“堰塞湖”的英語表達方法
汶川大地震發(fā)生后，除了人們熟知的山體滑坡和泥石流外，“堰塞湖”成為了的威脅。而對于廣大的英語學(xué)習(xí)者來說，“堰塞湖”在英語中該如何表達也成為了一個最新關(guān)注點，因為這一人們幾乎聞所未聞的自然災(zāi)害現(xiàn)象在一般辭典中是未被收錄的。這時候，我們不妨通過閱讀英語新聞報道來了解其英語對應(yīng)說法，學(xué)習(xí)地道的英語表達。
中國日報網(wǎng)站援引新華網(wǎng)的報道稱，“堰塞湖”在英語中的對應(yīng)表達是quake lake，而英語中用來表達“堰塞湖”的說法還有barrier lake和dammed lake等。不過，美國《洛杉磯時報》2008年5月23日刊登的一篇關(guān)于中國川西北大地震的新聞報道中則使用了barrier lake這一說法并且簡明扼要地釋義如下：barrier lakes are formed when a landslide plugs a river，其中的plug是“堵塞”，“填塞”的意思，也就是說，由山體滑坡或泥石流堵塞河道之后形成的湖泊。Barrier是“障礙物”的意思，barrier lake顧名思義就是“遭到了堵塞的湖泊”。根據(jù)美國英語在國際社會中占有絕對優(yōu)勢地位的情形，我們也許可以說，堰塞湖在英語中的說法就是barrier lake。
值得一提的是，通過《洛杉磯時報》的這篇新聞報道，我們還可以學(xué)習(xí)到許多鮮活的英語詞匯，豐富我們的英語表達能力，那就趕快看看吧。
Other dangers in quake-ravaged China
(標(biāo)題other dangers in quake-ravaged China言簡意賅畫龍點睛地傳遞了這樣的信息，即在中國四川的地震災(zāi)區(qū)，還存在著除了地震以外的危險，這種危險就是“次生地質(zhì)災(zāi)害”，其中首當(dāng)其沖的就是“堰塞湖”。標(biāo)題中用來組成合成詞的ravage在這里也十分形象生動，其釋義為“嚴重破壞”，“摧毀”，一般用于被動式。就發(fā)生在四川西北部的強烈地震造成的嚴重后果而言，用ravage來形容是再貼切不過的了。)
Summer rains will raise the risk of landslides, avalanches and flooding. The government appeals for 3.3 million tents for the homeless.
(副標(biāo)題中的信息簡明扼要地表達了中國政府在地震災(zāi)害之后面臨的兩大重任，即應(yīng)對“次生地質(zhì)災(zāi)害”和安置無家可歸的受災(zāi)群眾。副標(biāo)題中表示的“次生地質(zhì)災(zāi)害”除了我們已經(jīng)熟悉的landslide之外還出現(xiàn)了avalanche和flooding。Flooding的威脅顯然來自堰塞湖，而avalanche本意通常指雪崩，用在這里顯然是想表示此次四川的強烈地震引發(fā)的山體滑坡已經(jīng)超出了常見的程度。根據(jù)朗文當(dāng)代高級英語辭典的釋義，avalanche指的是a large mass of snow, ice, and rocks that falls down the side of a mountain，從電視畫面我們看到，發(fā)生在四川地震災(zāi)區(qū)的山體滑坡中滾落下來的有許多是比一幢房屋還要高的巨大石塊，因此，用avalanche來表示才能比較貼切地表達其嚴重程度。)
By Barbara Demick
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
May 23, 2008
BEIJING--The danger is far from over in the mountainous terrain where last week's earthquake struck, with the risks of landslides, avalanches and flooding growing as the summer rainy season begins, Chinese officials said Thursday.
(Terrain本意是指“地形”，“地勢”，“地面”，但其語境聯(lián)想意義通常指多山的崎嶇山地，因此，該單詞十分符合此次地震災(zāi)區(qū)的地形情況，可謂用詞準(zhǔn)確形象。)
The warning came as the death toll from the May 12 quake rose to 55,239, with nearly 30,000 people still missing. More than 5 million are homeless and may not be able to rebuild their houses soon, or ever, because of the instability of the terrain.
The grim assessment was based on high-resolution satellite photos provided this week by the US government that show the potential for what are called "secondary geological disasters."
(High-resolution satellite photos高清晰度的衛(wèi)星圖片，下文中的satellite images也是這個意思。Secondary geological disasters就是當(dāng)前抗震救災(zāi)遭遇的巨大威脅“次生地質(zhì)災(zāi)害”，其中的威脅就是“堰塞湖”。)
"Barrier lakes"
Quakes leave the ground fragile and susceptible to landslides. The biggest danger comes from "barrier lakes" , which are formed when a landslide plugs a river and could easily overflow after a heavy rain or aftershocks.
(這一句子對“堰塞湖”及其危害提供了簡明扼要的解釋。)
Chinese geologists who examined the photos detected 34 such lakes. One particularly large one near the town of Beichuan already has forced the evacuation of thousands of people living in the potential flood path.
(evacuation就是“疏散”的英文表達，其動詞是evacuate，這個單詞通常用于描述各種災(zāi)難之中轉(zhuǎn)移遇到威脅的百姓。)
"These lakes pose a very severe risk," said Liu Yuan, an environmental official with the Land and Resources Ministry.
(pose a very severe risk就是“構(gòu)成十分嚴重威脅”的意思，其中的pose risk屬于固定搭配，類似的說法還有pose threat，這又是一個十分地道的英語表達。)
Altered landscape
The satellite images were provided by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, according to the US Embassy in Beijing, along with medical and rescue equipment. Initial photographs were marred by heavy cloud cover, and the Chinese received another batch two days ago. The images also revealed damage to dams, reservoirs and hydroelectric plants.
(Hydroelectric plants就是“水力發(fā)電廠”，而“火力發(fā)電廠”在英語中的表達則是thermal power plant。)
The magnitude 7.9 quake rearranged Sichuan province's already complicated landscape of rushing rivers, flood-prone valleys and jagged mountains. Even re-creating roads is a dangerous mission. More than 200 government employees, most of them with the Transportation Ministry, were entombed in mud by landslides over the weekend when they tried to clear the rubble from a road near the epicenter in Wenchuan.
(flood-prone是個合成單詞，其中的prone我們許多人可能不熟悉，但在英語中它卻是一個常用詞，其意思是“易于發(fā)生某事(尤指不好的或有害的事)的”，“很可能……的”，“有……傾向的”。作為形容詞，其搭配可以是be prone to something，如Some plants are prone to a particular disease.(某些植物很容易生某種特定的疾病。)，也可以是be prone to do something，如Kids are all prone to eat junk food.(孩子往往都喜歡吃垃圾食品。)不過，prone這個單詞的另一常見用法就是與一個前置名詞一起構(gòu)成一個合成詞，表示容易發(fā)生或出現(xiàn)該名詞所指的現(xiàn)象或事情，這時候通常是指不好的現(xiàn)象或事情，如accident-prone就表示“容易出事故的”。
Re-creating roads再造道路；entomb是“埋葬”，“掩埋”的意思，為英語中的正式用詞，只用被動式。一般地說，英語中表示“掩埋”的首選單詞是bury，但由于這些工人被埋進泥石流之中之后幾乎沒有可能被救出，因此，這里使用了entomb就十分形象生動，因為顯而易見，那里就是他們的tomb了。)
"The devastating phenomenon we see today is a natural consequence of the earthquake," said Guo Huadong, a geologist with the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
(The Chinese Academy of Sciences就是我們所熟知的中國科學(xué)院，需要注意的是這里的science應(yīng)該使用復(fù)數(shù)，表示有許多科學(xué)門類。)
Guo, whose department reviewed the satellite images, said many areas would be left uninhabitable. Beichuan, where many of the 20,000 residents were killed, is in a steep valley squeezed between a river and mountain.
(Uninhabitable就是“不適宜人類居住的”，Uninhabitable的詞干就是動詞inhabit，其派生構(gòu)造首先是加上后綴-able，表示“能夠……的”，然后是加上表示否定意義的前綴un-。我們在學(xué)習(xí)英語的時候掌握一些基本的構(gòu)詞法知識是完全有必要的。)
"Maybe they can build a memorial there to victims of the earthquake," he said. "But as far as living there, it is not a wise idea."
(Memorial是“紀念物”，“紀念碑”的意思，其實也可以指“紀念館”，“紀念堂”。在中國，許多“紀念館”的英文都被翻譯為memorial hall，其實這里的hall純屬多余，一個memorial即可，美國有Lincoln Memorial，中國有Chairman Mao's Memorial。)
An appeal for tents
Housing the homeless is the next priority. The Chinese government appealed to the international community Thursday for 3.3 million tents, saying that only 400,000 had reached the disaster area. Officials said Chinese factories were working around the clock to produce tents but could not meet the demand.
(Housing在這里作為動詞使用可謂貼切逼真，形象生動，因為安置受災(zāi)群眾就是為他們提供可以安身的住處；working around the clock to produce tents帳篷生產(chǎn)企業(yè)則是全天候生產(chǎn)。)
The government also has set a goal of building 1 million temporary houses by August.
(Temporary houses就是臨時住房，也可以說temporary shelters或makeshift houses，其中的makeshift又是一個我們不太熟悉卻屬于地道英語的詞匯。本文中的臨時住房可以指帳篷，但考慮到帳篷在文中已單獨出現(xiàn)，因此它更應(yīng)該指帳篷以外的各種活動板房(movable plank houses/movable houses)和預(yù)制房屋(prefabricated house)。)
汶川大地震發(fā)生后，除了人們熟知的山體滑坡和泥石流外，“堰塞湖”成為了的威脅。而對于廣大的英語學(xué)習(xí)者來說，“堰塞湖”在英語中該如何表達也成為了一個最新關(guān)注點，因為這一人們幾乎聞所未聞的自然災(zāi)害現(xiàn)象在一般辭典中是未被收錄的。這時候，我們不妨通過閱讀英語新聞報道來了解其英語對應(yīng)說法，學(xué)習(xí)地道的英語表達。
中國日報網(wǎng)站援引新華網(wǎng)的報道稱，“堰塞湖”在英語中的對應(yīng)表達是quake lake，而英語中用來表達“堰塞湖”的說法還有barrier lake和dammed lake等。不過，美國《洛杉磯時報》2008年5月23日刊登的一篇關(guān)于中國川西北大地震的新聞報道中則使用了barrier lake這一說法并且簡明扼要地釋義如下：barrier lakes are formed when a landslide plugs a river，其中的plug是“堵塞”，“填塞”的意思，也就是說，由山體滑坡或泥石流堵塞河道之后形成的湖泊。Barrier是“障礙物”的意思，barrier lake顧名思義就是“遭到了堵塞的湖泊”。根據(jù)美國英語在國際社會中占有絕對優(yōu)勢地位的情形，我們也許可以說，堰塞湖在英語中的說法就是barrier lake。
值得一提的是，通過《洛杉磯時報》的這篇新聞報道，我們還可以學(xué)習(xí)到許多鮮活的英語詞匯，豐富我們的英語表達能力，那就趕快看看吧。
Other dangers in quake-ravaged China
(標(biāo)題other dangers in quake-ravaged China言簡意賅畫龍點睛地傳遞了這樣的信息，即在中國四川的地震災(zāi)區(qū)，還存在著除了地震以外的危險，這種危險就是“次生地質(zhì)災(zāi)害”，其中首當(dāng)其沖的就是“堰塞湖”。標(biāo)題中用來組成合成詞的ravage在這里也十分形象生動，其釋義為“嚴重破壞”，“摧毀”，一般用于被動式。就發(fā)生在四川西北部的強烈地震造成的嚴重后果而言，用ravage來形容是再貼切不過的了。)
Summer rains will raise the risk of landslides, avalanches and flooding. The government appeals for 3.3 million tents for the homeless.
(副標(biāo)題中的信息簡明扼要地表達了中國政府在地震災(zāi)害之后面臨的兩大重任，即應(yīng)對“次生地質(zhì)災(zāi)害”和安置無家可歸的受災(zāi)群眾。副標(biāo)題中表示的“次生地質(zhì)災(zāi)害”除了我們已經(jīng)熟悉的landslide之外還出現(xiàn)了avalanche和flooding。Flooding的威脅顯然來自堰塞湖，而avalanche本意通常指雪崩，用在這里顯然是想表示此次四川的強烈地震引發(fā)的山體滑坡已經(jīng)超出了常見的程度。根據(jù)朗文當(dāng)代高級英語辭典的釋義，avalanche指的是a large mass of snow, ice, and rocks that falls down the side of a mountain，從電視畫面我們看到，發(fā)生在四川地震災(zāi)區(qū)的山體滑坡中滾落下來的有許多是比一幢房屋還要高的巨大石塊，因此，用avalanche來表示才能比較貼切地表達其嚴重程度。)
By Barbara Demick
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
May 23, 2008
BEIJING--The danger is far from over in the mountainous terrain where last week's earthquake struck, with the risks of landslides, avalanches and flooding growing as the summer rainy season begins, Chinese officials said Thursday.
(Terrain本意是指“地形”，“地勢”，“地面”，但其語境聯(lián)想意義通常指多山的崎嶇山地，因此，該單詞十分符合此次地震災(zāi)區(qū)的地形情況，可謂用詞準(zhǔn)確形象。)
The warning came as the death toll from the May 12 quake rose to 55,239, with nearly 30,000 people still missing. More than 5 million are homeless and may not be able to rebuild their houses soon, or ever, because of the instability of the terrain.
The grim assessment was based on high-resolution satellite photos provided this week by the US government that show the potential for what are called "secondary geological disasters."
(High-resolution satellite photos高清晰度的衛(wèi)星圖片，下文中的satellite images也是這個意思。Secondary geological disasters就是當(dāng)前抗震救災(zāi)遭遇的巨大威脅“次生地質(zhì)災(zāi)害”，其中的威脅就是“堰塞湖”。)
"Barrier lakes"
Quakes leave the ground fragile and susceptible to landslides. The biggest danger comes from "barrier lakes" , which are formed when a landslide plugs a river and could easily overflow after a heavy rain or aftershocks.
(這一句子對“堰塞湖”及其危害提供了簡明扼要的解釋。)
Chinese geologists who examined the photos detected 34 such lakes. One particularly large one near the town of Beichuan already has forced the evacuation of thousands of people living in the potential flood path.
(evacuation就是“疏散”的英文表達，其動詞是evacuate，這個單詞通常用于描述各種災(zāi)難之中轉(zhuǎn)移遇到威脅的百姓。)
"These lakes pose a very severe risk," said Liu Yuan, an environmental official with the Land and Resources Ministry.
(pose a very severe risk就是“構(gòu)成十分嚴重威脅”的意思，其中的pose risk屬于固定搭配，類似的說法還有pose threat，這又是一個十分地道的英語表達。)
Altered landscape
The satellite images were provided by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, according to the US Embassy in Beijing, along with medical and rescue equipment. Initial photographs were marred by heavy cloud cover, and the Chinese received another batch two days ago. The images also revealed damage to dams, reservoirs and hydroelectric plants.
(Hydroelectric plants就是“水力發(fā)電廠”，而“火力發(fā)電廠”在英語中的表達則是thermal power plant。)
The magnitude 7.9 quake rearranged Sichuan province's already complicated landscape of rushing rivers, flood-prone valleys and jagged mountains. Even re-creating roads is a dangerous mission. More than 200 government employees, most of them with the Transportation Ministry, were entombed in mud by landslides over the weekend when they tried to clear the rubble from a road near the epicenter in Wenchuan.
(flood-prone是個合成單詞，其中的prone我們許多人可能不熟悉，但在英語中它卻是一個常用詞，其意思是“易于發(fā)生某事(尤指不好的或有害的事)的”，“很可能……的”，“有……傾向的”。作為形容詞，其搭配可以是be prone to something，如Some plants are prone to a particular disease.(某些植物很容易生某種特定的疾病。)，也可以是be prone to do something，如Kids are all prone to eat junk food.(孩子往往都喜歡吃垃圾食品。)不過，prone這個單詞的另一常見用法就是與一個前置名詞一起構(gòu)成一個合成詞，表示容易發(fā)生或出現(xiàn)該名詞所指的現(xiàn)象或事情，這時候通常是指不好的現(xiàn)象或事情，如accident-prone就表示“容易出事故的”。
Re-creating roads再造道路；entomb是“埋葬”，“掩埋”的意思，為英語中的正式用詞，只用被動式。一般地說，英語中表示“掩埋”的首選單詞是bury，但由于這些工人被埋進泥石流之中之后幾乎沒有可能被救出，因此，這里使用了entomb就十分形象生動，因為顯而易見，那里就是他們的tomb了。)
"The devastating phenomenon we see today is a natural consequence of the earthquake," said Guo Huadong, a geologist with the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
(The Chinese Academy of Sciences就是我們所熟知的中國科學(xué)院，需要注意的是這里的science應(yīng)該使用復(fù)數(shù)，表示有許多科學(xué)門類。)
Guo, whose department reviewed the satellite images, said many areas would be left uninhabitable. Beichuan, where many of the 20,000 residents were killed, is in a steep valley squeezed between a river and mountain.
(Uninhabitable就是“不適宜人類居住的”，Uninhabitable的詞干就是動詞inhabit，其派生構(gòu)造首先是加上后綴-able，表示“能夠……的”，然后是加上表示否定意義的前綴un-。我們在學(xué)習(xí)英語的時候掌握一些基本的構(gòu)詞法知識是完全有必要的。)
"Maybe they can build a memorial there to victims of the earthquake," he said. "But as far as living there, it is not a wise idea."
(Memorial是“紀念物”，“紀念碑”的意思，其實也可以指“紀念館”，“紀念堂”。在中國，許多“紀念館”的英文都被翻譯為memorial hall，其實這里的hall純屬多余，一個memorial即可，美國有Lincoln Memorial，中國有Chairman Mao's Memorial。)
An appeal for tents
Housing the homeless is the next priority. The Chinese government appealed to the international community Thursday for 3.3 million tents, saying that only 400,000 had reached the disaster area. Officials said Chinese factories were working around the clock to produce tents but could not meet the demand.
(Housing在這里作為動詞使用可謂貼切逼真，形象生動，因為安置受災(zāi)群眾就是為他們提供可以安身的住處；working around the clock to produce tents帳篷生產(chǎn)企業(yè)則是全天候生產(chǎn)。)
The government also has set a goal of building 1 million temporary houses by August.
(Temporary houses就是臨時住房，也可以說temporary shelters或makeshift houses，其中的makeshift又是一個我們不太熟悉卻屬于地道英語的詞匯。本文中的臨時住房可以指帳篷，但考慮到帳篷在文中已單獨出現(xiàn)，因此它更應(yīng)該指帳篷以外的各種活動板房(movable plank houses/movable houses)和預(yù)制房屋(prefabricated house)。)