BBC News with Kathy Clugston
Engineers in Japan are working to prevent a nuclear catastrophe at a power plant damaged by the huge earthquake that struck on Friday. Large numbers of people have been evacuated from the area near the Fukushima complex, the worst hitfacility, amid concerns about radiation levels. Chris Hogg reports from Tokyo.
Hundreds of thousands of people here who survived Friday’s earthquake are being checked for exposure to radiation. They’ve been ordered to leave their homes in a wide area around the nuclear plant at Fukushima. Technicians there are struggling to make safe reactors damaged by the quake and the wall of water that’s swept through the complex. For a time, leaks of radiation were detected thatexceeded safety limits. Officials say the levels have since declined.
The Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has called on his country to unite and rebuild as it struggles tocope withthe devastation. He said Japan was facing its worst crisis since World War 2. Food, water and fuel are reported to berunning shortin some parts of Japan. Police say more than 10,000 people may have lost their lives in one of the worst affected regions, the northern coastal area of Miyagi. Our correspondent Rachel Harvey is in Miyagi and sent this report.
All day long the sound of helicopters filled the air as they ferried up and down the northeast coast. At ground level progress was slower. We were aiming for the town of Minami Sanriku, one of the areas worst affected by thisunfoldingdisaster. We have reached the stopping point. You can hear in the background diggers are now trying to clear the debris from the road up ahead, bits of wood, car tyres, bits of twisted metal. The main town is straight ahead of us and that is where, we are told, many thousands of people are still unaccounted for.
Large swathes of Japan are without power and the government is beginning a programme of rolling electricityblackouts. Huge numbers of survivors are gathered in emergency shelters, some with no heat. More than a million households are without fresh water. About 30% of Japan’s electricity comes from nuclear power.
In aremarkabletale of survival, the Japanese defence ministry said a 60-year-old man had been rescuedclinging tothe roof of his house. It had been carried out to sea by Friday’s tsunami. Mark Lobel has more.
For two days Hiromitsu Shinkawa drifted 15 kilometres off Japan’s northeastern coast, clinging to his floating rooftop. It was all that was left of his house in Fukushima prefecture after the tsunami had ripped it from its foundations and swept away his wife. As he clung on in the sea, he waved a red cloth in an attempt to attract the attention of passing helicopters and boats. The crew on board a Japanese military ship spotted him and sent a small vessel his way. As he was taken to hospital by helicopter, he was reported to be in good health.
World News from the BBC
Rebels in Libya have been forced to withdraw from the eastern town of Brega after coming under heavy bombardment from troops loyal to Colonel Gaddafi. Jon Leyne reports from the rebel-held town of Benghazi.
Government forces are continuing topress onwith what is becoming a fairly rapid advance in eastern Libya. Two days after the small town of Ras Lanuf fell into government hands, the oil town of Brega, 100 kilometres further east, has either been captured by Colonel Gaddafi’s forces or looks like it’s about to fall. That leaves the town of Ajdabiya as the last majorobstaclebefore the rebel stronghold of Benghazi. So the big question now is whether Colonel Gaddafi has the forces and thebackupto try and recapture the rest of the country. A battle for Benghazi will be far bloodier than anything seen so far.
Meanwhile, France has said it wants tospeed updiplomatic efforts to impose a no-fly zone over Libya.
There have been more violent clashes in Yemen between police and demonstrators demanding an end to the rule of President
Ali Abdullah Saleh. Reports say at least 100 people were injured when police used tear gas and live ammunition todisperseprotestors in the capital Sanaa.
The ruler of Oman, Sultan Qaboos, has announced he is to hand over some of his powers to officials from outside the royal family. A royal decree said the Legislative Council of Oman would be given lawmaking powers. Until now, the role of the council has been to advise the Sultan, who has ruled Oman for four decades.
The American State Department spokesman PJ Crowley has resigned after criticizing the Pentagon for its treatment of a US soldier suspected of passing classified documents to the WikiLeaks website. In a statement, Mr Crowley said he was taking full responsibility for the impact of his remarks. On Friday, Mr Crowley said that holding the soldier, Private Bradley Manning, in solitary confinement and obliging him to strip repeatedly was ridiculous, counterproductive and stupid.
BBC News
周五,日本发生的毁灭性的大地震造成一座核电站受损,工程人员正在努力避免核灾难的发生。受损最严重的是福岛核电站,现在的辐射水平很高,大量人口已经从附近地区撤离。Chris Hogg在东京报道。
经历了周五的地震后幸存的数十万人正在接受辐射暴露检测。福岛核电站周围大范围地区的人收到撤离命令。这里的技术人员正在努力采取措施保证在周五的地震和海啸中受损的核反应堆的安全。曾经一度,工作人员检测到辐射水平超出安全上限。官员们表示,从那之后,辐射强度已经下降。
日本首相菅直人呼吁全国民众团结起来,一起应对灾难,进行重建工作。他表示,日本正面临自第二次世界大战以来最大的灾难。据报道,日本某些地区的食物,水和燃料已经出现短缺。警方表示,在受灾最严重的北部海岸地区宫城县,超过10,000人遇难。我们的记者Rachel Harvey在宫城县发回报道。
在东北部海岸,直升机的声音一整天都在空中回荡。我们的目的地是受这次灾难影响最严重的宫城县南三陆町(Minami Sanriku)。我们已经到
达了现场。你在背景中可以听到挖掘机在道路上清理废墟,木头,轮胎和金属碎片。主城就在我们面前,我们被告知,就是在那里,数千人仍然下落不明。
日本大面积地区现在没有电力供应。政府已经开始了滚动断电项目。大量幸存者居住在紧急庇护所,其中一些地方没有供热系统。超过100万个家庭没有清洁水供应。日本大约30%的电力来自核电站。
在令人印象深刻的逃生传奇故事中,日本国防部表示,一位60岁的老人攀在屋顶上获救。屋顶被周五的海啸卷到了大海中。Mark Lobel报道更详细内容。
两天以来,Hiromitsu Shinkawa趴在漂浮的屋顶上在日本东北部海岸漂浮了15千米。海啸袭击福岛县并将他的妻子卷走之后,他的房屋也只剩下一个屋顶。在海上漂浮时,他一直挥舞一块红布,试图引起过往的船只和直升机的注意。日本军舰上的船员发现了他,派遣了一艘小艇进行营救。他被直升机带到医院,据报道,健康状况良好。
BBC世界新闻。
利比亚叛军遭遇卡扎菲政府军队的强烈炮轰之后被迫从东部城镇布雷加撤退。Jon Leyne在叛军控制的班加西报道。
政府力量步步紧逼,这在利比亚东部是比较快速的进展。拉斯拉努夫落入政府手中两天之后,东部100千米处的石油重镇布雷加也被卡扎菲上校的军队占领或者即将沦陷。这使得Ajdabiya成为叛军的堡垒班加西之前最后一道屏障。所以,现在最大的问题是,卡扎菲上校是否有力量或援助重新控制利比亚其他地区。关于班加西的战斗肯定比目前为止的任何战争更加血腥,更加残酷。同时,法国表示,他们希望加快外交方面的努力,在利比亚设立禁飞区。
也门警方和示威者之间发生了更多暴力冲突。示威者要求停止总统阿里·阿卜杜拉·萨利赫(Ali Abdullah Saleh)的统治。报道称,警方试图使用催泪弹和实弹驱散首都萨那的抗议者时造成至少100人受伤。
阿曼统治者喀布斯(Sultan Qaboos)宣布将部分权利移交给皇室以外的其他官员。皇家颁布的一道法令表示,阿曼立法委员会将被赋予立法权力。目前为止,该委员会的责任只是为喀布斯(Sultan Qaboos)提供建议。喀布斯已经执政几十年的时间。
美国国务院发言人菲利普·克劳利(PJ Crowley)批评了五角大楼对待向维基解密网泄漏机密文件的美国士兵的方式后辞职。在一份声明中,克劳利表示为自己的言论产生的影响负全部责任。周五,克劳利表示,将士兵Bradley Manning单独关押,并多次强迫他脱衣服的行为是荒唐的,事与愿违的,愚蠢的。
1.facility n.设备, 设施
例句:The machine is only servicing facilities.
这部机器只是辅助设备。
2.exceed vi.(在数量或质量等方面)超过或胜过其他人(或事物),居超出地位;占优势;突出
例句:In the Olympic Games Americans exceeded in basketball.
在奥运会上, 美国在篮球方面领先。
3.unfolding adj.演变的
4.blackout n.断电;停电
5.remarkable a.异常的,非凡的,显著的;值得注意的
例句:He showed remarkable endurance throughout his illness.
他生病的整个阶段都表现出非凡的忍耐力。
6.obstacle n.障碍(物), 妨碍
例句:She felt that her family was an obstacle to her work.
她感到她的家庭妨碍她的工作。
7.backup n.帮助;援助;支持
例句:military backup
军事援助
8.disperse vt.vi.(使)分散,散开;疏散;驱散
例句:After school the children dispersed to their homes.
放学后, 孩子们四散回家了。
The police dispersed the crowd.
警察驱散了群众。
1.The Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has called on his country to unite and rebuild as it struggles to cope with the devastation.
cope with对付…
例句:I cannot cope with that boy; he is stubborn.
我对付不了那个孩子, 他很固执。
Do not imagine that you can cope with all the problems.
别以为你能处理所有这些问题。
deal with,cope with,dispose of,manage,handle
这些动词或短语动词都含有“处理”,“对付”之意。
deal with既可指处理具体事情,也可指处理或解决具有抽象意义的问题。
cope with指成功地处理或对付更为重大,更为严重的问题或事物。
dispose of与deal with同义,普通用法。
manage指处理日常事务与工作,也可指经营管理。
handle从原义“手柄”,转引申为作“处理”解时,其内涵是管理和操纵。
2.Food, water and fuel are reported to be running short in some parts of Japan.
run short缺乏, 不够
例句:Our money is running short.
我们的钱快用完了。
3.In a remarkable tale of survival, the Japanese defence ministry said a 60-year-old man had been rescued clinging to the roof of his house.
cling to紧抓, 紧附, 紧偎(某人)
例句:He clung to the rope with both hands.
他双手紧紧抓住绳子。
Wet clothes cling to the body.
湿衣服贴身。
4.Government forces are continuing to press on with what is becoming a fairly rapid advance in eastern Libya.
press on奋力前进; 坚持
例句:Though they were extremely tired, they still pressed on.
他们尽管非常疲劳, 但仍奋力前进。
I know it's almost midnight, but we'd better press on and get the job finished.
我知道现在快半夜了, 但我们最好还是坚持干下去, 把工作干完。
5.Meanwhile, France has said it wants to speed up diplomatic efforts to impose a no-fly zone over Libya.
speed up(使)加速
例句:We'll never get there if he doesn't speed up.
如果他不快些走, 我们一定到不了那里。
We are speeding up the mechanization of our agriculture.
我们正在加快农业机械化的步伐。