2006年VOA标准英语-Israeli, US, UK Experts Join in Rescue Eff

By Cathy Majtenyi
Nairobi
24 January 2006
 

Injured man is carried away from rubble¹ on stretcher  
  
Efforts are continuing in Kenya to rescue survivors² trapped inside a five-story building that collapsed⁴ Monday in the Kenyan capital. Fourteen people are known dead.

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Experts from the United States, Israel, and Britain worked side-by-side with Kenyan rescuers to free people still trapped in the rubble of the building, which had been under construction at the time of its collapse³.

Some 200 people, mostly construction workers, were believed to have been inside the building when the accident occurred.

"We have experts here. We have the Israelis and they are working on it. They are working very hard together with our people here. We have the military, we have St. John's Ambulance, we have the Red Cross. They are working very hard to ensure that we get to those people in a safe manner," police spokesman Jaspher Ombati described the professional collaboration⁵ at the scene.

Kenyan media is appealing to their audiences to donate blood, water, food, and other items to help those injured in the accident and to aid rescue efforts.

President Mwai Kibaki returned early from the African Union summit being held in Sudan to visit the accident scene. He offered his condolences to the victims and praised rescue efforts.

Kenyan authorities are investigating the cause of Monday's accident. Officials suggest the developers ignored regulations, making the structure unstable⁶. They have been asked to report to the police.

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 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

3 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

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 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

6 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。