西部落：飓风艾琳袭击美国东海岸

As Irene travelled north to the Canadian border, she continued to inflict¹ damage, leaving destruction in her wake. Heavy rains falling on already sodden² ground, led to widespread flooding and damage in the northeast. It will be a long time before these communities return to normal life.

飓风艾琳北上越过加拿大边境时，灾难仍在持续。飓风扫过，满目疮痍。暴雨倾泻在满是积水的地上，在东海岸造成大面积洪灾。让这些社区恢复到原样还需很长时间。

"Around the State, there has been very significant damage. I understand that more than 260 roads are closed. There are numerous bridges that have been knocked out. There's one confirmed fatality³ and there's a search going on for four people in the southern part of the State."

“肆掠的飓风已经造成了重大灾害。目前了解到，有超过260条公路被迫关闭，大量桥梁轰然倒塌。确认已造成1人死亡，4人失踪，目前搜救队仍在西部地区紧张寻找失踪人口下落。”

Up and down America's east coast, people assess the damage. Irene has been a deadly storm, destroying property and infrastructure⁴ and leaving millions without power. But the predicted catastrophe⁵ never fully⁶ materialized. New York, one of those cities, that escaped the worst. Despite a total public transport shut-down and evacuations, an inconvenient⁷ Monday commute⁸ and the ongoing⁹ cleanup, now the real concerns as America's most populous¹⁰ city recovers from a near miss.

美国东海岸上上下下的居民都在评估灾难带来的损失。致命风暴艾琳摧毁了房屋，基础设施，造成断电，使上百万人口无电可用。然而灾祸是永远预测不了的。其中一个受灾城市——纽约躲过了这一劫。除了公共交通完全瘫痪，人口疏散，工作日上下班不方便和清理工作外，最关键的是美国这个最受欢迎的城市侥幸脱险。

"It's going to take time to recover from a storm of this magnitude. The effects are still being felt across much of the country, including in New England and States like Vermont where there's been an enormous amount of flooding."

“从如此巨大的飓风中恢复还需一段时日。全国大对数地区，包括新英格兰州，佛蒙特州等遭遇到巨大洪灾的州仍然受到影响。”

The damage caused by this storm will cost billions to put right. Irene may not have been as devastating¹¹ as feared but her impact will be felt for some time to come.

将灾区恢复正常将花费数十亿美元。飓风艾琳的毁灭性也许不那么令人胆寒，但未来一段时间会感受到她带来的压力。

Hannah Thomas-Peter, Sky News, New York.

汉娜·托马斯·彼得，天空新闻，纽约。

1 inflict   

vt.(on)把…强加给，使遭受，使承担

参考例句：

• Don't inflict your ideas on me.不要把你的想法强加于我。
• Don't inflict damage on any person.不要伤害任何人。

2 sodden   

adj.浑身湿透的；v.使浸透；使呆头呆脑

参考例句：

• We stripped off our sodden clothes.我们扒下了湿透的衣服。
• The cardboard was sodden and fell apart in his hands.纸板潮得都发酥了，手一捏就碎。

3 fatality   

n.不幸，灾祸，天命

参考例句：

• She struggle against fatality in vain.她徒然奋斗反抗宿命。
• He began to have a growing sense of fatality.他开始有一种越来越强烈的宿命感。

4 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

5 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。

6 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

7 inconvenient   

adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的

参考例句：

• You have come at a very inconvenient time.你来得最不适时。
• Will it be inconvenient for him to attend that meeting?他参加那次会议会不方便吗？

8 commute   

vi.乘车上下班；vt.减(刑)；折合；n.上下班交通

参考例句：

• I spend much less time on my commute to work now.我现在工作的往返时间要节省好多。
• Most office workers commute from the suburbs.很多公司的职员都是从郊外来上班的。

9 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。

10 populous   

adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的

参考例句：

• London is the most populous area of Britain.伦敦是英国人口最稠密的地区。
• China is the most populous developing country in the world.中国是世界上人口最多的发展中国家。

11 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。