美国国家公共电台 NPR--Effects of a dangerous cyclone are already hitting parts of India and Pakistan

Effects of a dangerous cyclone¹ are already hitting parts of India and Pakistan

Transcript²

Authorities in Pakistan and India have been evacuating³ people from coastal⁴ areas ahead of the storm. Schools and government buildings have been converted into shelters.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Pakistan and India are preparing for a cyclone that's expected to make landfall today.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

The cyclone has been dubbed⁵ Biparjoy, the word for disaster in Bengali. And that's exactly what officials are preparing for. Authorities are still evacuating tens of thousands of people from coastal areas, sending them to schools and government buildings that have been converted into shelters. They're removing billboards⁶ that could turn into deadly projectiles⁷.

FADEL: On the line with us to tell us more is NPR's Diaa Hadid. Hi, Diaa.

DIAA HADID, BYLINE⁸: Hi, Leila.

FADEL: So Diaa, where are you right now? Are you in a safe place?

HADID: Yeah, I'm in the Pakistani city of Hyderabad. It's about two hours inland. And even here, though, we can see the first impacts of the cyclone. We were on the road when the winds picked up. And large palm trees were swaying hard. A cloud of kicked-up dust, it enveloped⁹ the road and nearby bazaars¹⁰. And squinting¹¹ through, we could see shepherds barreling down the sides of the roads with their flocks of goats, getting them to safety. And the trash piled by roadsides was whipping up, sending plastic bags and bottles careering. And this is all two hours from the coast.

FADEL: Wow. So if you're seeing that type of weather where you are, what's the situation in coastal areas?

HADID: Well, NASA describes this as a severe cyclonic¹² storm, with a sustained wind speed of more than 80 miles an hour. And it's likely to land around the India-Pakistan border. And on both sides, authorities are evacuating tens of thousands of people and livestock¹³. But the big fear is the impact it might have on the Pakistani port city of Karachi, which has a population around 20 million people.

It's low-lying. A lot of the drains are blocked. In the past, heavy rains have caused severe floods, just sending main roads underwater and inundating¹⁴ the ground floors of homes. And there's tangles¹⁵ of power lines everywhere. So in previous floods, a lot of victims died by electrocution. And there's also open sewers¹⁶. And as they spill over, diseases like diarrhea and typhoid are likely to spread. So the minister of climate change, Sherry Rehman, she urged residents to trust the government, to secure pets and livestock and even make sure solar panels were screwed onto rooftops properly. But she said she understood people's fears.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

SHERRY REHMAN: (Speaking Urdu).

HADID: And basically, she said it's natural to panic, but be prepared.

FADEL: Diaa, I suppose last year's devastating¹⁷ floods in Pakistan in particular are framing how people respond this time, right?

HADID: Yeah. Those summer floods last year left a third of Pakistan underwater at its peak. It killed more than 1,500 people. And it decimated the wheat and cotton crops that this country relies on. Even a year on, thousands of people are still homeless. And so this is a country that's quite vulnerable to these events, which are being made more extreme by climate change.

FADEL: You mentioned climate change. Is there a sense of the role it's played in how severe this cyclone is going to be?

HADID: Yeah, it appears so. We've been speaking to folks here who say these sorts of cyclones¹⁸ were actually rare until about a decade ago. And NASA notes unusually warm waters helped fuel the cyclone's intensification¹⁹. And warm sea surface temperatures have contributed to the cyclone's long lifespan. And for many Pakistanis, these events feel relentless²⁰. The country's experiencing extreme floods, droughts and now cyclones. And its poorest people are struggling to cope and recover from these incidents. Environmental activists²¹ say Pakistan is a classic example of how the people who've contributed least to global warming are facing some of the harshest impacts of it.

FADEL: NPR's Diaa Hadid. Thank you so much. And stay safe.

HADID: Thank you, Leila.

1 cyclone   

n.旋风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• An exceptionally violent cyclone hit the town last night.昨晚异常猛烈的旋风吹袭了那个小镇。
• The cyclone brought misery to thousands of people.旋风给成千上万的人带来苦难。

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 evacuating   

撤离，疏散( evacuate的现在分词 )； 排空（胃肠），排泄（粪便）； （从危险的地方）撤出，搬出，撤空

参考例句：

• The solution is degassed by alternately freezing, evacuating and thawing. 通过交替的冻结、抽空和溶化来使溶液除气。
• Are we evacuating these potential targets? 能够在这些目标地域内进行疏散吗？

4 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。

5 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 billboards   

n.广告牌( billboard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Large billboards have disfigured the scenery. 大型告示板已破坏了景色。 来自辞典例句
• Then, put the logo in magazines and on billboards without telling anyone what it means. 接着我们把这个商标刊在杂志和广告看板上，却不跟任何人透漏它的涵意。 来自常春藤生活英语杂志-2006年4月号

7 projectiles   

n.抛射体( projectile的名词复数 )；（炮弹、子弹等）射弹，（火箭等）自动推进的武器

参考例句：

• These differences are connected with the strong absorption of the composite projectiles. 这些差别与复杂的入射粒子的强烈吸收有关。 来自辞典例句
• Projectiles became more important because cannons could now fire balls over hundreds or yards. 抛射体变得更加重要，因为人们已能用大炮把炮弹射到几百码的距离之外。 来自辞典例句

8 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。

9 enveloped   

v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She was enveloped in a huge white towel. 她裹在一条白色大毛巾里。
• Smoke from the burning house enveloped the whole street. 燃烧着的房子冒出的浓烟笼罩了整条街。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 bazaars   

（东方国家的）市场( bazaar的名词复数 )； 义卖； 义卖市场； （出售花哨商品等的）小商品市场

参考例句：

• When the sky chooses, glory can rain into the Chandrapore bazaars. 如果天公有意，昌德拉卜的集市也会大放光彩。
• He visited the shops and bazaars. 他视察起各色铺子和市场来。

11 squinting   

斜视( squint的现在分词 )； 眯着眼睛； 瞟； 从小孔或缝隙里看

参考例句：

• "More company," he said, squinting in the sun. "那边来人了，"他在阳光中眨巴着眼睛说。
• Squinting against the morning sun, Faulcon examined the boy carefully. 对着早晨的太阳斜起眼睛，富尔康仔细地打量着那个年轻人。

12 cyclonic   

adj.气旋的，飓风的

参考例句：

• The anticyclone weather situations are more favorable than the cyclonic ones. 反气旋天气情况比气旋天气情况更有利些。 来自辞典例句
• We studied the interaction between a typhoon and a cyclonic vortex. 研究一个台风涡旋和一个低压涡旋之间的相互作用。 来自互联网

13 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

14 inundating   

v.淹没( inundate的现在分词 )；（洪水般地）涌来；充满；给予或交予（太多事物）使难以应付

参考例句：

• Floodwaters are inundating states up and down the Eastern Seaboard. 洪水淹没了东部沿海各州。 来自互联网
• Their invasion of the city effecttidal wave inundating first the immigrant colonies. 他们的涌入城市，象潮头一样首先淹没了移民地带。 来自互联网

15 tangles   

（使）缠结， （使）乱作一团( tangle的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Long hair tangles easily. 长头发容易打结。
• Tangles like this still interrupted their intercourse. 像这类纠缠不清的误会仍然妨碍着他们的交情。

16 sewers   

n.阴沟，污水管，下水道( sewer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sewers discharge out at sea. 下水道的污水排入海里。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Another municipal waste problem is street runoff into storm sewers. 有关都市废水的另外一个问题是进入雨水沟的街道雨水。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

17 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

18 cyclones   

n.气旋( cyclone的名词复数 )；旋风；飓风；暴风

参考例句：

• The pricipal objective in designing cyclones is to create a vortex. 设计旋风除尘器的主要目的在于造成涡旋运动。 来自辞典例句
• Middle-latitude cyclones originate at the popar front. 中纬度地区的气旋发源于极锋。 来自辞典例句

19 intensification   

n.激烈化，增强明暗度；加厚

参考例句：

• The intensification of the immunological response represents the body's natural defense. 增强免疫反应代表身体的自然保卫。 来自辞典例句
• Agriculture in the developing nations is not irreversibly committed, to a particular pattern of intensification. 发展中国家的农业并没有完全为某种集约化形式所束缚。 来自辞典例句

20 relentless   

adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的

参考例句：

• The traffic noise is relentless.交通车辆的噪音一刻也不停止。
• Their training has to be relentless.他们的训练必须是无情的。

21 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》