美国国家公共电台 NPR--A couple in Turkey, pinned under earthquake rubble, survived the ordeal

A couple in Turkey, pinned under earthquake rubble¹, survived the ordeal²

Transcript³

A Turkish man describes how he and his wife survived last week's massive⁴ earthquake after their apartment building collapsed⁵ around them. (Story first aired on ATC on Feb. 15, 2022.)

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria came when many people were asleep. That helps to explain why almost 40,000 people are reported dead. NPR's Daniel Estrin met a man who survived.

DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE⁶: Ali Kafadenk was sleeping in bed with his wife, Merve, when their six-story apartment building started to shake. We met him in the street outside a mountain of rubble.

ALI KAFADENK: (Speaking Turkish).

ESTRIN: He says his wife poked⁷ him and woke him up, saying there was an earthquake. He said, no, it'll pass. Then two opposite walls caved in, making sort of a concrete tent over their bed. It was so low, they couldn't sit up. He spoke⁸ to my interpreter.

KAFADENK: (Through interpreter) We were stuck under the walls, some - with a shape of, like, an upside-down V. And that's what protected us.

ESTRIN: What were you thinking when you were stuck in that small space?

KAFADENK: (Through interpreter) We thought that we would die. That was the only option. We thought, like, any minute, there's going to be something that's going to come crashing down on our heads.

ESTRIN: This is one way several people did survive the earthquake, a Turkish emergency response team told us, a wall tipping on to something and leaving a small triangle void⁹ for someone to survive in. The cold weather also helped. Survivors¹⁰ didn't sweat as much, which delayed dehydration¹¹.

KAFADENK: (Speaking Turkish).

ESTRIN: Kafadenk and his wife, Merve, were only there an hour and a half. But it was terrifying and claustrophobic. He threw himself over his wife to protect her.

KAFADENK: (Through interpreter) We were saying to each other that we came from God. We will go back to God.

ESTRIN: Then he heard his building sink and the earth move.

KAFADENK: (Through interpreter) It was a sound that I'd never heard before. It feels like it's a supernatural sound. It was something like really strong and loud and low thunder. It's something like the sound that we hear in the sci-fi movies.

ESTRIN: The building was still shifting and crumbling¹². Floors above them fell into the street. Somehow, there was an opening. It was too dusty to see. He felt it - snowy, cold air. And that is when he heard his neighbors' screams. My baby's stuck here. My leg is stuck there. My mom is under here, and my dad's over there.

KAFADENK: (Speaking Turkish).

ESTRIN: Kafadenk and his wife also shouted. And that is when someone pulled them out. Someone else gave him a pair of shoes.

(SOUNDBITE OF FOOTSTEPS)

ESTRIN: Now, Kafadenk is staying with family out of town. He's back here for the first time since the earthquake.

KAFADENK: (Speaking Turkish).

ESTRIN: He says, "seeing it, it feels like I'm living through all of it again. I'm feeling fear, sadness and loss." He says only two other people in the building survived, out of dozens. He and his wife are schoolteachers, and they can't reach their colleagues. He thinks they've died. One of the few things he could recover from the building were letters of appreciation¹³ from his students. He wonders how many of them survived.

Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Islahiye, Turkey.

1 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

2 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。

3 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。

4 massive   

adj.巨大的，大规模的，大量的，大范围的

参考例句：

• A massive sea search has failed to find any survivors.经过大规模的海上搜救仍未找到幸存者。
• He drank a massive amount of alcohol.他喝了大量的烈酒。

5 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。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 poked   

v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交

参考例句：

• She poked him in the ribs with her elbow. 她用胳膊肘顶他的肋部。
• His elbow poked out through his torn shirt sleeve. 他的胳膊从衬衫的破袖子中露了出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 void   

n.空虚，空白，真空；adj.空的，缺乏的，无效的；vt.清空，释放，取消，离开；vi.排泄

参考例句：

• Suddenly the street was void of people.街道上突然间空无一人。
• The treaty has been declared void.条约被宣布无效。

10 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• 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

11 dehydration   

n.脱水，干燥

参考例句：

• He died from severe dehydration.他死于严重脱水。
• The eyes are often retracted from dehydration.眼睛常因脱水而凹陷。

12 crumbling   

adj.摇摇欲坠的

参考例句：

• an old house with crumbling plaster and a leaking roof 一所灰泥剥落、屋顶漏水的老房子
• The boat was tied up alongside a crumbling limestone jetty. 这条船停泊在一个摇摇欲坠的石灰岩码头边。

13 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。