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


英语课

Washington Week: Focus on Scandals and Tragedies



President Obama traveled Sunday to Moore, Oklahoma to meet with and console residents of the midwestern town devastated 1 by a tornado 2 that killed 24 people and injured more than 200 others.  The president has pledged $3.4 million in federal aid to help the town rebuild.


“This is a strong community, with strong character.  There is no doubt they are going to bounce back, but they need help. Just like any of us would need help if we saw the kind of devastation 3 that we are seeing here," he said.


Investigators 4 are looking into the cause of two major transportation accidents in the United States - the collapse 5 of a major road bridge in Washington state and a freight train collision in rural Missouri that caused the collapse of a highway overpass 6.  Robert Sumwalt is a member of the National Transportation Safety Board.


“Anytime we have something like that, we are very concerned about it.  That is why we are here.  We are here to find out what happened so we can learn from it and keep it from happening again," he said.


The Federal Highway Administration says about a quarter of the country’s 607,000 bridges are structurally 7 deficient 8.


Secretary of State John Kerry travels from Ethiopia to Jordan for a World Economic Forum 9 that is expected to include talks on Syria.


Speaking Saturday to cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Defense 10 Secretary Chuck Hagel said he will work to change the military culture in light of a new Pentagon report showing that as many as 26,000 military service members may have been sexually assaulted last year.


"Sexual harassment 11 and sexual assault in the military are a profound betrayal - a profound betrayal - of sacred oaths and sacred trust.  This scourge 12 must be stamped out.  We are all accountable in ensuring this happens," he said.


And while Congress is not in session this week, calls for investigations 13 into the Internal Revenue Service after learning it targeted conservative groups for special scrutiny 14, and into the Justice Department’s decision to search the emails of journalists working on stories about national security, continue to dominate the news in Washington. 




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
  • 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 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。
3 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》
4 investigators
n.调查者,审查者( investigator的名词复数 )
  • This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
  • The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》
5 collapse
vi.累倒;昏倒;倒塌;塌陷
  • The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
  • The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。
6 overpass
n.天桥,立交桥
  • I walked through an overpass over the road.我步行穿过那条公路上面的立交桥。
  • We should take the overpass when crossing the road.我们过马路应走天桥。
7 structurally
在结构上
  • 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。
8 deficient
adj.不足的,不充份的,有缺陷的
  • The crops are suffering from deficient rain.庄稼因雨量不足而遭受损害。
  • I always have been deficient in selfconfidence and decision.我向来缺乏自信和果断。
9 forum
n.论坛,讨论会
  • They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
  • The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。
10 defense
n.防御,保卫;[pl.]防务工事;辩护,答辩
  • 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。
11 harassment
n.骚扰,扰乱,烦恼,烦乱
  • She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
  • The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。
12 scourge
n.灾难,祸害;v.蹂躏
  • Smallpox was once the scourge of the world.天花曾是世界的大患。
  • The new boss was the scourge of the inefficient.新老板来了以后,不称职的人就遭殃了。
13 investigations
(正式的)调查( investigation的名词复数 ); 侦查; 科学研究; 学术研究
  • His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查,但没有发现什么。
  • He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。
14 scrutiny
n.详细检查,仔细观察
  • His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好,但是经不起仔细检查。
  • Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。
学英语单词
according file
aceclofenac
adsorption barriers
aerophilatelies
appredicate
ara ararauna
assembly subroutine
attenuation distance
availability sample
bright future
broad outline
bullactophotodermatitis
cavity block
changing-note
charactersketch
circular disc
climaxes
cooch behar
crocacin
data facility storage management subsystem
deschler
dihydroxyls
doeskins
duckoy
elephant-joke
embezzle public funds
equivariant cobordisms
excess risk
expenditure category
fast and slow method of casting
furliker
gaussian randomprocess
gllery
glueyest
Goongarrie, L.
headstep settling time
hopeline
hot lunches
immediate dominance condition
Impossibility Performance
incombustibility
iodoglobulin
iridium lamp
IUWCC
Lachnospiraceae
land-based pollution source
large-end
lime superphosphate
Lower Empire
magnetron type traveling wave tube
Manuel Ribas
Melica longiligulata
microtrabecular
mobocracy
nonagreeing
optical ring resonator
other composite material container
otitis parasitica
oversolds
paleophytologist
pareccrisis
peagreen
pentanobrnamide
phonetic reference
pink stern ship
plectorhinchus albovittatus
prequark
prime products
pseudo animes
radial engine
read method of childbirths
rembles
resilient joint
retaining water
rhamnopyranose
rotary forging
Rungwa
send to dorse
settled organism
sign up now
single-ram booster
skybus
strain cracking
stulled open stoping
sufficed
suspension roof support
temperature shock
term of residence
texass
therapeutic agents
thromme
tithonius
total radiation radiometer
traverse time
unevaporate
uredo rubi-swinhoei
valib
weirdish
Weisi
Willis' arteries
Zayn Malik
zelnickmedia