美国国家公共电台 NPR--新风暴袭击德克萨斯

A new storm hits Texas but not everyone is over last year's ordeal¹

Transcript²

NPR's Rachel Martin talks to Michael Evans, mayor of Mansfield, Texas, about the arrival of a potentially dangerous storm, and what's changed since last February's catastrophic ice and snow storm.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

We're going to focus now on a winter storm that is rolling across the Midwest and the Plains today, shutting down interstates in the U.S., canceling flights and closing schools. And we're going to look at what might happen when it hits the state of Texas because you might remember that last winter, after a big storm, the power grid³ effectively collapsed⁴. The power was out for many days, as a result. Water pipes froze and almost 250 people died across the state. This year, the Texas power company ERCOT has already put Texans on alert for freezing temperatures and high demand for energy. We're going to bring in Michael Evans now. He's the mayor of Mansfield, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. Mayor Evans, thanks for being here.

MICHAEL EVANS: Good morning. Thank you for having me, Rachel.

MARTIN: So Texas has this winter storm warning. It lasts until this evening. What can you tell us about the conditions where you are right now?

EVANS: Well, I can tell you this - that we continue to have sleet⁵ and freezing rain, so no snow yet, which means that we may have accumulations of ice as high as a quarter inch, which is a whole lot for this area. And when you look outside, you can see that the ground is covered not with snow but with ice, which is somewhat of your worst nightmare.

MARTIN: Explain why. Why is the ice even more hazardous⁶ than a lot of snow?

EVANS: Well, because you can't always see it on the ground, especially if you get what we call here the black ice conditions. So you are traveling - and us Texans, we don't get it as much. We don't get this snow and sleet as much, especially the North Texas area. So quite a few people still attempt to drive at posted speeds. And that just does not make for a good combination. And we have a lot of slipping and sliding taking place. So the driving conditions are quite hazardous.

MARTIN: And, of course, let me just ask, I mean, it's going to be so cold. Tell us, what have you learned from the experience last year with all those power outages?

EVANS: Well, you know, we learned some great lessons last year. One is we had quite a few problems with the - with busted⁷ pipes and those kinds of things. So a lot of people invested in generators⁸ for their homes, the small ones as well as the larger ones. Most of us now have learned to keep our faucets⁹ running and open the bottom cabinets to keep the pipes warm. Even our city for the first time in our 131 years of existence, we bought a snow plow¹⁰ attachment¹¹, and we've not had that. But, you know, again, these are lessons learned, and we have our staff out now. They are still trying to clear the streets and keep them salted. So that's - those are some hard lessons that we learned on the last time. And we're hoping that the power grid can withstand the subfreezing temperatures. So we're just all kind of sitting around with bated breath, fingers crossed, prayers and everything else that we can call upon to make sure that everything is going to work this time.

MARTIN: In just seconds remaining, are you satisfied with how the power company ERCOT is preparing for this?

EVANS: Well, you know what? I would say yes. We couldn't get a 100% guarantee that we wouldn't have power outages, but they gave us a 70% thumbs up. So we'll take that. But thus far, I've gotten no calls from any of our residents that they've had outages. So I think we're going to take that. That's going to be a thumbs up.

MARTIN: You take the win where you can.

EVANS: You bet.

MARTIN: Mayor Michael Evans of Mansfield, Texas, bracing¹² for the storm. Thank you, sir. We appreciate your time.

EVANS: Thank you so much, Rachel.

1 ordeal   

n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验

参考例句：

• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。
• Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me.在荒野里迷路一星期对我来说真是一场磨难。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

4 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

5 sleet   

n.雨雪；v.下雨雪，下冰雹

参考例句：

• There was a great deal of sleet last night.昨夜雨夹雪下得真大。
• When winter comes,we get sleet and frost.冬天来到时我们这儿会有雨夹雪和霜冻。

6 hazardous   

adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的

参考例句：

• These conditions are very hazardous for shipping.这些情况对航海非常不利。
• Everybody said that it was a hazardous investment.大家都说那是一次危险的投资。

7 busted   

adj. 破产了的，失败了的，被降级的，被逮捕的，被抓到的 动词bust的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• You are so busted! 你被当场逮住了！
• It was money troubles that busted up their marriage. 是金钱纠纷使他们的婚姻破裂了。

8 generators   

n.发电机，发生器( generator的名词复数 )；电力公司

参考例句：

• The factory's emergency generators were used during the power cut. 工厂应急发电机在停电期间用上了。
• Power can be fed from wind generators into the electricity grid system. 电力可以从风力发电机流入输电网。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 faucets   

n.水龙头( faucet的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Water faucets shall be chrome-plated type with ball valve. 水龙头外表为铬镀层。 来自互联网
• The plumber came that afternoon and fixed the faucets in some minutes. 当天下午，管子工来了，几分钟内便把水龙头安装好。 来自互联网

10 plow   

n.犁，耕地，犁过的地；v.犁，费力地前进[英]plough

参考例句：

• At this time of the year farmers plow their fields.每年这个时候农民们都在耕地。
• We will plow the field soon after the last frost.最后一场霜过后，我们将马上耕田。

11 attachment   

n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附

参考例句：

• She has a great attachment to her sister.她十分依恋她的姐姐。
• She's on attachment to the Ministry of Defense.她现在隶属于国防部。

12 bracing   

adj.令人振奋的

参考例句：

• The country is bracing itself for the threatened enemy invasion. 这个国家正准备奋起抵抗敌人的入侵威胁。
• The atmosphere in the new government was bracing. 新政府的气氛是令人振奋的。