CNN新闻英语精华初级：180位英雄继续奋战在福岛核电站

180位英雄继续奋战在福岛核电站

福岛核电站（Fukushima Nuc l e a r Power Plant）是目前世界上最大的核电站，由福岛一站、福岛二站组成，共10台机组（一站6台，二站4台），均为沸水堆。2011年3月，里氏9.0级地震导致福岛县两座核电站反应堆发生故障，其中第一核电站中一座反应堆震后放射性物质泄露。2011年4月12日，日本原子能安全保安院根据国际核事件分级表将福岛核事故定为最高级7级。

随着核电站险情的升级，核电站救灾团队的人数不得不从50人增加到了100人，继而是180人。媒体称这是“自杀式任务”，留守的工作人员则是“敢死队员”，每个人都做好了随时牺牲的心理准备。

Heroes. That’s what a group of about 180 Japanese power plant workers are being called. They’re working at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, that’s the one we’ve been reporting on this week; the plant that most people are being told to get away from. But these 180 workers are staying put, potentially putting their health—maybe even their lives—on the line. In these pictures, you can see some of the damage that these men are dealing with. Fires, explosions at the plant have threatened the stability of the nuclear reactors. The biggest concern in this is that that extreme levels of radiation could leak out into the atmosphere. At one point on Wednesday, the radiation levels around the plantshot way up, and the workers were forced to get out of the area. But when the levels went back down again, the workers went back in.

Also on Wednesday, Japan’s emperor made a rare TV appearance. The emperoris a ceremonial position; he doesn’t have official powers. But he is an important figure in Japanese life. And this was the first time that this emperor made a speech like this during a national crisis. He said, “I truly hope the victims of the disaster never give up hope, take care of themselves, and live strong for tomorrow.” He also added, “I want all citizens of Japan to remember everyone who has been affected by the devastation not only today, but for a long time afterwards.”

Many people in Japan have been forced to leave their homes. Japanese media report that 450,000 people—half a million—are living in shelters like this evacuation center that was set up inside a junior high school’s gym. Many others are trying to get out of Japan entirely. Kyung Lah shows us the packed scene at Tokyo’s airports and the deserted streets of downtown.

英雄——这正是这群180余名日本核电站工人如今被冠以的头衔。他们工作的福岛第一核电站，正是我们本周报道的对象，这个核电站的大多数人正在被告知要求离开。但是这180多名工人仍然寸步不离岗位，即便这有可能将他们的健康——抑或是他们的生命——献给一线。在这些照片中，这些工作人员面临的一些危险随处可见。核电站内的大火、爆炸持续威胁着核反应堆的稳定。重中之重的是高强度的辐射亦会泄漏到大气中。周三，核电站周围一个站点的辐射水平暴涨，工人们被迫离开。但当水平线再次回落，工人们就回去了。

也是在同一天，日本天皇少有地在荧屏上露了面。天皇只是一个名誉的职位；他并不掌握实权。但他却是日本人民生活中的一个重要角色。而且这是天皇第一次在此类国家危机中公开演讲。他说：“我真心希望此次灾难中的
受害者永远不要放弃希望，照顾好自己，为了明天坚强地活下去。”他还补充说：“我想要所有的日本公民铭记每一位在灾难中受害的同胞，不只是在今天，而是在今后很长一段时间里。”

在日本，许多人被迫离开家园。日本媒体报道说，45万人（接近50万人）住在诸如在中学健身房里搭建的疏散中心这样的避难所里。许多人正试图逃离日本。拉赫琼向我们展示了东京机场的拥堵场面和市中心的冷清街道。

1. 0’13’’ But these 180 workers are staying put, potentially putting their health—maybe even their lives—on the line.

这句话的听力难点在于动词引导的状语修饰语中包含的短语。put sth on the line的含义是“使……处于危险中”，如果不懂该词的意思亦可根据上文their health（他们的健康）和 maybe even their lives（甚至是他们的生命）来推断出该短语的含义。听录音时如果碰到陌生的单词或词组，不要慌神，有难度的单词或词组常常可以从上下文中推断出意思。

2. 1’11’’ I want all citizens of Japan to remember everyone who has been affected by the devastation not only today, but for a long time afterwards.

播音员在朗读这句话的时候感情饱满，重读all，表明了日本天皇对全民殷切的希望；在devastation后稍有停顿，引出not only today, but for a long time afterwards，强调了天皇呼吁永远记住这些遇难者同胞。

3. 1’37’’ Kyung Lah shows us the packed scene at Tokyo’s airports and the deserted streets of downtown.

英文中有很多弱读现象，当辅音爆破音或摩擦音后面跟的是爆破音、破擦音和摩擦音等时，前面的辅音要失去爆破，这样的现象也被称为吞音。packed以爆破音[d]结尾，scene以摩擦音[s]开头，前面的辅音失去爆破，读为[pæksi:n]。同理，听deserted streets时，读音为[di'zə:tistri:ts]，基本听不到前面的[d]音。