VOA标准英语2009年-Rescue Efforts Continue After Indonesia Ea

Rescue efforts continue in the aftermath of a magnitude 7.0 earthquake that hit Indonesia. The government has confirmed the deaths of 64 people but that number is expected to rise.
　
Residents, rescue workers search for victims at site where earthquake-triggered landslide¹ hit village in Cikangkareng, West java, 4 Sep 2009

The earthquake that shook the Indonesian island of Java caused a landslide in the village of Cikangkareng, burying 13 homes and the people who were inside.

Arifin, a retired² teacher, lost most of his family.

He says he can only pray that they will be in a better place.

This village in the Cianjur district has reported the highest number of earthquake deaths, and the toll³ is likely to rise.

Rescue efforts are underway. Bulldozers work to remove tons of dirt, rocks, and trees.

And soldiers using shovels⁴ and sticks are both searching for survivors⁵ and recovering the dead.

Dede Jusef, the vice⁶ governor of West Java is coordinating⁷ rescue efforts.

"Our main concern is to rescue as much people as we can get, and afterwards then we can manage for the reconstruction," Jusef said.

In addition to scores of casualties and the hundreds of wounded, the earthquake damaged thousands of houses, schools, and buildings in the country.

The earthquake, which occurred just off the southern Java coast, shook tall buildings in city of Jakarta, 190 kilometers to the north, but caused little damage.

Rural towns and villages to the south were hit hardest.

In the town Tasikmalaya, 115 kilometers from the epicenter of the quake, 500 houses were destroyed leaving about 2,000 homeless.

In the village of Sukanagara, which has a population of 30,000, one person died and 198 houses were damaged.

While Indonesia is prone⁸ to frequent seismic⁹ activity, Sukanagara official Firman Edi says for his small village an earthquake of this magnitude is a rare occurrence.

He says this was big for them. It never happened there in 20 years.

Tents have been erected¹⁰ in the affected¹¹ areas for the over 5,000 people in need of temporary housing. Assistance, including food, water and medicine is beginning to arrive.

1 landslide   

n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利

参考例句：

• Our candidate is predicated to win by a landslide.我们的候选人被预言将以绝对优势取胜。
• An electoral landslide put the Labour Party into power in 1945.1945年工党以压倒多数的胜利当选执政。

2 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

3 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。

4 shovels   

n.铲子( shovel的名词复数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份v.铲子( shovel的第三人称单数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份

参考例句：

• workmen with picks and shovels 手拿镐铲的工人
• In the spring, we plunge shovels into the garden plot, turn under the dark compost. 春天，我们用铁锨翻开园子里黑油油的沃土。 来自辞典例句

5 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

6 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

7 coordinating   

v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的现在分词 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• He abolished the Operations Coordinating Board and the Planning Board. 他废除了行动协调委员会和计划委员会。 来自辞典例句
• He's coordinating the wedding, and then we're not going to invite him? 他是来协调婚礼的，难道我们不去请他？ 来自电影对白

8 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

9 seismic   

a.地震的，地震强度的

参考例句：

• Earthquakes produce two types of seismic waves.地震产生两种地震波。
• The latest seismic activity was also felt in northern Kenya.肯尼亚北部也感觉到了最近的地震活动。

10 ERECTED   

adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立

参考例句：

• A monument to him was erected in St Paul's Cathedral. 在圣保罗大教堂为他修了一座纪念碑。
• A monument was erected to the memory of that great scientist. 树立了一块纪念碑纪念那位伟大的科学家。

11 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。