VOA标准英语2008年-US Farm Belt Faces Economic Disaster From Flood

By Greg Flakus
Council Bluffs¹, Iowa
20 June 2008

Surging water is moving down the Mississippi river devastating² towns and farmland along the way. The river has topped close to a dozen levees flooding towns in Iowa, Illinois and Missouri and residents farther downstream are bracing³ for the surge as it heads their way. VOA's Greg Flakus has more from Council Bluffs, Iowa.
　

Doug Smith and Debbie Hall put a protective cover over the sandbag levee being built around the town of in Hamburg, Illinois, 20 June 2008

Residents are returning to their homes in some parts of Iowa and farmers are trying to determine if they can salvage⁴ fields that were flooded soon after being planted. President Bush toured the disaster area Friday as did presidential candidates, Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican candidate, and Senator Barack Obama, the likely Democratic candidate.

But even as citizens began the clean up process in Iowa, assisted by the National Guard and relief agencies, people farther downstream were fleeing the raging water.

In Foley, Missouri, John Watson spoke⁵ to reporters from the roof of his home.

"There is nothing you can do, just sit there and watch it come at you. Get everything out you can," he said.

But the people whose homes have been flooded are not the only ones likely to feel pain from this disaster. A lot of valuable farmland has been flooded destroying crops of corn, wheat and soybeans that had been planted in recent weeks. This is the heart of the U.S. grain-producing region and the losses in the flood zone will surely cause higher food prices worldwide.

Corn hit a record price of $8 a bushel earlier this week and some analysts⁶ believe it will move higher once the full extent of the damage to farmland is known. Losses in Iowa alone are estimated at $2.7 billion. For farmers in the northern part of the flood zone it may be too late to replant since there are not enough days left in the growing season to bring a crop to harvest. But even many farmers who would like to replant there is pessimism⁷. Many of them say the ground is too soggy for them to enter the fields with tractors and other equipment.

But even after fields are totally drained farmers will face the problem of silt⁸ and contaminated material that washed over their land with the floodwaters. It may take years for some areas to recover completely.

The floods have also disrupted other economic activity in the area. Tourism has fallen even in areas unaffected by flooding because people are avoiding travel to the Mississippi river area in general. Barge⁹ traffic on the Mississippi has been slowed as well.

Officials say this year's floods will likely surpass the devastation¹⁰ of the 1993 floods in the region, which resulted in losses of over $20 billion.

1 bluffs   

恐吓( bluff的名词复数 )； 悬崖； 峭壁

参考例句：

• Two steep limestone bluffs rise up each side of the narrow inlet. 两座陡峭的石灰石断崖耸立在狭窄的入口两侧。
• He bluffs his way in, pretending initially to be a dishwasher and then later a chef. 他虚张声势的方式，假装最初是一个洗碗机，然后厨师。

2 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。

3 bracing   

adj.令人振奋的

参考例句：

• The country is bracing itself for the threatened enemy invasion. 这个国家正准备奋起抵抗敌人的入侵威胁。
• The atmosphere in the new government was bracing. 新政府的气氛是令人振奋的。

4 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。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

7 pessimism   

n.悲观者，悲观主义者，厌世者

参考例句：

• He displayed his usual pessimism.他流露出惯有的悲观。
• There is the note of pessimism in his writings.他的著作带有悲观色彩。

8 silt   

n.淤泥，淤沙，粉砂层，泥沙层；vt.使淤塞；vi.被淤塞

参考例句：

• The lake was almost solid with silt and vegetation.湖里几乎快被淤泥和植物填满了。
• During the annual floods the river deposits its silt on the fields.每年河水泛滥时都会在田野上沉积一层淤泥。

9 barge   

n.平底载货船，驳船

参考例句：

• The barge was loaded up with coal.那艘驳船装上了煤。
• Carrying goods by train costs nearly three times more than carrying them by barge.通过铁路运货的成本比驳船运货成本高出近3倍。

10 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》