斯里兰卡从渴望在海啸后重建家园

Sri Lankans Look to Rebuild after Deadly Tsunami¹

斯里兰卡从渴望在海啸后重建家园

 

Two weeks after the deadly tsunami ravaged² scores of communities along its coast, some of Sri Lankan say they are ready to rebuild and get on with their lives. But with destruction so widespread and aid largely directed at emergency medical care, few know where to begin.

 

Nandini Fernando and her extended family are sifting⁴ through piles of debris⁵, trying to find pieces of their former homes to salvage⁶. The family owned three houses in the coastal⁷ town of Moratuwa, approximately 90 kilometers south of Sri Lanka's capital.

 

Like millions of people across the Indian Ocean region, Ms. Fernando has her own story to tell of the moment the tsunami struck.

 

Ms. Fernando: This was my house, she says, we had three rooms and a kitchen. When the water came in, five of us were here, including three kids. When the water came up to neck level, we ran away.

 

Visible around the curve of the beach in Moratuwa is the capital Colombo, home to an industrial port and tens of thousands of others who were spared from the tsunami's wrath⁸. More than 30,000 people across the country died.

 

Despite being hit by the wave, residents of Moratuwa consider themselves lucky. Just two people died in the tsunami here. And since it is so near the capital, its residents say they are not suffering from the same health threats, such as a lack of drinking water and food, affecting so many other communities. Most are now living in nearby schools being used as refugee centers.

 

Still that is the only assistance the residents of Moratuwa have received. They say they need more help from the government if they are going to restart their lives.

 

Sitting amidst the rubble⁹ lining¹⁰ the shore is 32-year-old Arunkumara Pereis. He is simply staring at the remains¹¹ of his house, located just over a sea wall about 20 meters from the water.

 

Like many here, Mr. Pereis would like to put the tsunami behind him and rebuild his home. But the task of rebuilding may foretell¹² of other difficulties yet to be discussed, such as property rights and whether the government will help move displaced communities.

 

He said, the government has forbidden the people of Moratuwa from rebuilding their houses here, near the sea. So he has to rebuild somewhere else. But he does not own any land, so he has no idea what to do.

 

Twenty-five-year-old D.D. Nishantha first heard about the tsunami on television, when local news carried images of parts of eastern Sri Lanka where the wave had already struck. No one apparently¹³ thought to warn communities in the southern parts of the country, struck by the wave roughly an hour later.

 

Like many in Moratuwa, Mr. Nishantha is a carpenter, a profession likely to face a high demand following the tragedy. But he says he is not interested in making money.

 

He says after the waves destroyed their homes, no one has any money. Everyone is a carpenter or house builder. So we could do on our work. If anyone needs help, he says he will help them without charging. He does not want to charge anyone affected¹⁴ by the tsunami.

 

Patricia Nunan, VOA news, Moratuwa.

 

注释：

sift³ [sift] v. 详审，仔细检查

approximately [EprRksI5mEtli] adv. 近似地，大约

Colombo [kE5lQmbEu] n. 科伦坡(斯里兰卡首都)

wrath [rC:W] n. 愤怒

amidst [E5midst] prep. 在...当中

carpenter [5kB:pintE] n. 木匠

1 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

2 ravaged   

毁坏( ravage的过去式和过去分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫

参考例句：

• a country ravaged by civil war 遭受内战重创的国家
• The whole area was ravaged by forest fires. 森林火灾使整个地区荒废了。

3 sift   

v.筛撒，纷落，详察

参考例句：

• Sift out the wheat from the chaff.把小麦的壳筛出来。
• Sift sugar on top of the cake.在蛋糕上面撒上糖。

4 sifting   

n.筛，过滤v.筛( sift的现在分词 )；筛滤；细查；详审

参考例句：

• He lay on the beach, sifting the sand through his fingers. 他躺在沙滩上用手筛砂子玩。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I was sifting the cinders when she came in. 她进来时，我正在筛煤渣。 来自辞典例句

5 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

6 salvage   

v.救助，营救，援救；n.救助，营救

参考例句：

• All attempts to salvage the wrecked ship failed.抢救失事船只的一切努力都失败了。
• The salvage was piled upon the pier.抢救出的财产被堆放在码头上。

7 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。

8 wrath   

n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒

参考例句：

• His silence marked his wrath. 他的沉默表明了他的愤怒。
• The wrath of the people is now aroused. 人们被激怒了。

9 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。

10 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。

11 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。

12 foretell   

v.预言，预告，预示

参考例句：

• Willow trees breaking out into buds foretell the coming of spring.柳枝绽青报春来。
• The outcome of the war is hard to foretell.战争胜负难以预卜。

13 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

14 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。