CNN 2011-08-29

 Today we’re taking you to the Bahamas, New Hampshire, Africa and Asia, from the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, I’m Carl Azuz, and this is CNN Student News. First up, a major hurricane is plowing¹ its way through the Caribbean, and it could be taking aim at the U.S. east coast. Irene has already hit Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. Yesterday it was slamming the Bahamas, where locals boarded up their shops and tourists hunkered down in hotels. And they did that with good reason. 

 

Check out these satellite images. Yesterday Irene strengthened into a category 3 hurricane. Its strongest winds were around 115 miles per hour. And the National Hurricane Center expects Irene to get even stronger in the next day or two. That’s why people up and down the U.S. east coast are stocking up on supplies. They’re getting ready for Irene. 

 

Predictions say it could affect anywhere from the Carolinas up through New England. Some coastal² areas have already declared a state of emergency. In Washington, there are plans for a dedication³ ceremony at the Martin Luther King Memorial on Sunday. But officials are looking at backup ideas, maybe even postponing⁴ the event. It’ll just depend on what path Irene takes.

 

East Coast residents are preparing for that extreme event. But they just lived through another one. Scientists know about the seismic⁵ zone in Virginia, where Tuesday’s earthquake was centered, but this tremor⁶ was so rare that many people wondered if the rumbling⁷ was caused by a helicopter or an explosion.

 

Brian Todd examines some of the ripple⁸ effects of this unusual quake.

 

There may be an aftershock, but you’re allowed to go back in the building at this time.

 

To millions of people on the East Coast, this was the big one.

 

Can you believe that you just witnessed an earthquake in Washington, D.C.?

 

It’s the strongest quake to hit the Virginia area since 1897, a 5.8, rattling⁹ nerves and shaking buildings in the nation’s capital.

 

I really and truly thought it was some kind of bomb, because I never felt nothing like that before in Washington.

 

I was on the bus, and the bus did a shimmy.

 

Well, I didn’t know what was happening. I thought the building was about to collapse¹⁰.

 

The quake was centered near Mineral, Virginia, about 40 miles from Richmond and 83 miles from D.C.

 

The quake could be felt all the way in Martha’s Vineyard, where the president is on vacation. Shaking was felt in more than a dozen states in all, even into Canada. NBC’s cameras, focused on the White House, caught the shaking as it happened. 

 

Some of the masonry¹¹ of the National Cathedral fell off, and the National Park Service says engineers found a crack near the top of the Washington Monument. It will be closed indefinitely to keep visitors safe. 

 

Many government buildings, including the Pentagon, were evacuated¹², but no major damage was reported. Further north, in New York City, people ran from skyscrapers¹³, down flights of stairs as they swayed.

 

The building shook back and forth¹⁴. It actually rocked.

 

Near the epicenter of the quake, the North Anna Nuclear Power Station, the earthquake triggering an automatic shutdown there. Diesel¹⁵ generators¹⁶ kicked in to keep the reactor¹⁷ cores cool. I spoke¹⁸ to a plant executive, who wanted to make sure we knew everything was under control.

 

What do you want to say to the public, as far as right now?

 

Well, the power plant is safe. The operators responded well. Both units are shut down, maintained in a safe shutdown condition. There was no release of radioactivity.

 

Overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, power from the main grid¹⁹ was restored to the plant. That power fuels the cooling systems for the reactor and the spent fuel pools. But both reactors²⁰ remain shutdown. Brian Todd, CNN, Mineral, Virginia.

1 plowing   

v.耕( plow的现在分词 )；犁耕；费力穿过

参考例句：

• "There are things more important now than plowing, Sugar. "如今有比耕种更重要的事情要做呀，宝贝儿。 来自飘（部分）
• Since his wife's death, he has been plowing a lonely furrow. 从他妻子死后，他一直过着孤独的生活。 来自辞典例句

2 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。

3 dedication   

n.奉献，献身，致力，题献，献辞

参考例句：

• We admire her courage,compassion and dedication.我们钦佩她的勇气、爱心和奉献精神。
• Her dedication to her work was admirable.她对工作的奉献精神可钦可佩。

4 postponing   

v.延期，推迟( postpone的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He tried to gain time by postponing his decision. 他想以迟迟不作决定的手段来争取时间。 来自辞典例句
• I don't hold with the idea of postponing further discussion of the matter. 我不赞成推迟进一步讨论这件事的想法。 来自辞典例句

5 seismic   

a.地震的，地震强度的

参考例句：

• Earthquakes produce two types of seismic waves.地震产生两种地震波。
• The latest seismic activity was also felt in northern Kenya.肯尼亚北部也感觉到了最近的地震活动。

6 tremor   

n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震

参考例句：

• There was a slight tremor in his voice.他的声音有点颤抖。
• A slight earth tremor was felt in California.加利福尼亚发生了轻微的地震。

7 rumbling   

n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词

参考例句：

• The earthquake began with a deep [low] rumbling sound. 地震开始时发出低沉的隆隆声。
• The crane made rumbling sound. 吊车发出隆隆的响声。

8 ripple   

n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进

参考例句：

• The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。
• The small ripple split upon the beach.小小的涟漪卷来，碎在沙滩上。

9 rattling   

adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词

参考例句：

• This book is a rattling good read. 这是一本非常好的读物。
• At that same instant,a deafening explosion set the windows rattling. 正在这时，一声震耳欲聋的爆炸突然袭来，把窗玻璃震得当当地响。

10 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。

11 masonry   

n.砖土建筑；砖石

参考例句：

• Masonry is a careful skill.砖石工艺是一种精心的技艺。
• The masonry of the old building began to crumble.旧楼房的砖石结构开始崩落。

12 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。

13 skyscrapers   

n.摩天大楼

参考例句：

• A lot of skyscrapers in Manhattan are rising up to the skies. 曼哈顿有许多摩天大楼耸入云霄。
• On all sides, skyscrapers rose like jagged teeth. 四周耸起的摩天大楼参差不齐。

14 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

15 diesel   

n.柴油发动机，内燃机

参考例句：

• We experimented with diesel engines to drive the pumps.我们试着用柴油机来带动水泵。
• My tractor operates on diesel oil.我的那台拖拉机用柴油开动。

16 generators   

n.发电机，发生器( generator的名词复数 )；电力公司

参考例句：

• The factory's emergency generators were used during the power cut. 工厂应急发电机在停电期间用上了。
• Power can be fed from wind generators into the electricity grid system. 电力可以从风力发电机流入输电网。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 reactor   

n.反应器；反应堆

参考例句：

• The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules.在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

18 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。

19 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

20 reactors   

起反应的人( reactor的名词复数 )； 反应装置； 原子炉； 核反应堆

参考例句：

• The TMI nuclear facility has two reactors. 三哩岛核设施有两个反应堆。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• The earliest production reactors necessarily used normal uranium as fuel. 最早为生产用的反应堆，必须使用普通铀作为燃料。