2006年VOA标准英语-Probing the Government's Response to Katri

By Peter Fedynsky
Washington, DC
26 January 2006
 
watch Katrina Response report
 

Hurricane Katrina rescue  
  
Senators probing the U.S. government's response to Hurricane Katrina, which devastated¹ the city of New Orleans on other parts of America's Gulf² Coast, say the White House is refusing to cooperate in a congressional investigation³ of the disaster.  The inquiry⁴ comes amid revelations that the administration was apparently⁵ warned in advance that Katrina could breach⁶ levees in New Orleans and leave the city under water. 

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After Hurricane Katrina, President Bush and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said no one could have expected levees, or floodwalls, to fail in New Orleans.
 
 
President George W. Bush (file photo) 
  
"I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees," President Bush said.

"That perfect storm of combination of catastrophes⁷ exceeded the foresight⁸ of the planners and maybe anybody's foresight,” said Mr. Chertoff.

However, Mr. Chertoff's own planners apparently had such foresight because Homeland Security officials sent an e-mail to the White House warning about levee failure five hours before Katrina made landfall on August 29th.

At a news conference in Washington on Wednesday, the interim⁹ president of the American Red Cross, Jack¹⁰ McGuire, noted¹¹ that the media, including the largest newspaper in New Orleans, carried similar warnings.
 

Michael Chertoff (file photo)   
  
"In 2002, the New Orleans Times-Picayune ran a five-part series describing problems with the levee system,” he said.

Senators investigating the government's response to Katrina say the White House is hampering¹² the inquiry by prohibiting administration officials from openly answering questions posed by lawmakers. 

White House Spokesman Scott McClellan rejects the charge. "There are some 120 administration officials that been made available to the committees for interviews or for hearings; you have some 15,000 pages of documents that have been provided by the Executive Office of the President, some 240,000 pages provided by the Department of Defense¹³ and some 300,000 pages provided by the Department of Homeland Security."

 
Jack McGuire
  
Meanwhile, American Red Cross President Jack McGuire says the proper role of government in emergencies should be to coordinate¹⁴ and support public and private relief efforts.  He adds that governments are not the only entities¹⁵ that should be prepared for disaster, noting that private organizations, businesses, and individuals should also be ready.

"We are all more vulnerable than we need to be,” said McGuire.  “All emergency plans assume that people will have the knowledge and supplies to take care of themselves for at least 72 hours after a disaster."

Mr. McGuire noted that most families do not have so much as a bottle of water or a first aid kit¹⁶, much less a plan to deal with disaster. 

1 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。

2 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

3 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。

4 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

5 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

6 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

7 catastrophes   

n.灾祸( catastrophe的名词复数 )；灾难；不幸事件；困难

参考例句：

• Two of history's worst natural catastrophes occurred in 1970. 1970年发生了历史上最严重两次自然灾害。 来自辞典例句
• The Swiss deposits contain evidence of such catastrophes. 瑞士的遗址里还有这种灾难的证据。 来自辞典例句

8 foresight   

n.先见之明，深谋远虑

参考例句：

• The failure is the result of our lack of foresight.这次失败是由于我们缺乏远虑而造成的。
• It required a statesman's foresight and sagacity to make the decision.作出这个决定需要政治家的远见卓识。

9 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

10 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

11 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

12 hampering   

妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• So fraud on cows and development aid is seriously hampering growth. 因此在牛问题上和发展补助上的诈骗严重阻碍了发展。
• Short-termism, carbon-trading, disputing the science-are hampering the implementation of direct economically-led objectives. 短效主义，出售二氧化碳，进行科学辩论，这些都不利于实现以经济为主导的直接目标。

13 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

14 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

15 entities   

实体对像； 实体，独立存在体，实际存在物( entity的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our newspaper and our printing business form separate corporate entities. 我们的报纸和印刷业形成相对独立的企业实体。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities. 北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

16 kit   

n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物

参考例句：

• The kit consisted of about twenty cosmetic items.整套工具包括大约20种化妆用品。
• The captain wants to inspect your kit.船长想检查你的行装。