VOA常速英语2021--日本千叶县发生6.1级地震

A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.1 on the Richter scale jolted¹ Tokyo and surrounding areas late Thursday, stopping train lines and causing sporadic² power cuts, but there were no reports of major damage.

周四晚间，东京及周边地区发生初步震级为里氏6.1级的强烈地震，导致铁路停运，并造成零星的停电现象，但目前尚无重大损失报告。

The quake had an epicenter in Chiba prefecture to the east of the capital city Tokyo.

这次地震的震中位于首都东京以东的千叶县。

Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world's most seismically³ active areas.

日本是世界上地震最活跃的地区之一，地震在日本很常见。

The country accounts for about 20 percent of the world's temblors of magnitude 6 or greater.

世界上大约20%的6级或以上强度地震发生在日本。

Former President Donald Trump⁴ plans to invoke⁵ executive privilege in the House investigation⁶ of the January 6th Capitol riot.

前总统唐纳德·特朗普计划在众议院对1月6日国会骚乱的调查中调用行政特权。

AP's Ed Donahue reports.

美联社埃德·多纳休带来报道。

A person who has seen it tells the AP a letter sent by lawyers for the former president says he plans to invoke privileges meant to protect presidential communications from being shared with Congress.

一位看过这封信的人告诉美联社，前总统的律师寄来一封信，信中说，他计划动用特权来保护总统的通讯信息不被国会公开。

It could prevent testimony⁷ from onetime aides.

这可能会阻止曾经的助手作证。

House Democrats⁸ are looking into the roles of Donald Trump and his allies leading up to the riot.

众议院民主党人正在调查唐纳德·特朗普及其盟友在骚乱中扮演的角色。

Because Trump no longer is in office, he cannot directly assert privilege to keep witnesses quiet or documents out of the hands of Congress.

因为特朗普已不再执政，他不能直接动用特权让证人保持沉默或者不让国会取得文件。

Ali Alexander and Nathan Martin have been subpoenaed⁹.

阿里·亚历山大和内森·马丁已被传唤。

Alexander claims lawmakers helped him plan the rally held before the riot.

亚历山大声称，议员帮助他策划了暴乱前举行的集会。

Ed Donahue, Washington.

埃德·多纳休，于华盛顿。

British-based Tanzanian writer Abdul Razak Gruna, whose experience of crossing continents and cultures has fed his novels about the impact of migration¹⁰ on individuals and societies, won the Nobel Prize for Literature on Thursday.

周四，居住在英国的坦桑尼亚作家阿卜杜勒·拉扎克·格鲁纳获得了诺贝尔文学奖。他跨越洲际与文化的经历为他关于移民对个人和社会的影响的小说提供了素材。

The Swedish Academy said the award was in recognition of Gruna's uncompromising and compassionate¹¹ penetration¹² of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee.

瑞典学院表示，该奖项是对格鲁纳对殖民主义影响和难民命运的毫不妥协且富有同情心的洞察力的认可。

Gruna, who recently retired¹³ as a professor of postcolonial literatures at the University of Kent, got the call from the Swedish Academy in the kitchen of his home in southeast England and initially¹⁴ thought it was a prank¹⁵.

格鲁纳是肯特大学后殖民文学教授，最近刚退休。他在英格兰东南部家中的厨房里接到瑞典学院的电话，起初他以为这是一个恶作剧。

1 jolted   

（使）摇动， （使）震惊( jolt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
• She was jolted out of her reverie as the door opened. 门一开就把她从幻想中惊醒。

2 sporadic   

adj.偶尔发生的 [反]regular；分散的

参考例句：

• The sound of sporadic shooting could still be heard.仍能听见零星的枪声。
• You know this better than I.I received only sporadic news about it.你们比我更清楚，而我听到的只是零星消息。

3 seismically   

地震

参考例句：

• The crust and mantle are separated by a seismically determined boundary known as the Moho-discontinuity. 改译为：地壳与地幔的交接处系根据地波走失而确定的一个界面，通称为莫霍界面。 来自互联网
• China's code is now on par with similar codes in seismically active areas of the world. 中国现在施行的标准与世界其他地震活跃地区施行的标准基本一致。 来自互联网

4 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

5 invoke   

v.求助于(神、法律)；恳求，乞求

参考例句：

• Let us invoke the blessings of peace.让我们祈求和平之福。
• I hope I'll never have to invoke this clause and lodge a claim with you.我希望我永远不会使用这个条款向你们索赔。

6 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。

7 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

8 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 subpoenaed   

v.（用传票）传唤（某人）( subpoena的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The court subpoenaed her to appear as a witness. 法庭传唤她出庭作证。
• The finance director is subpoenaed by prosecution. 财务经理被检查机关传讯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

11 compassionate   

adj.有同情心的，表示同情的

参考例句：

• She is a compassionate person.她是一个有同情心的人。
• The compassionate judge gave the young offender a light sentence.慈悲的法官从轻判处了那个年轻罪犯。

12 penetration   

n.穿透，穿人，渗透

参考例句：

• He is a man of penetration.他是一个富有洞察力的人。
• Our aim is to achieve greater market penetration.我们的目标是进一步打入市场。

13 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

14 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

15 prank   

n.开玩笑，恶作剧；v.装饰；打扮；炫耀自己

参考例句：

• It was thought that the fire alarm had been set off as a prank.人们认为火警报警器响是个恶作剧。
• The dean was ranking the boys for pulling the prank.系主任正在惩罚那些恶作剧的男学生。