managed retreat, you know, it gets simplified down to this,"Oh, the state is telling people they have to move out of their homes tomorrow."No. Managed retreat is about anticipating what's going to be happening over decades, you know, decades of time.Do you want to deal with this on an emergency basis, which is the way we've dealt with it so far and it's the most expensive possible way to deal with it?Or, do you want to plan for it a little bit and find a cheaper way to deal with it?

很高兴见到你，查尔斯。你好吗？还不错，你呢？挺好的。这边很乱啊。是啊。在查尔斯还是承包商的时候，我就认识他了，他帮助我们把海平面问题写进了当地的海岸计划。我想，我们被这里的一种虚假的安全感误导了。我们以为这些地方很安全。建这些房子的时候，当时预计，就算没有海堤，也可以保证75年的安全。当时是在1972年。海堤的建造比预期的要早了大约40年。所以，长远的解决办法是逐渐后移。目前，我们提出了有序撤离的想法，但被简化成了这样：“哦，政府正在告诉人们，明天必须搬走。”并不是这样的，有序撤离是去预测未来几十年会发生的事情。你想依然在紧急情况下处理麻烦吗？这就是我们目前解决麻烦的方式，这是最昂贵的处理方式。或者，还是想计划一下，然后寻求一种更便宜的方式来处理麻烦呢？

1 bluff   

v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗

参考例句：

• His threats are merely bluff.他的威胁仅仅是虚张声势。
• John is a deep card.No one can bluff him easily.约翰是个机灵鬼。谁也不容易欺骗他。

2 bluffs   

恐吓( bluff的名词复数 )； 悬崖； 峭壁

参考例句：

• Two steep limestone bluffs rise up each side of the narrow inlet. 两座陡峭的石灰石断崖耸立在狭窄的入口两侧。
• He bluffs his way in, pretending initially to be a dishwasher and then later a chef. 他虚张声势的方式，假装最初是一个洗碗机，然后厨师。

3 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

4 fabulous   

adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的

参考例句：

• We had a fabulous time at the party.我们在晚会上玩得很痛快。
• This is a fabulous sum of money.这是一笔巨款。

5 demolish   

v.拆毁(建筑物等)，推翻(计划、制度等)

参考例句：

• They're going to demolish that old building.他们将拆毁那座旧建筑物。
• He was helping to demolish an underground garage when part of the roof collapsed.他当时正在帮忙拆除一个地下汽车库，屋顶的一部份突然倒塌。

6 demolition   

n.破坏,毁坏,毁坏之遗迹

参考例句：

• The church has been threatened with demolition for years. 这座教堂多年来一直面临拆毀的威胁。
• The project required the total demolition of the old bridge. 该项目要求将老桥完全拆毁。

7 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

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。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

8 dwellers   

n.居民，居住者( dweller的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes. 城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They have transformed themselves into permanent city dwellers. 他们已成为永久的城市居民。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 chunk   

n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量）

参考例句：

• They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
• The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。

10 crumbled   

（把…）弄碎， （使）碎成细屑( crumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 衰落； 坍塌； 损坏

参考例句：

• He crumbled the bread in his fingers. 他用手指把面包捻碎。
• Our hopes crumbled when the business went bankrupt. 商行破产了，我们的希望也破灭了。

11 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 lulled   

vt.使镇静，使安静（lull的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• They lulled her into a false sense of security. 他们哄骗她，使她产生一种虚假的安全感。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The movement of the train lulled me to sleep. 火车轻微的震动催我进入梦乡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 projection   

n.发射，计划，突出部分

参考例句：

• Projection takes place with a minimum of awareness or conscious control.投射在最少的知觉或意识控制下发生。
• The projection of increases in number of house-holds is correct.对户数增加的推算是正确的。

14 gracefully   

ad.大大方方地；优美地

参考例句：

• She sank gracefully down onto a cushion at his feet. 她优雅地坐到他脚旁的垫子上。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line. 新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。