2023考研英語閱讀南部龍卷風(fēng)

　　Tornadoes in the South

　　南部龍卷風(fēng)

　　Out of the whirlwind

　　旋風(fēng)過后

　　The South cleans up after the deadliest storms in 86years

　　86年來最致命風(fēng)暴過后，美國(guó)南部開始清理工作

　　PLEASANT RIDGE BAPTIST CHURCH, set on a busy commercial street in Hueytown, a dozenmiles south-west of Birmingham, was open for business. So was the Dairy Queen across thestreet, and the nearby Publix grocery store. Traffic was thick on Hueytown Road. But thechurchs business was not strictly ecclesiastical. It was also serving as a Red Cross shelter forthose left homeless just a few miles away. Church members were collecting donations ofclothes, water and toiletries. And at the Publix, signs at the checkout counters told shoppersthey could help their neighbours with donations added to the cost of their groceries.

　　休伊鎮(zhèn)位于伯明翰西南部十幾公里處，普萊曾特里奇浸信會(huì)教堂便坐落于這個(gè)小鎮(zhèn)一條繁忙的商業(yè)街上。教堂剛剛開門迎客，對(duì)面的DQ冰激凌店和附近的帕布克斯雜貨店也都開始營(yíng)業(yè)了。休伊鎮(zhèn)的馬路交通十分擁擠。這座教堂并不嚴(yán)格限定僅向基督徒開放，它也作為紅十字會(huì)收容所幫助方圓幾公里的無家可歸者。教會(huì)成員會(huì)收集人們捐贈(zèng)的衣服、飲水和梳洗用具。而帕布克斯雜貨店收銀臺(tái)前擺放的標(biāo)牌也提示顧客，小店將把他們?cè)诖嘶ㄙM(fèi)的一部分錢款捐獻(xiàn)給一旁的教會(huì)。

　　Such is the nature of tornadoes: even large ones rain intense destruction on relatively smallareas. The one that ran from Tuscaloosa north-east to Birmingham was immense, 1.5 milesacross and 80 miles long, with winds exceeding 165 miles per hour. Parts of Alabama wereutterly ruined, but most of the state was untouched. More than 300 tornadoes tore throughthe region between April 25th and 28th, an unprecedented number. They killed around 340people in seven states, with the bulk of the deaths in Alabama. Not since 1925 have morepeople been killed by tornadoes in a single day, and not since Hurricane Katrina has there beena deadlier natural disaster in America.

　　龍卷風(fēng)實(shí)質(zhì)上是一種擁有強(qiáng)大破壞力的、小范圍的空氣渦旋。在塔斯卡盧薩縣形成，一路向東北方向奔襲，席卷至伯明翰的龍卷風(fēng)威力巨大，時(shí)速超過165英里，留下了一條寬1.5英里、長(zhǎng)80英里的廢墟帶。亞拉巴馬州部分地區(qū)完全被毀，但該州大部分地區(qū)未受到襲擊。4月25日至28日期間，超過300場(chǎng)龍卷風(fēng)席卷此地，數(shù)目空前頻繁。龍卷風(fēng)造成美國(guó)7 個(gè)州大約340人遇難，其中絕大多數(shù)位于亞拉巴馬州。這是自1925年以來單日造成遇難者人數(shù)最多的龍卷風(fēng)，也是自卡特里娜颶風(fēng)之后美國(guó)發(fā)生的最為致命的自然災(zāi)害。

　　Craig Fugate, who heads the Federal EmergencyManagement Agency , says that comparingthe tornadoes to Katrina is comparing apples toorangeseach disaster is different, and yourespond to the disaster youre dealing with. As amatter of meteorology, Mr Fugate has a point.Katrina affected an area roughly the size of GreatBritain and made landfall six days after it formed.Tornadoes are smaller; they form and die morequickly. Gregory Carbin, the warning-co-ordinationmeteorologist at the National Weather ServicesStorm Prediction Centre, says that last weeks storms were of a once-in-a-century severity, andafforded some of those hit as little as 20 minutes warning.

　　聯(lián)邦應(yīng)急管理署署長(zhǎng)克雷格?富蓋特表示，拿龍卷風(fēng)與卡特里娜颶風(fēng)作比較就好比將蘋果和橙子相比較每種災(zāi)害都有各自的特點(diǎn)，你需要面對(duì)具體情況作出相應(yīng)的反應(yīng)。從氣象學(xué)角度看，富蓋特先生有自己的觀點(diǎn)。卡特里娜颶風(fēng)影響到的區(qū)域大致相當(dāng)于整個(gè)英國(guó)的面積，并且是在形成后6天登陸的。相對(duì)來說，龍卷風(fēng)影響的區(qū)域更小，形成和衰減的速度更快。國(guó)家氣象觀測(cè)組風(fēng)暴預(yù)測(cè)中心協(xié)調(diào)預(yù)警氣象學(xué)家格雷戈里?卡賓稱，上周發(fā)生的是百年一遇的特大風(fēng)暴，其中的部分龍卷風(fēng)給予人們的預(yù)警時(shí)間僅有20分鐘。

　　As a political matter, however, the comparison is hard to avoid. FEMA came under witheringcriticism for its slow and poorly co-ordinated response to Katrina, particularly to the flooding ofNew Orleans. Its performance this time was swifter and surer. The agency had emergencyresponse teams in place in Hoover and Tuscaloosa by April 29th, working in co-ordinationwith Alabamas emergency operations centre around 55 miles south of Birmingham. BarackObama declared major disasters in Alabama on April 28th, in Mississippi on the 29th, Georgia onthe 30th and Tennessee and Arkansas after that, making federal funds available to individuals,state and local governments.

　　然而，作為一個(gè)政治問題，兩者的比較無可避免。面對(duì)卡特里娜颶風(fēng)，特別是在新奧爾良引發(fā)的洪災(zāi)，F(xiàn)EMA協(xié)調(diào)能力差，反應(yīng)速度慢，曾為此遭受了令其難堪的批評(píng)。而此次，F(xiàn)EMA行動(dòng)更為快速穩(wěn)健。通過與伯明翰向南約55英里處的亞拉巴馬應(yīng)急行動(dòng)中心協(xié)同工作，F(xiàn)EMA在4月29日就已將應(yīng)急反應(yīng)小組派遣至胡佛和塔斯卡盧薩縣。4月28日，貝拉克?奧巴馬宣布亞拉巴馬州遭受重大自然災(zāi)害進(jìn)入緊急狀態(tài)，29日、30日及之后又先后宣布密西西比州、佐治亞州、田納西州和阿肯色州進(jìn)入緊急狀態(tài)，使得聯(lián)邦政府能夠向受災(zāi)群眾、州縣和當(dāng)?shù)卣峁┚仍Y金。

　　By Monday several cabinet members as well as the president had visited Alabama. FEMAexpects to move into a joint field office, housing all federal responders, by weeks end; it toowill remain open as long as necessary.

　　至本周一，奧巴馬總統(tǒng)和部分內(nèi)閣成員都已前往亞拉巴馬州慰問災(zāi)情。FEMA計(jì)劃本周末前與各部門聯(lián)合，建立起一個(gè)現(xiàn)場(chǎng)辦公室，供所有聯(lián)邦災(zāi)害應(yīng)急處理人員辦公。只要有必要，辦公室將一直持續(xù)運(yùn)作。

　　Just what that means is unclear: rebuilding may take years. It will also be expensive in a regionthat can ill afford it: Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and Mississippi were all projecting budgetshortfalls for next year already. Clean-up costs alone in Jefferson County, home to Alabamaslargest city, may exceed $400m. The only consoling news, says Mr Carbin, is that we knowwhat happened is pretty rare. Unfortunately, while an unusually large number of tornadoesstruck this April, on average May is the more active month.

　　只是我們不清楚，這具體意味著什么，重建是需要數(shù)年時(shí)間的。此外，重建所需的高昂費(fèi)用對(duì)于這一區(qū)域來說也是難以承擔(dān)的：亞拉巴馬州、佐治亞州、田納西州和密西西比州下一財(cái)年的預(yù)算都已經(jīng)出現(xiàn)赤字。杰斐遜是亞拉巴馬州最大城市伯明翰所在縣，僅此一縣的災(zāi)后清理花費(fèi)將超過4億美元。卡賓先生稱，唯一令人稍感寬慰的消息是，我們知道這次的災(zāi)難非常罕見。不幸的是，雖然四月襲擊美國(guó)的龍卷風(fēng)數(shù)量之多并不尋常，然而普遍來說，五月是龍卷風(fēng)更為活躍的時(shí)期。

　　Tornadoes in the South

　　南部龍卷風(fēng)

　　Out of the whirlwind

　　旋風(fēng)過后

　　The South cleans up after the deadliest storms in 86years

　　86年來最致命風(fēng)暴過后，美國(guó)南部開始清理工作

　　PLEASANT RIDGE BAPTIST CHURCH, set on a busy commercial street in Hueytown, a dozenmiles south-west of Birmingham, was open for business. So was the Dairy Queen across thestreet, and the nearby Publix grocery store. Traffic was thick on Hueytown Road. But thechurchs business was not strictly ecclesiastical. It was also serving as a Red Cross shelter forthose left homeless just a few miles away. Church members were collecting donations ofclothes, water and toiletries. And at the Publix, signs at the checkout counters told shoppersthey could help their neighbours with donations added to the cost of their groceries.

　　休伊鎮(zhèn)位于伯明翰西南部十幾公里處，普萊曾特里奇浸信會(huì)教堂便坐落于這個(gè)小鎮(zhèn)一條繁忙的商業(yè)街上。教堂剛剛開門迎客，對(duì)面的DQ冰激凌店和附近的帕布克斯雜貨店也都開始營(yíng)業(yè)了。休伊鎮(zhèn)的馬路交通十分擁擠。這座教堂并不嚴(yán)格限定僅向基督徒開放，它也作為紅十字會(huì)收容所幫助方圓幾公里的無家可歸者。教會(huì)成員會(huì)收集人們捐贈(zèng)的衣服、飲水和梳洗用具。而帕布克斯雜貨店收銀臺(tái)前擺放的標(biāo)牌也提示顧客，小店將把他們?cè)诖嘶ㄙM(fèi)的一部分錢款捐獻(xiàn)給一旁的教會(huì)。

　　Such is the nature of tornadoes: even large ones rain intense destruction on relatively smallareas. The one that ran from Tuscaloosa north-east to Birmingham was immense, 1.5 milesacross and 80 miles long, with winds exceeding 165 miles per hour. Parts of Alabama wereutterly ruined, but most of the state was untouched. More than 300 tornadoes tore throughthe region between April 25th and 28th, an unprecedented number. They killed around 340people in seven states, with the bulk of the deaths in Alabama. Not since 1925 have morepeople been killed by tornadoes in a single day, and not since Hurricane Katrina has there beena deadlier natural disaster in America.

　　龍卷風(fēng)實(shí)質(zhì)上是一種擁有強(qiáng)大破壞力的、小范圍的空氣渦旋。在塔斯卡盧薩縣形成，一路向東北方向奔襲，席卷至伯明翰的龍卷風(fēng)威力巨大，時(shí)速超過165英里，留下了一條寬1.5英里、長(zhǎng)80英里的廢墟帶。亞拉巴馬州部分地區(qū)完全被毀，但該州大部分地區(qū)未受到襲擊。4月25日至28日期間，超過300場(chǎng)龍卷風(fēng)席卷此地，數(shù)目空前頻繁。龍卷風(fēng)造成美國(guó)7 個(gè)州大約340人遇難，其中絕大多數(shù)位于亞拉巴馬州。這是自1925年以來單日造成遇難者人數(shù)最多的龍卷風(fēng)，也是自卡特里娜颶風(fēng)之后美國(guó)發(fā)生的最為致命的自然災(zāi)害。

　　Craig Fugate, who heads the Federal EmergencyManagement Agency , says that comparingthe tornadoes to Katrina is comparing apples toorangeseach disaster is different, and yourespond to the disaster youre dealing with. As amatter of meteorology, Mr Fugate has a point.Katrina affected an area roughly the size of GreatBritain and made landfall six days after it formed.Tornadoes are smaller; they form and die morequickly. Gregory Carbin, the warning-co-ordinationmeteorologist at the National Weather ServicesStorm Prediction Centre, says that last weeks storms were of a once-in-a-century severity, andafforded some of those hit as little as 20 minutes warning.

　　聯(lián)邦應(yīng)急管理署署長(zhǎng)克雷格?富蓋特表示，拿龍卷風(fēng)與卡特里娜颶風(fēng)作比較就好比將蘋果和橙子相比較每種災(zāi)害都有各自的特點(diǎn)，你需要面對(duì)具體情況作出相應(yīng)的反應(yīng)。從氣象學(xué)角度看，富蓋特先生有自己的觀點(diǎn)。卡特里娜颶風(fēng)影響到的區(qū)域大致相當(dāng)于整個(gè)英國(guó)的面積，并且是在形成后6天登陸的。相對(duì)來說，龍卷風(fēng)影響的區(qū)域更小，形成和衰減的速度更快。國(guó)家氣象觀測(cè)組風(fēng)暴預(yù)測(cè)中心協(xié)調(diào)預(yù)警氣象學(xué)家格雷戈里?卡賓稱，上周發(fā)生的是百年一遇的特大風(fēng)暴，其中的部分龍卷風(fēng)給予人們的預(yù)警時(shí)間僅有20分鐘。

　　As a political matter, however, the comparison is hard to avoid. FEMA came under witheringcriticism for its slow and poorly co-ordinated response to Katrina, particularly to the flooding ofNew Orleans. Its performance this time was swifter and surer. The agency had emergencyresponse teams in place in Hoover and Tuscaloosa by April 29th, working in co-ordinationwith Alabamas emergency operations centre around 55 miles south of Birmingham. BarackObama declared major disasters in Alabama on April 28th, in Mississippi on the 29th, Georgia onthe 30th and Tennessee and Arkansas after that, making federal funds available to individuals,state and local governments.

　　然而，作為一個(gè)政治問題，兩者的比較無可避免。面對(duì)卡特里娜颶風(fēng)，特別是在新奧爾良引發(fā)的洪災(zāi)，F(xiàn)EMA協(xié)調(diào)能力差，反應(yīng)速度慢，曾為此遭受了令其難堪的批評(píng)。而此次，F(xiàn)EMA行動(dòng)更為快速穩(wěn)健。通過與伯明翰向南約55英里處的亞拉巴馬應(yīng)急行動(dòng)中心協(xié)同工作，F(xiàn)EMA在4月29日就已將應(yīng)急反應(yīng)小組派遣至胡佛和塔斯卡盧薩縣。4月28日，貝拉克?奧巴馬宣布亞拉巴馬州遭受重大自然災(zāi)害進(jìn)入緊急狀態(tài)，29日、30日及之后又先后宣布密西西比州、佐治亞州、田納西州和阿肯色州進(jìn)入緊急狀態(tài)，使得聯(lián)邦政府能夠向受災(zāi)群眾、州縣和當(dāng)?shù)卣峁┚仍Y金。

　　By Monday several cabinet members as well as the president had visited Alabama. FEMAexpects to move into a joint field office, housing all federal responders, by weeks end; it toowill remain open as long as necessary.

　　至本周一，奧巴馬總統(tǒng)和部分內(nèi)閣成員都已前往亞拉巴馬州慰問災(zāi)情。FEMA計(jì)劃本周末前與各部門聯(lián)合，建立起一個(gè)現(xiàn)場(chǎng)辦公室，供所有聯(lián)邦災(zāi)害應(yīng)急處理人員辦公。只要有必要，辦公室將一直持續(xù)運(yùn)作。

　　Just what that means is unclear: rebuilding may take years. It will also be expensive in a regionthat can ill afford it: Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and Mississippi were all projecting budgetshortfalls for next year already. Clean-up costs alone in Jefferson County, home to Alabamaslargest city, may exceed $400m. The only consoling news, says Mr Carbin, is that we knowwhat happened is pretty rare. Unfortunately, while an unusually large number of tornadoesstruck this April, on average May is the more active month.

　　只是我們不清楚，這具體意味著什么，重建是需要數(shù)年時(shí)間的。此外，重建所需的高昂費(fèi)用對(duì)于這一區(qū)域來說也是難以承擔(dān)的：亞拉巴馬州、佐治亞州、田納西州和密西西比州下一財(cái)年的預(yù)算都已經(jīng)出現(xiàn)赤字。杰斐遜是亞拉巴馬州最大城市伯明翰所在縣，僅此一縣的災(zāi)后清理花費(fèi)將超過4億美元。卡賓先生稱，唯一令人稍感寬慰的消息是，我們知道這次的災(zāi)難非常罕見。不幸的是，雖然四月襲擊美國(guó)的龍卷風(fēng)數(shù)量之多并不尋常，然而普遍來說，五月是龍卷風(fēng)更為活躍的時(shí)期。