NEWS-美国人重视一对夫妇在亚洲海啸前的最后瞬间

Americans Recover Record of Couple's Last Moments Before Asian Tsunami¹

 

We all know about the power of the Internet to connect people in a community or on opposite ends of the earth. But one family, grieving over the sudden death of two of its loved ones in last December's Asian tsunami, has felt the Internet's power in a remarkable², personal way.

 

Christian³ Pilet is a missionary⁴ from North Bend, Washington. A month after the December 26th tsunami devastated⁵ Indian Ocean coastal⁶ communities and killed more than a quarter million people; Christian packed his bags and set off to Thailand to help survivors⁷. Christian and friend Cameron Craig, a youth minister from Ohio, were walking along a beach strewn with rubble⁸ from the tsunami.

 

In the debris⁹, Christian says, Cameron caught sight of a battered¹⁰ digital camera.

 

Christian：'Hey. What should we do with it?' I said, 'I don't know. It doesn't look like it would be much use.' He said, 'Let's take the card out...you never know [what you might find].’

 

Christian Pilet put the camera's removable memory card in his pocket and kept walking. Later that night, as they loaded the images successfully into Christian's laptop computer, the two realized that they had discovered an amazing story.

 

Christian: For us it was absolutely stunning¹¹. We were sitting on the bed to get watch somebody on my computer. It was like, as we were hearing somebody speak their last words, and then suddenly they are cut off, just mid-sentence. That is how it was. You see this couple was very happy having a wonderful time and then the picture of the wave coming. The wave is coming, and then it is there and then there is silence.

 

Christian Pilet was determined¹² to identify the couple. When he returned home, his wife began to search the Internet for a photo match of the lost couple.

 

Christian: The first hit that she did do is she’s done a google search, she pulled it up, and she clicked. And she said, 'This is the guy.' And I remember thinking, 'There is no way, there is no way you just clicked out hundreds of pages of victims pages and people who are missing, that you are going to pick just the one.' And, sure enough, the next morning I got up and looked at it, and it was the one.

 

The missing people turned out to be Canadian tourists John and Jackie Knill, both 54. Christian Pilet drove to Canada to deliver the pictures to the couple's three sons. Jackie's sister, Terri Maguire, and husband Roy say the family is comforted knowing how John and Jackie spent their last moments.

 

Terri: It gave me a sense of calm because I knew they weren't running in terror. But each person in the family, I think, has dealt with it a little differently.

 

Terri's husband Roy: Well, having been there in Thailand, it also provided me with a sense of closure to know that, first of all, as Terri just said, they were not running in panic. And truthfully, it gave me a sense of peace and closure about the whole issue, too. It is an end chapter to two beautiful lives.

 

Terri Maguire says, ever since their story was picked up by the news media, there has been an outpouring of public sympathy for the Knill family. They've started the Knill Thailand Fund, which has already raised $60,000 to help build a school in a country that John and Jackie loved so much.

 

I am Rosanne Skirble

1 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

2 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

3 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

4 missionary   

adj.教会的，传教(士)的；n.传教士

参考例句：

• She taught in a missionary school for a couple of years.她在一所教会学校教了两年书。
• I hope every member understands the value of missionary work. 我希望教友都了解传教工作的价值。

5 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。

6 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。

7 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

8 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

9 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

10 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

11 stunning   

adj.极好的；使人晕倒的

参考例句：

• His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
• The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。

12 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。