VOA标准英语2011--Work Underway to Repair Quake-Damaged Wa

Work Underway to Repair Quake-Damaged Washington Monument

Work is under way on the Washington Monument - one of the U.S. capital's best-known tourist attractions - to repair damage from the earthquake that struck the East Coast of the United States in August.
It is a startling sight atop one of the most recognizable structures in Washington: a rope rigger, climbing out on the tip of the 169-meter-high Washington Monument.
The rigger is making preparations for a team of engineers to rappel down the sides of the monument - to inspect damage from the 5.8 magnitude earthquake that rocked Washington in August.
Jeff Comer stopped to watch on his way to work.
"I knew they were looking at the earthquake damage, but then I saw this guy up on the monument and I have never seen anybody up there before," he said. "It’s really cool!"
Bonnie Saxen and a friend, visiting from Pierson, Iowa, thought the man trying to climb the monument was deranged¹.
"And then we realized he’s a professional climber and he is checking to see if there are any cracks after the earthquake here," Saxon said. "And I’m glad I’m not him!"
Recently-released surveillance video from the observation deck near the top shows the monument shaking violently during the earthquake. Nikolette Williams is the park ranger² in the video with about 20 visitors on the observation deck.
"I begin to feel the ground beneath me shaking and then I feel the whole entire building is violently rocking around," she said. "And I make the decision that the visitors need to get out."
Ranger Williams yells for the visitors to run down the stairs as debris³ begins to fall on them.
"I don’t know if it’s an attack, I don’t know if it’s an earthquake," she said. "At the next level I throw open the emergency exit door and they all begin to evacuate⁴ out."
Engineers will conduct a block by block inspection⁵ of the monument's exterior⁶ over the next five days. The National Park Service says the worst damage is in the pyramid-shaped top. Large cracks have developed in the stone and rainwater is leaking in, causing further damage. The monument’s elevator has also been damaged.
"We actually have pictures of all the individual stones on the exterior," Williams said. "And so what they are going to be doing is taking pictures and examining the stones now to find the extent of the cracking on the outside since the earthquake."
The Park Service says the damage survey will give it an idea of how long the monument will be closed and what the total cost of repairs will be. The good news is - one of the nation’s most treasured monument is structurally⁷ sound.

1 deranged   

adj.疯狂的

参考例句：

• Traffic was stopped by a deranged man shouting at the sky.一名狂叫的疯子阻塞了交通。
• A deranged man shot and killed 14 people.一个精神失常的男子开枪打死了14人。

2 ranger   

n.国家公园管理员，护林员；骑兵巡逻队员

参考例句：

• He was the head ranger of the national park.他曾是国家公园的首席看守员。
• He loved working as a ranger.他喜欢做护林人。

3 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

4 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

5 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

6 exterior   

adj.外部的，外在的；表面的

参考例句：

• The seed has a hard exterior covering.这种子外壳很硬。
• We are painting the exterior wall of the house.我们正在给房子的外墙涂漆。

7 structurally   

在结构上

参考例句：

• The house roof was (structurally) unsound. 这屋顶（结构）不牢固。
• Pinhole on shot-hole damage is never structurally significant. 针孔和蛀洞所造成的危害对结构的影响不大。