英语听力：自然百科 智利大地震

 Little Emilia may not know it, but she played a role in the fateful circumstances that saved her family and relatives from serious injury and possibly much worse. It was her baptism that brought the family together in this picturesque¹ region of Chile for a celebration, a celebration on the night the region would be struck with the worst earthquake in Chile in 50 years.

 

About 50 miles away in Santa Cruz, the February 27th earthquake knocked a 3-storey apartment building down to 2 storeys, where 23 people died. Damage in the region can be seen everywhere you turn.

 

Lolol is in the heart of Chile's wine making region. Grapevines cover much of the landscape. The Lolol Hacienda, now operated as a restaurant by the Mujica family was bought in 1891 by Don Mujica and since then his descended² family has grown. Now more than 100 strong.

 

It was here on Feb 27th where the relatives gathered for Emilia's baptism celebration.

 

Mujica family always likes to have a good time, because they celebrate everything a lot grandly. So the christening of young Emilia, for instance, was a marvelous chance to meet here, because only within the family members you can count 60 or 80 people and all in a party mood.

 

It's late summer in Chile and a Friday night. Everyone was outside, eating, drinking and dancing into the early morning hours. And the 8.8 earthquake struck. When the shaking stopped, parts of the building behind them had fallen apart. Miraculously³, no one was inside. But next door, an uncle, 64-year-old Nano Mujica was inside his home. It collapsed⁴ on top of him. He did not survive.

 

"He was such a warm man, very kind, simple but very honest and real, so yes, it is a real pain of the soul. "

 

"This earthquake has been very strong here. I believe all these houses all over this region were built to resist certain degree of earthquake. But this one beat it all in every degree and destroyed them all. Practically all my cousins, my uncles, my godfathers, they all have lost their houses, they all live in tents now. And so are all the neighbours. “

 

"This is the house where my father raised us 7 brothers. I'm the 4th born. Here you can appreciate the results of the earthquake in the house. They're a big family. Each one has lots of sons. And that's bonded⁵ us, giving us the strength to keep going. How can I put it, because I am very touched. How can I explain? Everyone is helping⁶ out, cooperating with all their hearts. Dad, you have to rebuild the house, they say, and the brothers agree. "

 

Now the family is together again, not for celebration, but to clean up what's left.

 

"It's been very sad, this thing. We are...but we don't know what to do. We're left with no house. This house is lost. It's all broken. The roof tiles, if you look at it from the outside, there's not one roof tile in place. This house is through, is over. "

 

"I somehow blocked that night. It is the fear, the anguish⁷, so very special. "

 

"I just wanted Emilia's baptisms to be here, at our house with a little chapel⁸. Because all my family is going to be here and Emilia is the first great grand daughter. My grandfather was so proud."

 

"To have lost our cousin Nano, we all got together yesterday. We had a very beautiful mass in front of the very house that destroyed him. And all the cousins were there. We couldn't stop saying hi to everyone. It was very emotional. Maybe the house will fall to the floor, but we'll still be in love with the place. You can treasure these old big farmhouses⁹, but everyone understands this thing falls apart sometimes, and when they do, it seems that the family gets even more unified¹⁰. "

 

"This tight-knit Chilean family has new memories, both sad and joyous¹¹, and it has a story to pass to the new generations about how one little infant, through fate, saved the Mujica from an even worse outcome in their country's devastating¹² earthquake."

1 picturesque   

adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的

参考例句：

• You can see the picturesque shores beside the river.在河边你可以看到景色如画的两岸。
• That was a picturesque phrase.那是一个形象化的说法。

2 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

3 miraculously   

ad.奇迹般地

参考例句：

• He had been miraculously saved from almost certain death. 他奇迹般地从死亡线上获救。
• A schoolboy miraculously survived a 25 000-volt electric shock. 一名男学生在遭受2.5 万伏的电击后奇迹般地活了下来。

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 bonded   

n.有担保的，保税的，粘合的

参考例句：

• The whisky was taken to bonded warehouses at Port Dundee.威士忌酒已送到邓迪港的保稅仓库。
• This adhesive must be applied to both surfaces which are to be bonded together.要粘接的两个面都必须涂上这种黏合剂。

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

7 anguish   

n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼

参考例句：

• She cried out for anguish at parting.分手时，她由于痛苦而失声大哭。
• The unspeakable anguish wrung his heart.难言的痛苦折磨着他的心。

8 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。

9 farmhouses   

n.农舍，农场的主要住房( farmhouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Then perhaps she is staying at one of cottages or farmhouses? 那么也许她现在住在某个农舍或哪个农场的房子里吧？ 来自辞典例句
• The countryside was sprinkled with farmhouses. 乡间到处可见农家的房舍。 来自辞典例句

10 unified   

(unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的

参考例句：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。

11 joyous   

adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的

参考例句：

• The lively dance heightened the joyous atmosphere of the scene.轻快的舞蹈给这场戏渲染了欢乐气氛。
• They conveyed the joyous news to us soon.他们把这一佳音很快地传递给我们。

12 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。