VOA标准英语2013--Residents of Devastated Texas Town Work to Restore Lives

 

Residents of Devastated¹ Texas Town Work to Restore Lives

The funeral procession was made up mostly of fire trucks and passed under a giant American flag. It's the first funeral of many to come in this Texas town and is for volunteer fireman Kenneth Harris. He died trying to stop the blaze that preceded the explosion at the West fertilizer plant. 

The explosion on April 18 was so powerful that it registered it as a 2.1-magnitude earthquake. It collapsed² an apartment complex and destroyed homes in a five-block radius³.

Although most residents survived with no injuries, almost everyone in this close-knit community knew someone who died, was injured or lost a home.

Dorothy Zahirniak barely survived but lost her home. “When I heard the blast, I thought 'My God, what was that?' and then the ceiling fell down on me,” Zahiriniak said.

Even outside the main blast zone, many houses suffered structural⁴ damage. Homeowners have hired contractors⁵ to help remove furniture and other items that can be salvaged⁶.

Most residents who were displaced are with relatives in the area, but the local Veterans of Foreign Wars offered shelter.

“We set up a shelter and we are accepting donations of clothing, food, household items and monetary⁷ funds to help rebuild the city. We are assisting residents with distribution of said items. We are serving three meals a day,” said Bobby Jones, who is with the local VFW chapter.

The food often consists of Texas favorites like Mexican burritos and barbecue.

The barbecue is Texas-style, prepared in a big smoker⁸ operated by volunteers from Operation Barbecue Relief.

Bryan McClarty assembled the team and brought the food.

“We have got people from all over the state of Texas down here to help them. All they need is just a little bit of comfort and time right now, in need, and they will be just fine,” he said.

Most people here are of Czech descent and take pride in their heritage.

As the investigation⁹ continues into what caused the explosion, residents are making plans to rebuild and recover. 

1 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

2 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。

3 radius   

n.半径，半径范围；有效航程，范围，界限

参考例句：

• He has visited every shop within a radius of two miles.周围两英里以内的店铺他都去过。
• We are measuring the radius of the circle.我们正在测量圆的半径。

4 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

5 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 salvaged   

（从火灾、海难等中）抢救（某物）( salvage的过去式和过去分词 )； 回收利用（某物）

参考例句：

• The investigators studied flight recorders salvaged from the wreckage. 调查者研究了从飞机残骸中找到的黑匣子。
• The team's first task was to decide what equipment could be salvaged. 该队的首要任务是决定可以抢救哪些设备。

7 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

8 smoker   

n.吸烟者，吸烟车厢，吸烟室

参考例句：

• His wife dislikes him to be a smoker.他妻子不喜欢他当烟民。
• He is a moderate smoker.他是一个有节制的烟民。

9 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。