Japan Commemorates 6 Months Since Disasters

 　　Japan fell silent Sunday in a solemn minute of prayer and reflection marking six months since the massive earthquake and tsunami¹ that left 20,000 people dead or missing and sparked a nuclear crisis.

　　Sirens wailed² at 2:46 in the afternoon as tens of thousands of mourners, many of them dressed in black, gathered to remember the dead in towns and villages along the country's devastated³ northeastern coast.

　　In the city of Ishinomaki, mourners gathered on a hill overlooking wrecked⁴ homes and businesses to pray for the nearly 4,000 people who died there on March 11, when towering waves swept away whole sectors⁵ of the coastal⁶ city. Organizers displayed 18,000 letters from children in the form of a giant rainbow spread across the ground.

　　Similar observances took place in towns and villages in Iwate and Fukushima prefectures, while hundreds of Tokyo residents staged anti-nuclear protests.

　　The magnitude 9.0 earthquake produced devastation⁷ not seen in Japan since World War Two, with the accompanying tsunami swallowing entire towns. The waves flooded the Fukushima nuclear power plant, triggering the worst nuclear crisis since the Chernobyl disaster of 1986.

　　Political fallout from the disasters forced Prime Minister Naoto Kan from office amid widespread accusations⁸ his government downplayed the scale of the nuclear crisis.

　　Authorities say 83,000 people remain in temporary homes six months after the disasters.  Nearly 7,000 people are reported still living in disaster shelters, as radiation fears from the shuttered Fukushima plant prevent area residents from returning home.

　　Police say the remains⁹ of 1,106 people remain unidentified.

1 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

2 wailed   

v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She wailed over her father's remains. 她对着父亲的遗体嚎啕大哭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The women of the town wailed over the war victims. 城里的妇女为战争的死难者们痛哭。 来自辞典例句

3 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

参考例句：

• 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。

4 wrecked   

adj.失事的，遇难的

参考例句：

• the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
• the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞

5 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

7 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• 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》

8 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。