十五年了，

汶川地震，十五年了。十五年前的今天，你在做什么？

🤔️小作业：

A. The buildings were constructed with poor materials.

B. The earthquake was of an unexpectedly high magnitude.

C. The buildings were not constructed to resist such a large earthquake.

D. The region's building codes were inadequate.

2. Which of the following best describes the general opinion of experts on China's quake code?

A. It is out of date and needs to be revised.

B. It is well-defined and has all the necessary features.

C. It is poorly implemented despite being well-defined.

D. It is not adequate for the seismic activity in the region.

3. Based on the text, why might a building resist a quake but still sustain damage?

A. Because building codes are not properly implemented.

B. Because earthquake resistance doesn't prevent a building from sustaining damage.

C. Because many buildings are constructed using poor materials.

D. Because the region is prone to magnitude 7 earthquakes.

无注释原文：

China's quake: Why did so many schools collapse?

From: The Christian Science Monitor

May 14, 2008

In the wake of Monday's 7.9-magnitude earthquake in China's southwestern province of Sichuan, some international experts are questioning the adequacy of the region's building codes and construction practices.

Juyuan Middle School, about 60 miles from the epicenter, was one of several schools that collapsed Monday. So far rescuers have recovered more than 60 bodies from the school, the official Xinhua News Agency said. But there was little word on the rest of the nearly 900 teenagers who were believed to be trapped under their collapsed school building.

Some students managed to escape, while at least one was pulled out of the wreckage alive Tuesday morning. At least 1,000 students and teachers were killed or missing after another school collapsed in Mianyang city, about 100 miles northeast of the epicenter, Xinhua reported.

Other schools closer to the epicenter also toppled, although specifics were not available because the area was generally inaccessible.

Earthquake engineers say that constructing a building to resist a quake of magnitude 7 or 8 is possible, but is often considered cost prohibitive, adding 7 to 8 percent in costs.

"Earthquake resistance is really more workmanship, than material," Amr Elnashai, director of the Mid-America Earthquake Center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, says.

Most seismologists interviewed say that China's quake code is adequate, if not the most up-to-date. "It is well-defined and has all the right features," says Mr. Elnashai.

Earthquake resistance, he notes, does not mean buildings don't sustain damage; they do, but don't collapse.

Schools, he says, are particularly vulnerable because they are often mid-sized buildings, smaller projects for contractors that are paid for the a government bureaucracies. Two recent earthquakes in Indonesia and in Kashmir also resulted in a disproportionate student deaths. "Often school buildings suffer quite a bit," Elnashnai says.

China has "fairly rigorous building codes that have been in place. The problem is implementation of the codes," says Andrew Smeall, an associate with the Asia Society's US-China Center in New York.

Roger Musson, a seismologist at the British Geological Survey in Edinburgh, Scotland, notes that China has good earthquake engineers, but "you can never tell what's going to happen on the spot."

In Turkey's devastating 1999 earthquake, building codes were excellent, but "fly by night builders" had erected buildings using "extremely poor" materials, Mr. Musson says.

"You can buy the building inspector," he says, but "you can't buy off the earthquake."

China has a history of massive earthquakes. About 200 of its cities with a population of over a million are located at risk of magnitude 7 earthquake.

"In this case, where the earthquake occurred, there are a magnitude 4 earthquakes every couple of months," says Lupei Zhu, an associate professor of geophysics, at St. Louis University in Missouri, and a former employee of the China Earthquake Administration, which oversees public awareness and the collection of seismic data for the country.

Bill Murphy, an engineering geologist at the University of Leeds in England, notes that magnitude of the quake is only one measure. "It's not so much the magnitude, but the amount of shaking," he says. "Some of these aftershocks [in Sichuan] have been earthquakes in their own right. That might cause some additional buildings to collapse, especially those that have been weakened by the main earthquake."

A civil engineer at the University of Western Australia in Perth told New Scientist magazine that the buildings in Sichuan weren't built to withstand an earthquake as large as the one that hit.

"The seismic code for the area substantially underestimated the earthquake strength," said Hong Hao. He said that China's earthquake regulations class this province as equivalent to a 7 on the Mercalli intensity scale, which uses historical information to assess risk of damage from earthquakes. That means there's a 10 percent risk of an earthquake occurring every 50 years of an intensity that would cause negligible damaged. Monday's quake was a 10 or 11 on the Mercalli scale.

Xinhua said more than 12,000 had died in Sichuan province alone, but the total number of casualties remained uncertain. In a massive government relief operation, some 20,000 soldiers and police have arrived in the area, with 30,000 more on the way.

"Survivors can hold on for some time. Now it's not time to give up," said Wang Zhenyao, disaster relief official at the Ministry of Civil Affairs in Beijing.

- ◆ -

注：中文文本为机器翻译并非一一对应，仅供参考

含注释全文：

China's quake: Why did so many schools collapse?

From: The Christian Science Monitor

May 14, 2008

In the wake of Monday's 7.9-magnitude earthquake in China's southwestern province of Sichuan, some international experts are questioning the adequacy of the region's building codes and construction practices.

周一，中国西南部四川省发生7.9级地震后，一些国际专家对该地区的建筑规范和施工实践的充分性提出了质疑。

in the wake of表示“作为…的后果；随…之后而来”，英文解释为“If something happens in the wake of something else, it happens after and often because of it.”举个🌰：Airport security was extra tight in the wake of yesterday's attacks. 昨天的袭击发生之后，机场安检变得格外严格。

🎬电影《科洛弗道10号》（10 Cloverfield Lane）中的台词提到：In the wake of this afternoon's widespread blackout 在今天下午的大面积停电之后，...

🎬电影《阿波罗13号》（Apollo 13）中的台词提到：lt was that phosphorescent stuff that gets churned up in the wake of a big ship. 就是在大船驶过后被搅上来 会发出磷光的那种东西。

🎬传记电影《史蒂夫·乔布斯》（Steve Jobs）中的台词提到：Apple Computers closed two of its factories today in the wake of disappointing sales. 因为销量不佳 苹果电脑今天关闭了两家工厂。

magnitude /ˈmæɡ.nɪ.tʃuːd/ 1）表示“（尺寸、规模、重要性等）大的程度；巨大；重大，重要性”，英文解释为“the large size or importance of something”举个🌰：They don't seem to grasp the magnitude of the problem. 他们似乎未领会问题的重要性。

2）表示“震级”（the size of an earthquake）。

adequacy /ˈæd.ə.kwə.si/ 表示“足够；合格；合乎需要”，英文解释为“the fact of being enough or satisfactory for a particular purpose”举个🌰：The adequacy of public healthcare has been brought into question. 公共医疗的充分性受到了质疑。

Juyuan Middle School, about 60 miles from the epicenter, was one of several schools that collapsed Monday. So far rescuers have recovered more than 60 bodies from the school, the official Xinhua News Agency said. But there was little word on the rest of the nearly 900 teenagers who were believed to be trapped under their collapsed school building.

距震中约60英里的聚源中学是周一倒塌的几所学校之一。官方的新华社称，到目前为止，救援人员已经从学校里找到了60多具尸体。但是，几乎没有关于其余近900名青少年的消息，据信他们被困在倒塌的教学楼下。

原意表示“（地震）震中；（原子弹爆炸的）中心，爆炸点”，英文解释为“the point on the earth's surface directly above an earthquake or atomic explosion”，也用来表示“中心；中枢”，比如“the epicenter of world finance”。

collapse /kəˈlæps/ 作名词，表示“（系统、组织、企业等的）崩溃，瓦解，失败”，英文解释为“the sudden failure of a system, organization, business, etc.”举个🌰：I don't know what caused the collapse of her marriage. 我不知道她婚姻失败的原因是什么。

作动词，1）表示“崩溃，垮掉，失败”，英文解释为“to suddenly be unable to continue or work correctly”举个🌰：Talks between management and unions have collapsed. 劳资谈判彻底破裂。

2）表示“（由于压力、无力或缺乏支持而）倒塌，坍塌；崩溃，垮掉”，英文解释为“to fall down suddenly because of pressure or having no strength or support”举个🌰：Thousands of buildings collapsed in the earthquake. 数以千计的建筑物在地震中倒塌了。

Some students managed to escape, while at least one was pulled out of the wreckage alive Tuesday morning. At least 1,000 students and teachers were killed or missing after another school collapsed in Mianyang city, about 100 miles northeast of the epicenter, Xinhua reported.

部分学生设法逃生，周二上午至少有一名学生从废墟中被救出。新华社报道称，另一所位于震中东北约100英里的绵阳市学校倒塌后，至少有1000名学生和教师遇难或失踪。

1）表示“严重受损的东西；残骸”，英文解释为“a badly damaged object or the separated parts of a badly damaged object”举个🌰：The wreckage of the car was scattered over the roadside. 那辆汽车的残骸散落在路旁。

2）表示“剩余物；残存物”，英文解释为“what is left of something that has been spoiled or that has failed”举个🌰：Kate was still clinging to the wreckage of her failed marriage. 凯特仍然执着于她那破碎的婚姻，不想放手。

Other schools closer to the epicenter also toppled, although specifics were not available because the area was generally inaccessible.

离震中更近的其他学校也倒塌了，但由于该地区通常难以进入，具体情况尚不明了。

1）表示“打倒；推翻；颠覆”，英文解释为“to make sb lose their position of power or authority”如：a plot to topple the President 推翻总统的阴谋。

2）表示“（使）倒下；（使）倒塌”，英文解释为“to (cause to) lose balance and fall down”举个🌰：The statue was toppled (over) by the crowds. 雕像被众人推倒了。

表示“详情，细节”，英文解释为“exact details”举个🌰：I can't comment on the specifics of the case. 我不能就此案的详情发表意见。

Earthquake engineers say that constructing a building to resist a quake of magnitude 7 or 8 is possible, but is often considered cost prohibitive, adding 7 to 8 percent in costs.

地震工程师表示，建造一座能抵抗7或8级地震的建筑是可能的，但通常被认为成本过高，需要增加7%到8%的费用。

1）表示“抵制；阻挡；抗拒”，英文解释为“to refuse to accept or be changed by something”举个🌰：She resisted demands for her resignation. 她拒不答应她辞职的要求。

2）表示“按捺；忍住；拒受…的影响”，英文解释为“to stop yourself from doing something that you want to do”举个🌰：I can never resist temptation/chocolate/the urge to laugh. 我向来无法抗拒诱惑/我永远不可能抵挡巧克力的诱惑/我要是想笑，怎么也忍不住。

prohibitive /prəˈhɪb.ɪ.tɪv/ 表示“（费用）高得负担不起的，（价格等）使人望而却步的”，英文解释为“If the cost of something is prohibitive, it is too expensive for most people.”举个🌰：Hotel prices in the major cities are high but not prohibitive. 大城市里的旅馆费用昂贵，但还能负担得起。

"Earthquake resistance is really more workmanship, than material," Amr Elnashai, director of the Mid-America Earthquake Center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, says.

伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳-香槟分校中美洲地震中心主任阿姆鲁·埃尔纳沙伊（Amr Elnashai）说：“抗震更多的是工艺，而不是材料。”

workmanship /ˈwɜːk.mən.ʃɪp/ 表示“技艺；手艺；工艺”，英文解释为“the skill with which something was made or done”如：shoddy/fine workmanship 粗糙的/精湛的技艺。

Most seismologists interviewed say that China's quake code is adequate, if not the most up-to-date. "It is well-defined and has all the right features," says Mr. Elnashai.

大多数受访的地震学家表示，中国的地震法规即使不是最新的，也是充分的。“定义明确，并且具有所有正确的特征，”埃尔纳沙伊先生说。

seismologist /saɪzˈmɒl.ə.dʒɪst/ 表示“地震学家”，英文解释为“someone who studies the sudden, violent movements of the earth connected with earthquakes”

1）code在文中表示“法典，法规；行为准则，道德规范”，英文解释为“a set of rules, laws, or principles that tell people how to behave”，如：fire code可以解释为消防规范，消防法规，highway code （英国）交通规则。

2）表示“（DNA中遗传物质的）编码”，英文解释为“an arrangement of genetic material in DNA (= the chemical that carries genetic information in cells)”如：genetic codes 基因编码。

表示“表述清楚的；明确的”，英文解释为“clearly expressed, explained, or described”举个🌰：Scientists follow several well-defined steps in investigating unexpected outbreaks of disease. 科学家们在研究疾病的突发情况时都会遵循几个明确的步骤。

Earthquake resistance, he notes, does not mean buildings don't sustain damage; they do, but don't collapse.

他指出，抗震并不意味着建筑物不会遭受破坏；确实会遭受破坏，但不会倒塌。

1）表示“保持，维持，使持续，使继续”，英文解释为“to cause or allow something to continue for a period of time”举个🌰：The economy looks set to sustain its growth into next year. 看来经济的增长会持续到明年。

2）表示“经历，遭受（尤指破坏或损失）”，英文解释为“to suffer or experience, especially damage or loss”举个🌰：She sustained multiple injuries in the accident. 她在这次事故中多处受伤。

Schools, he says, are particularly vulnerable because they are often mid-sized buildings, smaller projects for contractors that are paid for the a government bureaucracies. Two recent earthquakes in Indonesia and in Kashmir also resulted in a disproportionate student deaths. "Often school buildings suffer quite a bit," Elnashnai says.

他说，学校尤其容易受到影响，因为它们通常是中型建筑，承包商较小的项目，由政府官僚机构支付。印度尼西亚和克什米尔最近的两次地震也导致了大量学生遇难。“通常情况下，学校建筑会受到相当大的影响，”埃尔纳沙伊说。

表示“承包人；承包商；承包方；订约人”，英文解释为“a person or company that arranges to supply materials or workers for building or for moving goods”

bureaucracy /bjʊəˈrɒk.rə.si/ 表示“官僚作风；官僚主义；官僚体制”，英文解释为“a system for controlling or managing a country, company, or organization that is operated by a large number of officials employed to follow rules carefully”举个🌰：I had to deal with the university's bureaucracy when I was applying for financial aid. 我申请助学金时不得不应对大学里的官僚体系。

disproportionate /ˌdɪs.prəˈpɔː.ʃən.ət/ 表示“不成比例的；不相称的；太大（或太小）的”，英文解释为“too large or too small when compared with sth else”举个🌰：The area contains a disproportionate number of young middle-class families. 此地年轻的中产阶级家庭特别多。

China has "fairly rigorous building codes that have been in place. The problem is implementation of the codes," says Andrew Smeall, an associate with the Asia Society's US-China Center in New York.

纽约亚洲协会中美中心工作人员安德鲁·斯梅尔（Andrew Smeall）表示，中国“制定了相当严格的建筑规范。问题在于规范的实施”。

1）表示“严格缜密的；谨慎的；细致的；彻底的”，英文解释为“A test, system, or procedure that is rigorous is very thorough and strict.”举个🌰：The selection process is based on rigorous tests of competence and experience. 挑选过程是建立在对能力和经验严格缜密的考核的基础之上的。

2）表示“严格的，严厉的”，英文解释为“controlling behaviour in a severe way”如：the rigorous controls governing the sale of shares 对管理股权出售进行的严格控制。

Roger Musson, a seismologist at the British Geological Survey in Edinburgh, Scotland, notes that China has good earthquake engineers, but "you can never tell what's going to happen on the spot."

苏格兰爱丁堡英国地质调查局的地震学家罗杰·穆森（Roger Musson）指出，中国有优秀的地震工程师，但“你永远无法预测现场会发生什么。”

geological /ˌdʒi.əˈlɒdʒ.ɪ.kəl/ 表示“地质的；地质学的”，英文解释为“relating to geology, or to the geology of a particular area or place”如：a geological survey/map 地质勘察/图。

In Turkey's devastating 1999 earthquake, building codes were excellent, but "fly by night builders" had erected buildings using "extremely poor" materials, Mr. Musson says.

穆森表示，在1999年土耳其毁灭性的地震中，建筑规范非常好，但“唯利是图的建筑商”使用“极其劣质”的材料建造建筑物。

1）表示“破坏性极强的”，英文解释为“If you describe something as devastating, you are emphasizing that it is very harmful or damaging.”

2）表示“令人震惊的”，英文解释为“You can use devastating to emphasize that something is very shocking, upsetting, or terrible.”举个🌰：The diagnosis was devastating. She had cancer. 诊断结果令人震惊。她得了癌症。

fly-by-night /ˈflaɪ.baɪ.naɪt/ 表示“（公司或商人）不可靠的，无信用的”，英文解释为“Fly-by-night companies or business people cannot be trusted because they are likely to get into debt and close down the business to avoid paying the debts or satisfying agreements.”如：a fly-by-night operator/organization 不可靠的经营者/机构。

作动词，1）表示“建造，建立”，英文解释为“to build something such as a building or wall”；或者是“搭建，竖起”，英文解释为“to fix all the pieces of something together, and put it in an upright position”，举个🌰：The building was erected in 1850-1870. 该建筑建于1850-1870年间。

2）也可以指“创建，确立（体系或制度）”，如：erect a system, a theory, or an institution.

erect本身也可以作形容词，表示“直立的，垂直的；（腰板）直的；昂首挺胸的”，英文解释为“in a straight upright position; standing with your back and neck very straight”，举个🌰：He's very tall and erect for his 85 years. 尽管已经85岁了，他还是那样挺拔高大。

"You can buy the building inspector," he says, but "you can't buy off the earthquake."

“你可以收买建筑检查员，”他说，但“你无法收买地震。”

inspector /ɪnˈspek.tər/ 表示“检查员；视察员”，英文解释为“someone whose job is to officially inspect something”如：a tax inspector 税务稽查员。

buy sb off 表示“买通，贿赂”，英文解释为“to pay someone so that they do not cause you any trouble”举个🌰：They tried to buy the guard at the bank off. 那伙人试图买通银行的保安。

China has a history of massive earthquakes. About 200 of its cities with a population of over a million are located at risk of magnitude 7 earthquake.

中国有大地震的历史。大约200个人口超过100万的城市面临7级地震的风险。

"In this case, where the earthquake occurred, there are a magnitude 4 earthquakes every couple of months," says Lupei Zhu, an associate professor of geophysics, at St. Louis University in Missouri, and a former employee of the China Earthquake Administration, which oversees public awareness and the collection of seismic data for the country.

密苏里州圣路易斯大学地球物理学副教授、中国地震局前雇员朱卢佩（Lupei Zhu，音译）说：“地震发生的地方，每隔几个月就有一次4级地震。”中国地震局负责提高公众意识并收集中国地震数据。

表示“监督；监察；监管”，英文解释为“to watch or organize a job or an activity to make certain that it is being done correctly”举个🌰：As marketing manager, her job is to oversee all the company's advertising. 作为营销经理，她的工作是负责公司所有的广告业务。

seismic /ˈsaɪzmɪk/ 1）表示“地震的；地震引起的”，英文解释为“Seismic means caused by or relating to an earthquake.”举个🌰：Earthquakes produce two types of seismic waves. 地震产生两种类型的地震波。

2）表示“突然的；造成严重破坏的”，英文解释为“A seismic shift or change is a very sudden or dramatic change.”举个🌰：I have never seen such a seismic shift in public opinion in such a short period of time. 我从来没有见过公众舆论在这么短的时间内发生如此突然的转变。

🎬电影《哥斯拉》（Godzilla）中的台词提到：We are showing seismic activity to the east near Livermore. 东边靠近利弗莫尔处发现地震活动。

Bill Murphy, an engineering geologist at the University of Leeds in England, notes that magnitude of the quake is only one measure. "It's not so much the magnitude, but the amount of shaking," he says. "Some of these aftershocks [in Sichuan] have been earthquakes in their own right. That might cause some additional buildings to collapse, especially those that have been weakened by the main earthquake."

英国利兹大学工程地质学家比尔·墨菲（Bill Murphy）指出，地震震级只是一个衡量标准。“与其说是震级，不如说是震动的程度。”他表示：“（四川）的一些余震本身就是地震。这可能会导致更多建筑倒塌，尤其是那些被主震削弱的建筑物。”

aftershock /ˈɑːf.tə.ʃɒk/ 表示“（地震后的）余震”，英文解释为“a sudden movement of the earth's surface that often follows an earthquake and is less violent than the first main movement”举个🌰：The initial earthquake was followed by a series of aftershocks. 初震后又发生了一系列的余震。

A civil engineer at the University of Western Australia in Perth told New Scientist magazine that the buildings in Sichuan weren't built to withstand an earthquake as large as the one that hit.

珀斯西澳大利亚大学的一名土木工程师告诉《新科学家》（New Scientist）杂志，四川的建筑物无法承受如此大的地震。

civil engineer /ˌsɪv.əl en.dʒɪˈnɪər/ 表示“土木工程师”，英文解释为“someone whose job is to plan and build public buildings, roads, bridges, etc.”举个🌰：His brother is a civil engineer. 他兄弟是一位土木工程师。

"The seismic code for the area substantially underestimated the earthquake strength," said Hong Hao. He said that China's earthquake regulations class this province as equivalent to a 7 on the Mercalli intensity scale, which uses historical information to assess risk of damage from earthquakes. That means there's a 10 percent risk of an earthquake occurring every 50 years of an intensity that would cause negligible damaged. Monday's quake was a 10 or 11 on the Mercalli scale.

郝宏（Hong Hao，音译）说，“该地区的抗震规范大大低估了地震强度。”他说，中国的地震法规将该省列为麦卡利地震烈度表的7级。麦卡利地震烈度表利用历史信息来评估地震造成破坏的风险。这意味着，这意味着每50年发生一次地震的风险为10%，其强度可以忽略不计。周一的地震在麦卡利地震烈度表上是10级或11级。

substantially /səbˈstæn.ʃəl.i/ 1）表示“大体上；基本上”，英文解释为“generally”举个🌰：This model has leather seats, but the two cars are substantially the same. 这一型号有几个附加装置，但两款车大体上是一样的。

2）表示“在很大程度上”，英文解释为“to a large degree”举个🌰：The new rules will substantially change how we do things. 新规则会在很大程度上改变我们的行事方式。

1）作形容词，表示“（价值、数量、意义、重要性等）相等的，相同的”，英文解释为“equal in value, amount, meaning, importance, etc.”举个🌰：Eight kilometres is roughly equivalent to five miles. 八公里约等于五英里。

2）作名词，表示“相等的东西；等量；对应词”，英文解释为“a thing, amount, word, etc. that is equivalent to sth else”。

比如，提到Weibo时候会介绍为中国版的Twitter，常见的有几种说法：

🧣Weibo, China's Twitter-like service (SCMP)

🧣Weibo, the Chinese equivalent to Twitter (NPR NEWS)

🧣Twitter-like Weibo (Reuters)

🧣Weibo, a Twitter-like platform (NYT)

intensity /ɪnˈten.sə.ti/ 1）表示“强烈；剧烈”，英文解释为“the quality of being felt strongly or having a very strong effect”举个🌰：The explosion was of such intensity that it was heard five miles away. 爆炸的巨响5英里以外都能听见。

2）表示“（感情或看法的）强烈；认真；全情投入”，英文解释为“the quality of being very serious and having strong emotions or opinions”举个🌰：The intensity of their relationship was causing problems. 他们关系中所牵涉的感情强烈得引发了问题。

1）表示“标度，刻度；等级”，英文解释为“a set of numbers, amounts, etc., used to measure or compare the level of something”如：the Centigrade/Fahrenheit scale 摄氏/华氏温标。

2）表示“比例；比例尺”，英文解释为“the relation between the real size of something and its size on a map, model, or diagram”如：a scale of 1:10,000 比例尺为1:10000。

3）表示“大小；规模；范围”，英文解释为“the size or level of something, especially when this is large”举个🌰：We don't yet know the scale of the problem. 我们还不知道问题有多严重。

negligible /ˈneɡlɪdʒəbl/ 表示“微不足道的，可忽略的，不重要的”，英文解释为“too slight or small in amount to be of importance”举个🌰：The difference between the two products is negligible. 两种产品之间的差异微乎其微。

Xinhua said more than 12,000 had died in Sichuan province alone, but the total number of casualties remained uncertain. In a massive government relief operation, some 20,000 soldiers and police have arrived in the area, with 30,000 more on the way.

新华社表示，四川省一地就有超过1.2万人遇难，但总的伤亡人数仍不确定。在政府的大规模救援行动中，大约2万名士兵和警察抵达该地区，另有3万名正在赶来。

"Survivors can hold on for some time. Now it's not time to give up," said Wang Zhenyao, disaster relief official at the Ministry of Civil Affairs in Beijing.

“幸存者可以坚持一段时间。现在不是放弃的时候，”在北京的民政部灾害救援官员王振耀说。

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