英伦广角 2011-03-06 新西兰地震

There are more rescue workers on the scene than ever, but the sense of urgency seems to have gone. It's more than 24 hours since anyone was pulled out of here alive. Police officers thought they heard a woman calling out from the ruins of a church, but nothing was found. They'll keep looking but soon the priority¹ will be removing bodies.

"Search dogs, both live dogs and cadaver² dogs, have indicated strongly in certain areas. They were exploring through potential voids³, either live victims or deceased."

It's now believed that 47 language students were among those killed in the Canterbury TV building. Many of them are Japanese, so that's been a priority for rescue workers who were sent from Japan.

Christchurch may have borne the brunt of the damage, but the epicentre of the quake was here in the port town of Lyttelton. And just like the city five miles up the road, the commercial centre of the town has been absolutely devastated⁴.

Dave Razzano owns a bar here which like every other property on the main street is wrecked⁵ and unusable.

"Last time, last earthquake, I was (um, yeah) I really thought Christchurch overreacted with the last earthquake, but there's no doubt about the fact that this one here is just devastating⁶. I mean that there's just going to be no business in this town for a long time, you know. I mean that the CBD will be closed indefinitely. I imagine Lyttelton main street...I don't know who is going to be out and open in the next, at least, three or four months."

The town has been getting help from sailors who happened to be in port when the quake happened, which is why a former British naval⁷ officer now finds himself temporarily assigned to guarding the town.

"Ships are quite well-equipped. We've got so many Schmidt cameras. Everyone is a trained fighter and first stated so we are the perfect people who just happen to be in the right place at a right time."

"So the naval officer finds himself our police officer."

"That's right, yes. Or any other the officer that they happen to need."

Much of the area is still without water and power. One Briton has now been confirmed to have died in Christchurch, and that number seems certain to rise once more bodies are identified.

"I think we have a reasonable assumption⁸ given the high volume of British people who either live and work in Christchurch or who visit Christchurch, but there is every possibility that there will be Brits."

It's likely to be at least next week before all the bodies are recovered and the final death toll⁹ is known.

Ian Woods, Sky News, Christchurch.

1 priority   

n.优先处理的事，居先，优先（权）

参考例句：

• The development of the national economy is a top priority.发展国民经济是应予以最优先考虑的事。
• Things should be taken up in order of priority.办事应有个先后次序。

2 cadaver   

n.尸体

参考例句：

• Examination of a cadaver is to determine the cause of death.尸体解剖是为了确认死亡原因。
• He looked down again at the gaping mouth of the cadaver.他的眼光不由自主地又落到了死人张大的嘴上。

3 voids   

太空( void的名词复数 )； 宇宙空间； 空隙； 空虚感

参考例句：

• Small voids and openings occur between grains of soil. 在土壤颗粒之间就有着许多微小的空隙和洞隙。
• Poor wetting would produce voids at the interface. 浸润不良会在界面上产生孔隙。

4 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。

5 wrecked   

adj.失事的，遇难的

参考例句：

• the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
• the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞

6 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。

7 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

8 assumption   

n.假定，臆断，担任，承担

参考例句：

• We mistook assumption that the price would fall.我们错误地认为价格会下降。
• I would question the validity of that assumption.我会质疑那个假设的正当性。

9 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。