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
2-propanone
all-trades
Amalphitan Code
arithmetic underflow
backsies
brises-soleil
broda
buttress-root
captive firing
cathode-biased flip-flop
change-manager
clinocephalism
Control character.
coupling knuckle pin
cutawi machine
d.v
dbrc data-sharing control
dentin matrix
devotional
distractingly
dual indicator
efficiency of feedlot gain
endorsors
Fastnachtsspiel
Fintona
fluorophytosterol
give something one's best shot
glass resistor
glossolysis
gorilla gorilla beringeis
herocane
high quality training
ICP (integrated circuit package)
in a string
ink surface tension
joint variation
K'elafo
kindredship
lace
lignum benedictum
made myself understood
mamma's
marchandise
Marmesine
mattlis
menemsha
minieres
minocycline
molecular radius
multiplicative variation
nazarbaev
o-aminophenol sulfate
oulette
perthiocyanogen
pettitts
Philos. Rev.
photoplastic recording
plain friction bearing
PNAB
polyamorist
polysaccharoses
population gradation
postburnout heat transfer
prefield
pseudohibernation
Pulvinaria camellicola
scenopinids
sectoral supporting services
self-convergent CRT
several-seeded
showing over
side reaction coefficient
silicon planet
smilesmirk
soft switching
solid rolled centre
spark plug pliers
spoon feed
St. Johns River
starus
stepped arch
stern tube packing gland
stoker coal
straight low
subsea template
subsequent settlement
Sulci cerebrales
systemic herbicide
tall drink of water
Tang ware
Tawfīqīyah
theorem of polyhedron
thethy
thousand-years
threatening question
tibetan terriers
tonalpohualli
transliterates
wakon
wave penetration
Weber-number
worthly