美国有线新闻 CNN 美属波多黎各发生6.4级地震 澳大利亚指控24人蓄意纵火

 

This Wednesday show starts in a U.S. island territory that's about 1,000 miles southeast of Miami, Florida. It's Puerto Rico and the message from its governor to the people living there is be calm and be prepared for aftershocks.

The southern part of the island was shaken by a 6.4 magnitude earthquake on Tuesday. That's powerful. It can cause a lot of damage. And it came one day after a 5.8 magnitude jolt¹.

These were just the latest in series of quakes that the U.S. territory has seen since late December. The U.S. Geological Survey has recorded hundreds of tremors² within the past couple weeks. After Tuesday's quake, which was the biggest of them, Governor Wanda Vazquez Garced declared a state of emergency and activated³ the Puerto Rico National Guard.

Power was knocked out for people near the southern coast. Water service was knocked out to more than a quarter of the island's utility customers. The earthquakes also affected⁴ part of the island's topography.

Punta Ventana, a rock formation in arch on Puerto Rico's south western coast, collapsed⁵ in Monday's quake. Parts of Puerto Rico were still recovering from a different kind of natural disaster that hit more than two years ago — hurricane Maria. As a ferocious⁶ category four storm made landfall on the island in September of 2017, it ultimately affected all of Puerto Rico's residents in one way or another and caused tens of billions of dollars in damage.

There's an international fight going on against Australia's bush fires or wild fires. And they're the worst blazes the country has seen in decades. They flared⁷ up all over the continent. 24 people have died, thousands of homes have been damaged or destroyed. Ecologist estimate that 500 million animals have been affected in some way. Officials say some of the fires started naturally when lightning struck drought affected forest.

But 24 people have been charged with intentionally⁸ lighting⁹ wild fires and police say dozens of them might have been caused unintentionally — like when someone throws away a lit cigarette on dry ground.

Australia's fire season typically coincides with its summer months, which it's in now, but an ongoing¹⁰ drought and high heat have made this one worse than usual.

本周三首先来关注距离佛罗里达州迈阿密东南约1000英里的美国岛屿领地。这里所指的是波多黎各，其总督希望本地居民保持冷静并为余震做好准备。

周二，该岛南部地区发生6.4级地震。这一震级属于强震。可造成严重损失。而且就在一天前，该岛刚刚发生过5.8级地震。

这个美国领土自去年12月以来遭遇了一连串地震，上述两起地震是最新发生的。美国地质调查局在过去几周记录了数百起地震。周二发生的地震是其中最强的，这起地震后，波多黎各总督万达·巴斯克斯·加塞德宣布进入紧急状态并调动波多黎各海岸警卫队。

波多黎各南海岸附近的居民已经断电。岛上有超过四分之一的公用事业客户断水。地震还对该岛的部分地形产生了影响。

位于波多黎各西南海岸的拱形岩层蓬塔·文塔纳塔在周一的地震中坍塌。波多黎各部分地区仍在从另一种自然灾害中恢复——两年多以前来袭的飓风“玛利亚”。2017年9月，猛烈的四级风暴“玛利亚”登陆波多黎各，或多或少地影响了这座岛屿的所有居民，并造成了数百亿美元的损失。

目前，国际社会在共同对抗澳大利亚的山火。这是澳大利亚数十年来发生的最严重火灾。大火在澳大利亚大陆各个地方燃烧。目前已造成24人死亡，数千座房屋受损或遭毁。生态学家估计，在某种程度上有5亿动物受到影响。官员表示，部分火灾是闪电击中受干旱影响的森林而自然起火。

但同时有24人因故意引发山火而被起诉，警方表示，数十起火灾可能是人为纵火，比如有人将点燃的香烟扔到旱地上。

澳大利亚的火灾季通常恰逢其夏季，现在澳大利亚就处于夏季之中，但持续的干旱和高温使今年的火灾季比往常要更加严重。

1 jolt   

v.（使）摇动，（使）震动，（使）颠簸

参考例句：

• We were worried that one tiny jolt could worsen her injuries.我们担心稍微颠簸一下就可能会使她的伤势恶化。
• They were working frantically in the fear that an aftershock would jolt the house again.他们拼命地干着，担心余震可能会使房子再次受到震动。

2 tremors   

震颤( tremor的名词复数 )； 战栗； 震颤声； 大地的轻微震动

参考例句：

• The story was so terrible that It'sent tremors down my spine. 这故事太可怕，它使我不寒而栗。
• The story was so terrible that it sent tremors down my spine. 这故事太可怕，它使我不寒而栗。

3 activated   

adj. 激活的 动词activate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The canister is filled with activated charcoal.蒸气回收罐中充满了活性炭。

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 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。

6 ferocious   

adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的

参考例句：

• The ferocious winds seemed about to tear the ship to pieces.狂风仿佛要把船撕成碎片似的。
• The ferocious panther is chasing a rabbit.那只凶猛的豹子正追赶一只兔子。

7 Flared   

adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The match flared and went out. 火柴闪亮了一下就熄了。
• The fire flared up when we thought it was out. 我们以为火已经熄灭，但它突然又燃烧起来。

8 intentionally   

ad.故意地，有意地

参考例句：

• I didn't say it intentionally. 我是无心说的。
• The local authority ruled that he had made himself intentionally homeless and was therefore not entitled to be rehoused. 当地政府裁定他是有意居无定所，因此没有资格再获得提供住房。

9 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

10 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。