(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Scientists say rising temperatures on Earth's surface are to blame for rising sea levels. The reality of rising sea levels means many coastal and island communities are at risk when a tsunami strikes. The island state of Hawaii is taking steps to prepare for tsunami waves. Officials there want to be ready if such an event takes place.
In 2011, a strong earthquake struck northeastern Japan. The quake caused a tsunami. The huge waves damaged several nuclear reactors in the area. Those events led Hawaiian officials to reconsider their plan of action for dealing with a tsunami.
Scientists and emergency officials in the state are now preparing for an extreme tsunami -- the kind that comes every 500 to 1,000 years.
Almost 19,000 people died when the earthquake and tsunami struck Japan four years ago. Scientists say the Hawaiian Islands may be just as helpless if such a disaster were to take place there.
Rhett Butler is a researcher at the University of Hawaii. He says a mysterious hole on the island of Kauai has evidence that a huge tsunami hit Hawaii 500 years ago. David Burney discovered the evidence. He found remains of old shells, coral and other sea creatures in a cave about 100 meters from the ocean.
Civil defense agencies keep people prepared by testing their tsunami warning system.
Scientists say a major tsunami could happen again. They warn that if a powerful earthquake struck the Aleutian Islands in the northern Pacific, a super tsunami could follow.
A researcher at the University of Hawaii created a computer model to show what would happen if an earthquake struck the Aleutians and produced a tsunami. The model showed the waves from a major quake could move further inland across Hawaii than officials thought, deep into areas considered safe.
The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency works with local governments to create disaster plans. Kevin Richards is an emergency planner with the agency. He says before the computer model, Hawaiian officials thought they would only have to evacuate 85,000 people from the island of Oahu.
"If this event took place, we'd have to move 340 and 350,000 people to safety -- a much more daunting task. And safety is not in the same place any more. It's much further away, it's further up the hill -- it's further inland."
Some Hawaiians could drive to higher ground. But driving is not possible in some parts of Hawaii. So people would have to walk to safety or go to the fourth floor or higher of a reinforced concrete building.
Officials are now developing a new plan of action, with an extended evacuation zone for an extreme tsunami. Scientist Rhett Butler says because of what happened in Japan in 2011, people take the threat seriously.
"It doesn't mean it's gonna happen in our time. It doesn't mean it's gonna happen this year or next year. But it's just the nature of the tectonic forces on our planet. They just keep marchin(g) along, and once you relieve all these stresses with these truly great earthquakes, the water responds."
I'm Christopher Cruise.
词汇解释
1.tsunami n. 海啸
Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.
大地震触发了日本的海啸预警.
2.daunting adj. 使人畏缩的；使人气馁的；令人怯步的
He and his wife Jane were faced with the daunting task of restoring the gardens to their former splendour.
他和他的妻子简当时面临着恢复花园昔日风采的艰巨任务。
3.tectonic adj. [地质] 构造的；建筑的；地壳构造上的
The tectonic trends in the granulito massif are arcuate.
变粒岩地块的构造走向是弧形。
内容解析
1.Scientists say rising temperatures on Earth's surface are to blame for rising sea levels.
be to blame for 对…应负责任；应该为某事负责任
The government is not wholly to blame for the recession.
这次衰退不能完全怨政府。
A pollution clean up will be partly to blame for such a temperature rise.
气温的升高将部分地归咎于对污染的清除。
参考译文
科学家称地球表面温度上升导致海平面的不断上升，海平面上升的现实意味着很多沿海和岛屿社区在海啸来临时会遭遇危险。夏威夷岛正采取措施准备应对海啸浪潮，当地官方希望一旦发生海啸能准备好应对措施。
2011年，一次强震袭击了日本东北部，地震导致了海啸。巨大的海浪损坏了当地的核反应堆，这些事件使得夏威夷官方重新考虑应对海啸的行动方案。
当地科学家和应急官员们现在准备应对非常极端的海啸，也就是每500年到1000年一遇的海啸。
4年前日本遭遇地震和海啸时有近1.9万人丧生，科学家称一旦夏威夷群岛发生此类灾难，当地可能会同样无助。
瑞德·巴特勒是夏威夷大学的研究员，他说考艾岛上一个神秘洞穴中有证据表明500年前夏威夷发生过海啸，大卫·伯尼发现了这些证据，他在距离海洋100米的洞穴中发现古贝壳、珊瑚等海洋生物的遗体。
民防机构通过测试其海啸预警系统来让人们做好准备。
科学家称可能再次发生大规模海啸，他们警告说，如果太平洋北部阿留申群岛发生强震，一场强海啸可能随之而至。
夏威夷大学的研究者创建了一个电脑模型，能显示一旦地震袭击阿留申群岛并导致海啸的后果。该模型还显示，大地震的震波可能会比官方料想的那样更深入岛屿，一直伸到大家所认为的安全地区。
夏威夷应急管理机构与当地政府合作制定灾难方案，凯文·理查兹是该机构的应急策划员，他说在制作电脑模型之前，夏威夷官方原以为他们只需从瓦胡岛撤离8.5万人。
“一旦发生这情况，我们就必须将34到35万人疏散到安全地区，这是更加艰巨的任务。安全地区已与以往不同，在更远的地方，要到山上去，在内陆的更深处。”
一些夏威夷人可能开车到地势更高的地方，但夏威夷一些地方是不能开车的。所以人们可能必须步行到安全地方，或者到钢筋混泥土建筑的四楼或更高。”
官方目前在制定新的行动方案，扩大极端海啸的疏散区，科学家巴特勒称2011年日本发生海啸后，人们开始严肃对待这一威胁。
“这并不意味着我们这个时代会发生海啸，并不意味着今年或明年会发生。它只是地球上构造作用力的本质。它们不停地作用，一旦所有这些压力通过大地震缓解，就会发生海啸。”
我是克里斯多夫·克鲁斯。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
