VOA慢速英语2018 台湾地震：多处建筑倾斜几近倒塌

Taiwan Earthquake: Several Buildings Leaning Near Collapse¹

A powerful earthquake struck Taiwan late Tuesday, killing² at least seven people and leaving several buildings leaning, near total collapse.

上周二台湾地区发生强烈地震，造成至少7人死亡，多处建筑倾斜，几乎完全垮塌。 

The U.S. Geological Survey said the 6.4 magnitude earthquake hit around the middle of the night local time near the coastal³ city of Hualien. Search and rescue operations continued in an effort to save dozens of people missing.

美国地震调查局表示，当地时间午夜前后海岸城市花莲发生6.4级地震。搜救行动仍在继续努力搜救数十位失踪人员。

Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen visited the damaged areas. She promised that every effort would be made to rescue survivors⁴. At least 260 people were reported injured and more than 80 are missing.

台湾地区行政长官蔡英文视察了受灾地区。她承诺尽一切努力营救生还者。据报道至少260人受伤，80多人失踪。

The earthquake split some roads in half and left about 40,000 homes without water. Nearly 2,000 others did not have electricity.

这次地震造成一些路段被拦腰折断，还导致有40000左右户居民断水。另有近2000户居民停电。 

Some of the most powerful pictures and video of the disaster showed high-rise buildings tilting⁶ heavily after the earthquake.

一些受灾最严重的图片和视频显示高楼地震后发生严重倾斜。 

Taiwan’s Central Emergency Operation Center said rescue efforts in one area were briefly⁷ halted over safety concerns. One residential⁸ building continued to lean towards collapse causing rescuers to stop their efforts.

台湾中央应急行动中心称出于安全考虑，一灾区营救行动被迫中止。一座居民楼不断倾斜几近坍塌，导致救援人员停止了工作。

Rescue workers put up steel beams against the building in an effort to prevent it from completely collapsing⁹. Large concrete blocks were also placed against the beams for added support.

救援人员搭起钢梁支撑该建筑，努力避免其完全倒塌。钢梁上还搭有大块混凝土以增加支撑力。 

The building was among at least four in the area that sank and shifted because of the earthquake. Experts say the shifts were likely caused by soil liquefaction. This process can cause the ground underneath¹⁰ a building to lose its solidity under great physical stress.

这座建筑跨越了受地震影响而发生沉降和变形的四块区域。专家表示这些变形很有可能是土壤液化引起。这个过程会引起建筑物地下土壤因为巨大的物理压力而失去坚固性。

Shifting destroyed the lower floors of several buildings, forcing rescue workers to enter windows to reach people trapped inside.

这些变形造成多处建筑物低楼层受到破坏，也因此导致救援人员只能从窗户进去救援被困人员。 

Hualien prosecutors¹¹ said they had launched an investigation¹². They want to know about possible negligence¹³ in construction of buildings that collapsed¹⁴ or tilted¹⁵ from the earthquake, the Taipei Times reported.

花莲检察官称，他们已经发起调查。他们想要知道地震中倒塌或倾斜的建筑物建造中可能存在的失职问题，台北时报报道。

Government officials are seeking building records and said they would question companies in the buildings’ planning and construction. The investigation will look into whether shortcuts¹⁷ were taken, if poor building materials were used and whether all government rules were followed.

政府官员正在查找建造纪录，还表示他们会质询这些建筑物的规划和建造单位。调查建造是否发生简化，是否使用劣质建筑材料，是否遵守了所有政府条令。

Taiwan sits in a very seismically¹⁸ active area known as the Pacific Ring of Fire. Earthquakes regularly strike the area.

台湾位于一个叫太平洋火环的地震活跃带。该地区经常发生地震。 

Words in This Story

lean – v. to bend or move from a straight position

tilt⁵ – v. to move into a position where one end or side is higher than the other

residential – adj. of or relating to the places where people live

beam – n. long and heavy piece of wood or metal used to support parts of a building, ship, etc.

concrete – n. a hard substance used in construction

shift – v. to move to a different place, position, etc.

negligence – n. failure to take the care that a responsible person usually takes

shortcut¹⁶ – n. a faster or easier way to do something

seismically – adv. relating to or caused by an earthquake

1 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。

2 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

3 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。

4 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

5 tilt   

v.(使)倾侧；(使)倾斜；n.倾侧；倾斜

参考例句：

• She wore her hat at a tilt over her left eye.她歪戴着帽子遮住左眼。
• The table is at a slight tilt.这张桌子没放平，有点儿歪.

6 tilting   

倾斜，倾卸

参考例句：

• For some reason he thinks everyone is out to get him, but he's really just tilting at windmills. 不知为什么他觉得每个人都想害他，但其实他不过是在庸人自扰。
• So let us stop bickering within our ranks.Stop tilting at windmills. 所以，让我们结束内部间的争吵吧！再也不要去做同风车作战的蠢事了。

7 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

8 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

9 collapsing   

压扁[平]，毁坏，断裂

参考例句：

• Rescuers used props to stop the roof of the tunnel collapsing. 救援人员用支柱防止隧道顶塌陷。
• The rocks were folded by collapsing into the center of the trough. 岩石由于坍陷进入凹槽的中心而发生褶皱。

10 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

11 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

12 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

13 negligence   

n.疏忽，玩忽，粗心大意

参考例句：

• They charged him with negligence of duty.他们指责他玩忽职守。
• The traffic accident was allegedly due to negligence.这次车祸据说是由于疏忽造成的。

14 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。

15 tilted   

v. 倾斜的

参考例句：

• Suddenly the boat tilted to one side. 小船突然倾向一侧。
• She tilted her chin at him defiantly. 她向他翘起下巴表示挑衅。

16 shortcut   

n.近路，捷径

参考例句：

• He was always looking for a shortcut to fame and fortune.他总是在找成名发财的捷径。
• If you take the shortcut,it will be two li closer.走抄道去要近2里路。

17 shortcuts   

n.捷径( shortcut的名词复数 )；近路；快捷办法；被切短的东西（尤指烟草）

参考例句：

• In other words, experts want shortcuts to everything. 换句话说，专家需要所有的快捷方式。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Offer shortcuts from the Help menu. 在帮助菜单中提供快捷方式。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

18 seismically   

地震

参考例句：

• The crust and mantle are separated by a seismically determined boundary known as the Moho-discontinuity. 改译为：地壳与地幔的交接处系根据地波走失而确定的一个界面，通称为莫霍界面。 来自互联网
• China's code is now on par with similar codes in seismically active areas of the world. 中国现在施行的标准与世界其他地震活跃地区施行的标准基本一致。 来自互联网