VOA标准英语2011--Floods Force Thais to Track Down Crocodiles in Bangkok Neighborhoods

Floods Force Thais to Track Down Crocodiles in Bangkok Neighborhoods

 

Thailand’s devastating¹ floods swept over a third of the country in recent weeks, killing² hundreds and turning hundreds of thousands into refugees fleeing inundated³ homes and swamped neighborhoods. As if that were not enough to contend with, authorities are searching for dozens of crocodiles that escaped flooded crocodile farms and are being spotted⁴ in parts of the Thai capital, Bangkok.

A team from Thailand’s Fisheries Department prepares their gear for a survey of a flooded neighborhood in west Bangkok. It includes hooks, nets, and an electronic stunning⁵ device.

Despite a meter of water, there is still electricity and people in their homes. Some stay to ward⁶ off thieves, but there are other kinds of intruders.

As the sun goes down, team leader Kamthon Suaroon and his crew prepare to go hunting. “We have just received the information from the people that the crocodile has escaped to this village," he said.

Kamthon says since the flooding, their three teams have caught nearly one hundred crocodiles outside Bangkok - most near the farms where they had escaped.

A man carries a crocodile on his shoulder after he and his team killed it at a flooded residential7 area in Bangbuatong district of Nonthaburi province, north of Bangkok, Thailand Sunday, Oct. 23, 2011.

He says they caught about ten small crocodiles around Bangkok’s outskirts⁸ but none inside the city - until tonight. “We have information from another team, from Ram⁹ Intra Road, Ram Intra Road. We can catch one crocodile already," he said.

Kamthon says the other team found a Cayman between one and a half and two meters long, which he calls “not so big”.

The team will search other places tonight where they find tracks, but no crocodiles. Tomorrow, they will return with traps loaded with chicken to try to nab this neighborhood’s unwanted new resident.

1 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。

2 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

3 inundated   

v.淹没( inundate的过去式和过去分词 )；（洪水般地）涌来；充满；给予或交予（太多事物）使难以应付

参考例句：

• We have been inundated with offers of help. 主动援助多得使我们应接不暇。
• We have been inundated with every bit of information imaginable. 凡是想得到的各种各样的信息潮水般地向我们涌来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

5 stunning   

adj.极好的；使人晕倒的

参考例句：

• His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
• The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。

6 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

7 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

8 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

9 ram   

(random access memory)随机存取存储器

参考例句：

• 512k RAM is recommended and 640k RAM is preferred.推荐配置为512K内存，640K内存则更佳。