BBC News with Kathy Clugston
As officials in Japan struggle toassessthe extent of the damage following the tsunami caused by a massive earthquake, it's been announced that some 300 people are known to have been killed and more than 500 areunaccountedfor in the area around the northern coastal city of Sendai. The 8.9-magnitude quake, the biggest ever recorded in Japan, sent a wave of water several metres high sweeping far inland. Its epicentre was about 130km off Japan's east coast. In the capital Tokyo, several hundred kilometres away, buildingsswayed violently during the quake, which was followed by a series of powerful aftershocks. This was the sound in a supermarket. These residents described their experience.
"I thought I would die. It was really huge."
"I was on the Yamanote Line train, and it was the biggest quake I'd ever felt. It was very frightening."
"At first, I thought I had a puncture, and a concrete boulder fell onto my car."
Darkness has now fallen in Tokyo, from where Roland Buerk sent this report.
In the centre of Tokyo, many people are spending their night in their offices, but thousands perhaps millions chose to walk home. Train services were suspended. Even after the most violent earthquake anyone could remember, the crowds were orderly and calm. The devastation is further to the north along the Pacific coast. There a tsunami triggered by the quake reached 10km inland in places, carrying houses, buildings, boats and cars with it. In the city of Sendai, the police found up to 300 bodies in a single ward. Outside the city in a built-up area, a fire blazed across several kilometres. In another town, a vast wall of waterengulfed 300 homes. The cooling system at a nuclear power station failed, prompting the evacuation of thousands of people living nearby.
As well as Sendai and the surrounding farmland which were swamped, areas nearby were engulfed by fire, including the town of Kesennuma. The Japanese government is deploying hundreds of planes and ships in a relief operation. It has also requested some foreign search and rescue teams to help.
The earthquake triggered tsunami warnings across the Pacific region. Mark Lobel reports.
The first waves have now reached the mainland of the United States along the Oregon coast, but no major damage is reported. There was also relief that little destruction was caused after tsunami waves about 1m high flooded several of Hawaii's beaches. Relatively minor waves reached the Philippines, the Kuril Islands and Taiwan. The International Red Cross has suggested the waves generated by the quake could be higher than some of the Pacific islands in their path. Warnings have been issued in around 50 countries.
World News from the BBC
Libyan military aircraft have again bombed arefineryand a rebel checkpoint near the oil port of Ras Lanuf, east of Tripoli. The attacks took place as forces loyal to Colonel Gaddafi continued a fierce battle to regain control of the town. Jon Leyne reports from nearby Brega.
Slowly butrelentlessly, Colonel Gaddafi's forces seem to be winning the battle for Ras Lanuf. Opposition fighters are still in the town, but they are under intense pressure. The bombing from government warplanes continued today, and there's a big plume of smoke from the oil installation which was hit a couple of days ago.There's no sign of either the rebel fighters or the local population beginning to flee the area.If Ras Lanuf falls, it brings the frontline closer to the main opposition-held city of Benghazi.
Meanwhile, foreign journalists allowed by the Libyan government to visit the town of Zawiya, west of Tripoli, report scenes of devastation after pro-Gaddafi forces retook the town in recent fighting. The United States and the European Union haveattempted toincrease diplomatic pressure on Colonel Gaddafi tostep down. Mr Obama said the US would take a wide range of actions tomake sureColonel Gaddafi left power.
Tens of thousands of anti-government demonstrators have marched in cities across Yemen after Friday prayers, demanding theremovalof President Ali Abdullah Saleh. At least six people were wounded when security forces fired at protesters in the southern port city of Aden. In the capital Sanaa, where supporters of the government also held a rally, police set uproadblocks tokeep the two sides apart.
The American State Department spokesman PJ Crowley has described the treatment of the US soldier suspected of passing material to the Wikileaks website, Private Bradley Manning, as "ridiculous", "counterproductive" and "stupid". Private Manning has been charged with offences including aiding the enemy, and he's being held in solitary confinement in prison. Mr Crowley said however that it was right that Private Manning was being held in jail.
BBC News
日本强烈地震引发海啸,官员正在努力评估损坏程度。目前官方已宣布,北部海岸城市仙台周边大约300人死亡,500多人下落不明。这次8.9级的地震是日本记录到的最严重的地震,引发几米高的海浪,席卷了内陆。地震震中距离日本东部海岸大约130千米。在几千米以外的首都东京,建筑在地震的过程中剧烈摇晃,随后又发生了几次强烈的余震。这是一个超市中的声音。这些居民描述了他们的经历。
“我原以为我会在地震中死去。真的是非常强烈的地震。”
“我正在山手线火车上。这是我经历过的最大的地震。非常恐怖。”
“一开始我还以为自己会被刺穿,一个巨大的水泥柱子砸到了我的汽车上。”
东京已经夜幕降临,Roland Buerk在当地报道。
在东京市中心,许多人在办公室过夜,但是数千人或者数百万人仍然选择在家中过夜。火车服务已经暂停。甚至在任何人都觉得终生难忘的最强烈的地震过后,人群仍然非常平静,非常有秩序。灾难沿着太平洋海岸一直向北延伸。地震引发的海啸到达内陆10千米处,卷走了房屋,建筑,船只和汽车。在仙台市,警方仅在一条街道就发现了300具尸体。在仙台市外一个建筑密集的地区,一场大火焚烧了几千米的范围。在另外一个城镇,巨大的水墙吞没了300座房屋。一座核电站的制冷系统出现故障,致使居住在附近的数千人撤离。
除了仙台市和周边被淹没的农田之外,附近的地区也被大火吞噬,包括气仙沼市。日本政府已经部署了数百架飞机和船只进行救援行动。日本政府还呼吁外国搜救队前来提供援助。
地震引发太平洋地区海啸预警。Mark Lobel报道。
地震引发的首次海浪已经到达美国俄勒冈海岸内陆,但是还没有重大损坏报告。一米高的海浪席卷了夏威夷几个沙滩之后也没有造成损害,这令人非常欣慰。较小的海浪袭击了菲律宾,千岛群岛和台湾。国际红十字会提醒,这些地方的海浪可能会高过太平洋一些岛屿出现的海浪。太平洋沿岸大约50个国家发布了海啸预警。
BBC世界新闻。
利比亚军用飞机再次轰炸了的黎波里东部石油港口拉斯拉努夫附近的炼油厂和叛军检查点。袭击发生时,卡扎菲上校的部队继续进行激烈的战斗,试图重新夺回对该城镇的控制。Jon Leyne在附近的伯瑞加报道。
卡扎菲部队的进展非常缓慢,但是锲而不舍,他们似乎即将赢得拉斯拉努夫战斗的胜利。反对派战士仍然驻守着该港口,但是遭遇的压力越来越强烈。政府战斗机今天继续进行轰炸,前几天遭遇袭击的石油设施冒着浓烟。没有任何迹象表明叛军战士或当地人口开始逃离该地区。如果拉斯拉努夫沦陷,前线将越来越靠近反对派控制的主要城市班加西。
同时,获得利比亚政府允许进入的黎波里西部扎维耶的外国记者报道了支持卡扎菲的军队在最近的战斗中重新控制该城镇后的灾难景象。美国和欧盟试图增加外交方面的压力,迫使卡扎菲上校退位。奥巴马总统表示,美国将采取一系列措施确保卡扎菲上校下台。
周五的祈祷过后,数万名反政府示威者在也门多个城市游行,要求总统阿里·阿卜杜拉·萨利赫(Ali Abdullah Saleh)下台。在南部港口城市亚丁,安全力量向抗议者开枪,造成至少6人死亡。在首都萨那,政府支持者也举行了集会,警方设置了路障将两股力量分开。
美国国务院发言人菲利普·克劳利(PJ Crowley)称,涉嫌向维基解密网泄漏资料的美国士兵布拉德利·曼宁(Bradley Manning)遭受的待遇是非常“可笑的”,“事与愿违的”,“愚蠢的”。布拉德利·曼宁(Bradley Manning)被控告几项罪名,包括帮助敌人,他现在被单独拘禁在监狱中。然而,菲利普·克劳利(PJ Crowley)表示,曼宁被关押在监狱中是正确的。
1.assess vt.估价, 估计, 评定, 核定
例句:We should equitably assess historical figures.
我们应该公正地评价历史人物。
estimate,appraise,assess,evaluate,value,rateestimate通常指由个人作出的主观估价。
这些动词均有“估价,估计”之意。
appraise指以专家身份作了最终精确的估价。
assess原义指对为确定交多少税而估计,引申指通过估价以便更好利用。
evaluate与appraise相似,指使判断绝对准确,但多用于对人物的某方面的评价,很少用于评价某物的市场价值。
value侧重指一般人对某物的价值或价格所作的估计。
rate专指评定价值等级的高低。
2.unaccounted adj.未说明的,未解释的
3.sway vt.vi.(使)摇摆, (使)摇动
例句:The dancers swayed to the music.
跳舞的人随着音乐节奏摇摆。
He swayed his head from side to side with worry.
他忧心忡忡地频频摇头。
4.engulf vt.吞没, 包住
例句:The little boat was engulfed by the waves.
小船被波浪吞没了。
5.refinery n.精炼厂
例句:They built a sugar refinery.
他们建起了一座榨糖厂。
6.relentlessly adv.无情地;残酷地
例句:He drives the team relentlessly.
他无情地逼迫全队拼命干。
The African sun beat relentlessly down on his aching head.
非洲的太阳无情地照射在他那发痛的头上。
不懈地;不屈不挠地;持续不断地
例句:He pursued her relentlessly, refusing to take ‘no’ for an answer.
他锲而不舍地追求她,拒不接受“不”的回答。
7.removal n.移动,搬动;迁居;除掉,切除;排除
8.roadblock n.路障
例句:Police have set up a roadblock on the road to London.
警察在通往伦敦的路上设置了路障。
9.counterproductive adj.反生产的,使达不到预期目标的
1.At first, I thought I had a puncture, and a concrete boulder fell onto my car.
at first起初, 当初
例句:At first, he was against our arrangement, but I managed to argue him round.
起初, 他反对我们的安排, 但我设法使他改变了看法。
I thought this was funny at first, but I felt a bit bad about it later.
一开始我认为这非常可笑,但之后我却对此感到有些后悔。
2.There's no sign of either the rebel fighters or the local population beginning to flee the area.
either……or……意为"或者……或者……;不是……就是……"之意。表示两者之一,连接句子中两个并列的成分。例如:
When the girl is happy, she either sings or dances.那个女孩高兴时,不是唱就是跳。(此句中either……or……连接两个动词,因为主语是单数第三人称,谓语动词要用其相应的形式。)
either……or……连接两个主语时,其谓语动词应与最近的一个主语在人称和数上保持一致,这就是我们通常说的"就近原则".例如:
Either you or I am going there tomorrow. 明天要么你去那里,要么我去那里。
注意:如果把上句变成一般疑问句,助动词形式与主语you保持一致,所以要用are提问,而不是am.例如:
Are either you or I going there tomorrow? 明天是你还是我去那里?
Either you or he has lunch at school. 其一般疑问句应为:Do either you or he have lunch at school? 是你还是他在学校吃午饭?
3.The United States and the European Union have attempted to increase diplomatic pressure on Colonel Gaddafi to step down.
attempt to试图,企图
step down退休, 辞职
例句:The manager had to step down on account of poor health.
那位经理由于身体不好, 只能辞职不干。
4.Mr Obama said the US would take a wide range of actions to make sure Colonel Gaddafi left power.
make sure设法确保出现某事物
例句:We and our friends will make sure of that.
我们和我们的朋友要确保这一点。
5.In the capital Sanaa, where supporters of the government also held a rally, police set up roadblocks to keep the two sides apart.
keep apart(使)分开
例句:You'd better keep the two aggressive boys apart.
你最好把那两个好斗的男孩分开。
I don't like to mix business with pleasure, but try to keep the two things fairly apart.
我不爱把做生意和娱乐这两件事混为一谈, 而是设法把这两件事严格地区分开来。