美国有线新闻 CNN 2013-07-03

 We begin tonight, though, with the breaking news. All the 19 fire fighters killed in the Yarnell Hill Fire still burning out of control north of Phoenix¹. They have been identified and taken to the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office in Phoenix. 

 

Nineteen members of an elite² team called Hotshots(快车). The Granite³ Mountain Hotshots based in Prescott, Arizona. Every member of that team but one perished. It is the deadliest single day that fire fighters and their loved ones have endured since 9/11. More on how it came to this terrible day from our Kyung Lah. 

 

It began as a simple ordinary act of nature in the high desert. A lightning strike at 5:36 Friday evening, igniting an 800-acre blaze. There were twin problems - scorching⁴ heat and low humidity. With that combination the fire exploded into a monster, devouring⁵ acres that had not burned in 40 years. 

 

First a few dozen homes. Then 200 scorched⁶. Fire fighters across the region including the Hotshots from Station 7 of Prescott, located 30 miles away jumped into action. The Hotshots, a team of 20 sent into the heart of the fire, to cut a line on the eastern flank and save other homes. 

 

They're highly trained, highly skilled, their situational awareness⁷ is very high. For this crew, it's very difficult to imagine what happened. 

 

It was Sunday afternoon, the Hotshot crew was behind the fire line when like most afternoons a thunderstorm blew in. But this one was different, it packed what the fire department calls monsoon⁸ winds. And the crew was trapped on the wrong side of them. 

 

Late in the day, a thunderstorm developed over Prescott, and the wind shifted 180 degrees on these firefighters and 40 to 50 mile per hour gusts⁹. Instead of staying out of the way, the fire blew right toward them. 

 

The Hotshots drilled for such a disaster. In this training video, they show how to deploy¹⁰ the fire shelter, a protective shield, a last resort move. They dove under the shelters, but it wasn't enough to save them from the ferocious¹¹ wildfire. All but one were killed. The remains¹² of 19 bodies found. Some still in their shelters. 

 

We've lost 19 of our family members. It's a nightmare right now. 

 

Nineteen heroes between the ages of 21 and 43 taken from the charred¹³ fields they tried to extinguish in a caravan¹⁴ of white vans. People lining¹⁵ the streets here and mourners lining the gate of Station 7 with flags and flowers. The Hotshot team's cars still parked where they pulled in(进站；靠岸) three days ago. Their families retrieving¹⁶ the uniforms of their fallen loved ones, wives widowed in an instant.

1 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

2 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

3 granite   

adj.花岗岩，花岗石

参考例句：

• They squared a block of granite.他们把一块花岗岩加工成四方形。
• The granite overlies the older rocks.花岗岩躺在磨损的岩石上面。

4 scorching   

adj. 灼热的

参考例句：

• a scorching, pitiless sun 灼热的骄阳
• a scorching critique of the government's economic policy 对政府经济政策的严厉批评

5 devouring   

吞没( devour的现在分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光

参考例句：

• The hungry boy was devouring his dinner. 那饥饿的孩子狼吞虎咽地吃饭。
• He is devouring novel after novel. 他一味贪看小说。

6 scorched   

烧焦，烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（植物）枯萎，把…晒枯； 高速行驶； 枯焦

参考例句：

• I scorched my dress when I was ironing it. 我把自己的连衣裙熨焦了。
• The hot iron scorched the tablecloth. 热熨斗把桌布烫焦了。

7 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

8 monsoon   

n.季雨，季风，大雨

参考例句：

• The monsoon rains started early this year.今年季雨降雨开始得早。
• The main climate type in that region is monsoon.那个地区主要以季风气候为主要气候类型。

9 gusts   

一阵强风( gust的名词复数 )； （怒、笑等的）爆发； （感情的）迸发； 发作

参考例句：

• Her profuse skirt bosomed out with the gusts. 她的宽大的裙子被风吹得鼓鼓的。
• Turbulence is defined as a series of irregular gusts. 紊流定义为一组无规则的突风。

10 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

11 ferocious   

adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的

参考例句：

• The ferocious winds seemed about to tear the ship to pieces.狂风仿佛要把船撕成碎片似的。
• The ferocious panther is chasing a rabbit.那只凶猛的豹子正追赶一只兔子。

12 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。

13 charred   

v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式)；烧焦

参考例句：

• the charred remains of a burnt-out car 被烧焦的轿车残骸
• The intensity of the explosion is recorded on the charred tree trunks. 那些烧焦的树干表明爆炸的强烈。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 caravan   

n.大蓬车；活动房屋

参考例句：

• The community adviser gave us a caravan to live in.社区顾问给了我们一间活动住房栖身。
• Geoff connected the caravan to the car.杰弗把旅行用的住屋拖车挂在汽车上。

15 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

16 retrieving   

n.检索（过程），取还v.取回( retrieve的现在分词 )；恢复；寻回；检索（储存的信息）

参考例句：

• Ignoring all, he searches the ground carefully for any cigarette-end worth retrieving. 没管打锣的说了什么，他留神的在地上找，看有没有值得拾起来的烟头儿。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• Retrieving the nodules from these great depths is no easy task. 从这样的海底深渊中取回结核可不是容易的事情。 来自辞典例句