2007年VOA标准英语-Rescue Workers Look for Landslide Victims in We

By Arjun Kohli
Nairobi
13 August 2007

Rescue workers from the Kenyan army, the Red Cross, and communities in western Kenya are searching for more victims from a landslide¹ that is known to have killed at least five people on Saturday. Arjun Kohli reports for VOA from our East Africa Bureau in Nairobi.

Residents of Kuvasali village watch from a distance a hillside scarred by a landslide in Kenya, 11 Aug 1007

A smaller landslide early Monday followed a larger and more destructive one on Saturday, hampering² rescue efforts.

Saturday's landslide covered four houses and destroyed surrounding maize³ fields in a rural village in Kakamega district in western Kenya. The affected⁴ Luhya community is helping⁵ the Kenyan army and the Red Cross deal with the disaster.

Rescue workers say rain, coupled with more mudslides and no electricity in the area are hampering their efforts. A relief officer from the Red Cross, Maurice Anyango, spoke⁶ to VOA from the field.

"We have a total of 90 workers who are working in that particular area that is affected," he said. "So far, four houses were covered by the landslide and a few destruction of the maize crop. It has been raining. At the moment it has started drizzling⁷ again, which, if it is continuous will hinder the process of retrieving⁸. So far, according to the police, there are a total of 13 people reported missing and we have retrieved⁹ five, so we are talking about eight that are still there.

The mainly Luhya community in Western Kenya farms on deforested slopes, which Red Cross spokesperson Linet Otieno says is a cause of the landslides¹⁰.

 

"It is because of two reasons," she said. "One is deforestation, and then the rainy season. It has been raining really hard and the soil was loose initially¹¹ and now the heavy rains have coupled it. This has never happened in this area before. I think it is because of increased deforestation. That area is mainly an agricultural area. I think that is what has led to deforestation because as the population increases they need more land to farm and thus they have to cut down more trees to do their farming activities."

The crops were ready for harvest before the slides and rescue workers say they now expect food shortages in the area.

1 landslide   

n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利

参考例句：

• Our candidate is predicated to win by a landslide.我们的候选人被预言将以绝对优势取胜。
• An electoral landslide put the Labour Party into power in 1945.1945年工党以压倒多数的胜利当选执政。

2 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。

3 maize   

n.玉米

参考例句：

• There's a field planted with maize behind the house.房子后面有一块玉米地。
• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 drizzling   

下蒙蒙细雨，下毛毛雨( drizzle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The rain has almost stopped, it's just drizzling now. 雨几乎停了，现在只是在下毛毛雨。
• It was drizzling, and miserably cold and damp. 外面下着毛毛细雨，天气又冷又湿，令人难受。

8 retrieving   

n.检索（过程），取还v.取回( retrieve的现在分词 )；恢复；寻回；检索（储存的信息）

参考例句：

• Ignoring all, he searches the ground carefully for any cigarette-end worth retrieving. 没管打锣的说了什么，他留神的在地上找，看有没有值得拾起来的烟头儿。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• Retrieving the nodules from these great depths is no easy task. 从这样的海底深渊中取回结核可不是容易的事情。 来自辞典例句

9 retrieved   

v.取回( retrieve的过去式和过去分词 )；恢复；寻回；检索（储存的信息）

参考例句：

• Yesterday I retrieved the bag I left in the train. 昨天我取回了遗留在火车上的包。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He reached over and retrieved his jacket from the back seat. 他伸手从后座上取回了自己的夹克。 来自辞典例句

10 landslides   

山崩( landslide的名词复数 )； （山坡、悬崖等的）崩塌； 滑坡； （竞选中）一方选票占压倒性多数

参考例句：

• Landslides have cut off many villages in remote areas. 滑坡使边远地区的许多村庄与外界隔绝。
• The storm caused landslides and flooding in Savona. 风暴致使萨沃纳发生塌方和洪灾。

11 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。