VOA标准英语10月-Pakistan Quake Survivors Bury Dead, Brace For Win

Rescue efforts continue in southwest Pakistan, where the official death toll¹ from Wednesday's magnitude 6.4 earthquake reached 215. VOA's Barry Newhouse reports from Islamabad that providing shelter for homeless families is now a top priority.

Rescue workers are still trying to determine the extent of the damage in the rugged², mountainous area of Baluchistan Province, but say it appears as many as 5,000 homes were either collapsed³ or severely⁴ damaged by the tremor⁵.

Non-government organizations say the actual death toll is probably around 400, but the official tally⁶ is lower because remote villages and quick burials make counting difficult.
　

Pakistani people warm themselves next to their tents after an earthquake in Ziarat, about 130 kilometers (81 miles) south of Quetta, Pakistan, 30 Oct 2008

Military spokesman General Salim Nawaz says rescue efforts are going smoothly⁷ and most of the dead have been buried. He says there are no reports Thursday of locating survivors⁸ buried under wreckage⁹.

Baluchistan's governor, Nawab Zulfiqar Magsi, told reporters that the main focus now is taking care of survivors. He says it is really cold here and we need blankets, clothes and tents. He says it will take time to rebuild destroyed homes.

Residents in the area build their own houses using mud, wood and grass. They say cold weather makes construction nearly impossible during the winter and they will have to wait until March to rebuild.

For now, aid organizations and Pakistan's military say they have provided about 4,000 winterized tents for families, but some have yet to reach remote areas.

Hassan Moazam is the country director for the international aid group Care. He says he visited a village called Wom near the epicenter.

"That place is very remote and very cold. I was there during the evening time and at night the temperature goes sub-zero," he said. "Especially the women and young children, they were all sitting under open skies, so it is quite a challenge for these families to survive under open skies without any shelter."

Moazam says the scope of the damage is much less than the devastating¹⁰ 2005 earthquake in northeast Pakistan that killed about 80,000 people. But he says non-government aid groups are still assessing the extent of the damage and will issue a report on Friday.

1 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

2 rugged   

adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的

参考例句：

• Football players must be rugged.足球运动员必须健壮。
• The Rocky Mountains have rugged mountains and roads.落基山脉有崇山峻岭和崎岖不平的道路。

3 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。

4 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

5 tremor   

n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震

参考例句：

• There was a slight tremor in his voice.他的声音有点颤抖。
• A slight earth tremor was felt in California.加利福尼亚发生了轻微的地震。

6 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。

7 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

8 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

9 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

10 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。