时间:2018-12-16 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语2013年(五月)


英语课

 


Victims of Oklahoma Tornado 1 Get Help From Near and Far



The devastation 2 of her home brought a bitter twist of irony 3 to Linda Berna. She helped with search and rescue efforts here after the May 1999 tornado.


“We kicked down doors to see if there were any survivors 4, and now here I am on the other side. I never thought this would happen,” Berna said.


Hundreds of people like Berna are coping with loss and trying to survive.


To help them, Moore's First Baptist Church offered its large property as a center for relief operations.


For people in Moore who lost their homes or had homes heavily damaged, state and local officials, as well as private groups, have set up a command center here to provide them with food, and shelter if necessary.


But most people don't need to come here because volunteers load up trucks with water and food to distribute around town.


Donations have poured in from around Oklahoma and from many other states.


The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, is on hand; so is the Red Cross.


And there are representatives from major insurance companies helping 5 people file claims.


The State Farm company even offered relief in the form of free ice cream cones 6.


Moore resident Natasha says USAA insurance adjusters quickly provided her with a way to fix her home's damaged roof.  


“They said 'you were affected 7 by the tornado, what were your damages?' They were real helpful, they took our claim,” Natasha said.


The USAA insurance company brought in a mobile claims processing unit from Texas and has 120 claims adjusters here.  


The tornadoes 8 damaged or destroyed around 12,000 homes, with the total cost exceeding $2 billion. But Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner 9 John Doak says that isn't his main concern.


“There are a lot of people out here trying to help hurt people who have lost loved ones, and we are trying to help them with their homes and autos and other things, but it pales in comparison of the loss of life,” Doak said.


On Friday, some of the activity here will cease as the church is used for two funerals of tornado victims, the first of many to come.




1 tornado
n.飓风,龙卷风
  • A tornado whirled into the town last week.龙卷风上周袭击了这座城市。
  • The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。
2 devastation
n.毁坏;荒废;极度震惊或悲伤
  • The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
  • There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》
3 irony
n.反语,冷嘲;具有讽刺意味的事,嘲弄
  • She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。
  • In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。
4 survivors
幸存者,残存者,生还者( survivor的名词复数 )
  • 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 helping
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
  • 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 cones
n.(人眼)圆锥细胞;圆锥体( cone的名词复数 );球果;圆锥形东西;(盛冰淇淋的)锥形蛋卷筒
  • In the pines squirrels commonly chew off and drop entire cones. 松树上的松鼠通常咬掉和弄落整个球果。 来自辞典例句
  • Many children would rather eat ice cream from cones than from dishes. 许多小孩喜欢吃蛋卷冰淇淋胜过盘装冰淇淋。 来自辞典例句
7 affected
adj.不自然的,假装的
  • 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。
8 tornadoes
n.龙卷风,旋风( tornado的名词复数 )
  • Tornadoes, severe earthquakes, and plagues create wide spread havoc. 龙卷风、大地震和瘟疫成普遍的毁坏。 来自互联网
  • Meteorologists are at odds over the working of tornadoes. 气象学者对龙卷风的运动方式看法不一。 来自互联网
9 commissioner
n.(政府厅、局、处等部门)专员,长官,委员
  • The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
  • He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。
学英语单词
a trench coat
abate a debt
accessory foods
alvus
anti-mutagen
astronomical theory of business cycle
aurora line
autocads
auxiliary sixth-four chord
banalizing
be a new one
bifurcation ratio
brachypterism
business-graphics component
carbendazim
Chenopodium virgatum
circle time
clarification capacity
class pyrenomycetess
coke oven machinery
concentration meter
correlation-transform method
Credenhill
cryand
Cymbidium maclehoseae
defibered
deltopectroal
dialogues
drunk mouse syndrome
Dzhalagash
engagement process
external mixing
Farabeuf's amputation
flat way
flood protection
fluorescence peak
fore-ordained
free surface resistance
freidheim
Fuensanta
goal of an organization
graveoleat
high-resolution surface composition mapping radiometer
hold ladder
hydrogen induced absorption peak
identifying the problem
idiophrenic insanity
interpersonal comparison of utility
jab breakdown
judaic law
knee guard
lethean
mass doublet
micro-wave cyclotron
mix by single individuals
modifier genes
motive power supply
n-evaluation problem
nary a doubt
NAVSPECWARCOM
nonisomorphically
off-drives
old age pensioners
oleandrism
oomicrudite
orizunt
oxtants
petticoatism
Phenolax
piperonal-acetophenone
plunger-type pump
POLCOALVOY
polyene hydrocarbon
pro-jects
product performance
Q-switched system
Queniborough
recharacterizes
remotely-operated camera
residual thermal radiation
Salitre, R.
salt heap
secondary blasting
security assistance
semisubmerged ship
SEPST
shavelings
solar watch
sparcstations
spysats
surgical pack
taken a lap
tranqed
tsutomu
underpotting
universalisabilities
uterine microbiome
vasoformative cell
vingles
Wakinosawa
wismuth
xylosone