新闻英语精解【39】可怕的龙卷风

Midwest Tornadoes Leave Five People Dead

【参考译文】美国中西部龙卷风造成5人死亡

KANSAS CITY, Kan. - A series of tornadoes pummeled Kansas and Missouri on Sunday, killing at least five people as they left a swath of destruction a quarter-mile wide in some places.

【参考译文】堪萨斯州- 星期日,多起龙卷风横扫了堪萨斯和密苏里，造成至少5人死亡，留下一条四分之一英里宽的破坏地带。

【讲解】tornado的本义是旋风, 龙卷风, 大雷雨, 也指具有巨大破坏性的人(或事物)。下面我们丰富一下和风有关的词汇：blizzard是指大风雪； gale 主要指突发的一阵大风；hurricane是飓风, 狂风； tempest 是暴风雨，比较侧重于雨的方面；whirlwind:旋风。

Pummel: To beat, as with the fists; pommel.用拳头打；揍。The thief was pushed and pummeled by an angry crowd.一群人推搡并痛打小偷。

swath :a strip.一条。还有一个和这个单词有关的习惯用语：cut a swath through:使某物主要部分毁坏的意思。

The tornadoes were part of a large storm system that hit the Midwest, spawning twisters in South Dakota and Nebraska as well.

【参考译文】此次龙卷风是袭击中西部的大风暴系统的一部分，这个大风暴系统同样也在南达科他州和内布拉斯加产生了大量龙卷风。

【讲解】Spawn是产卵的意思，在这里当然是产生的意思。

Joy Moser, spokeswoman for the Kansas Division of Emergency Management, said the agency had confirmed five deaths, and dozens of homes and buildings were damaged and destroyed around the region. Cars and trucks were tossed into a ravine full of splintered trees in Kansas City,

【参考译文】堪萨斯紧急管理中心女发言人乔伊.莫泽说紧急中心已经确认5 人死亡，她还说周围许多住宅和建筑物被龙卷风破坏。龙卷风把很多小汽车和卡车都卷到了堪萨斯一个充满断枝碎片的峡谷里。

【讲解】confirm:确定。

toss常与to, away, aside, out连用，表示扔，投，掷的意思。如：They tossed the ball to each other. 他们把球互相扔来扔去。在日产生活中，有时我们很难做出某个决定，这时就可以toss for it,也就是掷钱币决定某事。

Ravine:沟壑, 峡谷, 溪谷。

Splinter的本义是裂片, 碎片; 尖片。如：run a splinter into one's finger手上扎了一根刺。由此而得来的引申意思是微不足道的事情, 微小的东西

Stop lights at intersections weren't working in many places because of a power outage, causing confusion among motorists and considerable congestion. At some intersections, law officers were directing traffic to keep vehicles moving.

【参考译文】由于龙卷风造成停电，许多十字路口的指示灯无法正常工作，使得众多汽车拥挤而引起混乱。在一些十字路口，交警们正在指挥交通，保持车辆正常行驶。

【讲解】intersection 横断，十字路口。

Outage是指自来水、电力、燃用气的断供期。

congestion多用来指交通的拥挤，货物的充斥以及人口的稠密。在医学术语中指充血，如：pulmonary congestion:肺充血。congestion of traffic:拥挤的交通。congestion of population:人口过剩。

Keep…doing指保持；继续。如：We will keep on trying. 我们将继续努力。

The governor said the damage was "the worst I've seen from a tornado in several years."

【参考译文】政府官员说是这次受害程度是他近几年所见的受龙卷风破坏最严重的一次。