美国国家公共电台 NPR 德国遭遇严重洪灾 多地通讯中断

At least 117 people have died after severe floods devastated¹ parts of western Germany and Belgium.

德国西部和比利时部分地区遭受严重洪灾，造成至少117人死亡。

Authorities have not been able to get in touch with hundreds more because mobile phone networks have collapsed² in flooded areas of Germany.

由于德国洪灾地区的移动电话网络已经瘫痪，有关部门无法联系到的人多达数百人。

That also means families can't track their loved ones.

这也意味着家庭无法了解亲人的情况。

The rising death toll³ marks Germany's largest mass loss of life in years. Esme Nicholson reports from Berlin.

不断上升的死亡人数标志着德国正在经历数年来规模最大的生命损失。埃斯梅·尼科尔森将从柏林带来报道。

Climate change has arrived in Germany.

气候变化已经抵达德国。

These are the words of Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze sent in a tweet in response to news footage showing destruction and desperate families perching on rooftops.

这是德国联邦环境部长斯文娅·舒尔策在推特上回应新闻报道时所说，报道中可以看到洪水造成的破坏，绝望的家庭躲到了屋顶上。

Firefighters in the states of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia say the situation remains⁴ chaotic⁵

莱茵兰-帕拉蒂纳州和北莱茵-威斯特伐利亚州的消防队员表示，目前情况仍然很混乱，

and that electricity and cell phone networks are down.

电力和手机网络已经瘫痪。

South of Cologne, Police Officer Patrick Reichelt told public broadcaster ARD that the rescue services are struggling to keep up.

在科隆南部，警官帕特里克·雷切尔特对德国电视一台表示，救援服务正在努力应对。

The current of the water running past the elementary school is too strong for our motorboats.

对我们的摩托艇来说，流过小学的水流过大。

We just managed to get the kids out, but that was the last trip we'll be making over that way today.

我们刚设法将孩子们救出来，但那是我们今天最后一次以这种方式进行救援。

An entire district of the ancient city of Trier was evacuated⁶ on Thursday, including a hospital and its patients, some of whom were just out of surgery.

特里尔古城所有地区的居民都于周四撤离，这包括一家医院及患者，其中一些病人刚刚手术结束。

And some of the worst damage has occurred in the wine region of Ahrweiler, where entire villages have been cut off by torrents⁷ of floodwater.

一些最严重的破坏发生在阿赫韦勒的葡萄酒区，整座村庄被汹涌的洪水围困。

In the town of Schuld, houses collapsed, and dozens of people are unaccounted for.

在舒尔德镇，房屋倒塌，数十人下落不明。

Expressing distress⁸ at the news, Chancellor⁹ Angela Merkel said,

德国总理安格拉·默克尔对这一消息表示悲痛，她表示，

quote, "Heavy rain and flooding doesn't quite capture what has happened," referring to it instead as a catastrophe¹⁰.

“大雨和洪灾并不能完全说明现在的情况”，应该称这是一场灾难。

I'm grieving for those who've lost their lives in this disaster. We don't know the death toll yet, but it's going to be high.

我为在这场灾难中丧生的人感到悲痛。我们尚不清楚具体的死亡人数，但可以肯定会很高。

Some died in their basements, some as firefighters trying to bring others to safety. And my deepest sympathy goes out to their families.

有些人在地下室死亡，有些人在消防员试图将他们带到安全地带的途中死亡。我对他们的家人致以最深切的慰问。

Merkel was speaking from Washington, where on her last trip as chancellor, she met President Biden.

这是默克尔在华盛顿所说，她与拜登总统在华盛顿举行了会晤，这是她作为总理的最后一次出访。

Among other issues, they spoke¹¹ about climate change, an issue now at the forefront of Germany's election campaign ahead of the September vote.

两国元首谈论了气候变化等问题，这一问题目前已成为德国9月大选前竞选活动的首要议题。

For NPR News, I'm Esme Nicholson in Berlin.

NPR新闻，埃斯梅·尼科尔森柏林报道。

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 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。

3 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

6 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

7 torrents   

n.倾注；奔流( torrent的名词复数 )；急流；爆发；连续不断

参考例句：

• The torrents scoured out a channel down the hill side. 急流沿着山腰冲刷出一条水沟。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Sudden rainstorms would bring the mountain torrents rushing down. 突然的暴雨会使山洪暴发。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

9 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

10 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

11 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。