Monster Storm Hits U.S.
超强风暴“桑迪”横扫美国东部

Monster storm Sandy, which had claimed nearly 70 lives in the Caribbean when it was a hurricane, hit the densely populated U.S. East Coast with 80 mph (129 kph) winds early last week.
超强风暴“桑迪”，据称在它还只是飓风时已在加勒比海夺去近70条性命。在上个星期初，它以每小时80英里（即每小时129公里）的风速袭击了美国人口密集的东海岸。

Just before the storm center made landfall in New Jersey (新泽西州), forecasters stripped (剥夺) it of hurricane status based on its shape and internal temperature. But the storm still packed hurricane-force winds, and forecasters said it remained every bit as dangerous.
在风暴中心登陆新泽西州前，预报员据其形状和内部温度免除了它形成飓风的可能。但是暴风仍有着飓风威力般的风速，因此预报员说它仍然是十分危险的。

Sandy knocked out power to at least 3.1 million people across the East. At least 95 deaths were blamed on the storm, which threatened 50 million people in the eastern third of the country.
“桑迪”的肆虐使美国东部将近310万户断电。至少有95人因此丧生，并且威胁到该国东部5000万人的三分之一。

The storm hurled (猛投) an unprecedented 13-foot (4-meter) surge of seawater at New York City, threatening its subways and the electrical system that powers Wall Street. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, 纽约证券交易所) was closed on the first two days of last week. The last time it was closed for weather was in 1985, and this was the first two-day closing of the NYSE because of weather since a blizzard (暴风雪) in 1888.
“桑迪”给纽约带来前所未有的13英尺（4米）的海水，冲击着纽约市的地铁系统并且导致华尔街电力系统瘫痪。纽约证券交易所在上周前两天暂时关闭。上一次因为天气原因关闭交易所是在1985年，而这次是自1888年的暴风雪以来，第一次因为天气原因在头两天就关闭了纽约证券交易所。

As the storm closed in, it hit the big cities of the Northeast corridor—Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and Boston—with stinging (刺人的) rain and strong winds of more than 85 mph. It also met with a cold-weather system that turned it into a superstorm, a monstrous hybrid consisting not only of rain and high wind but snow.
随着风暴的逐渐靠近，它同时袭击了东北部的一些大城市——华盛顿，巴尔的摩，费城，纽约以及波士顿——伴随着暴雨和每小时超过85英里的强风。并且它又与冷气团相遇形成超级风暴，这个骇人听闻的组合不但会带来暴雨强风还有暴雪。

Sandy, which grounded more than 15,000 flights in the U.S., also brought the presidential campaign to a halt at the very height of the race, with just over a week to go before Election Day. President Barack Obama and his rival Mitt Romney canceled their campaign appearances. The president instead focused on monitoring Sandy from Washington, D.C. He pledged the government’s help and made a direct plea from the White House to those in the storm’s path.
“桑迪”，使美国被迫停飞了将近15000个航班，也使美国总统竞选在达到最高潮的时候暂停了，在选举日前的一个星期。总统巴拉克•奥巴马和他的竞争对手米特•罗姆尼取消了他们的竞选活动。总统的注意力转移到从华盛顿开始视察“桑迪”肆虐过的灾区。他向灾民承诺，联邦一定会伸手援助并在白宫发表直接的呼吁。

“When they tell you to evacuate, you need to evacuate,” he said. “Don’t delay; don’t pause; don’t question the instructions that are being given, because this is a powerful storm.”
“当他们告诉你需要撤离的时候，你就必须撤离, ”他说:“不要拖延，不要犹豫，不要质疑给出的指令，因为这是一场强大的风暴。”

Storm damage was projected at $10 billion to $20 billion, meaning it could prove to be one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history.
风暴预计将造成100亿到200亿美元之间的损失，这意味着它可能成为美国历史上造成最大损失的一场自然灾害。

 

本期题目

How many people’s deaths were blamed on the storm in totally in the eastern U.S.?
At least 165 deaths

At least 3.1 million deaths

At least 95 deaths

Nearly 70 lives

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