180位英雄繼續(xù)奮戰(zhàn)在福島核電站

福島核電站（Fukushima Nuc l e a r Power Plant）是目前世界上最大的核電站，由福島一站、福島二站組成，共10臺機組（一站6臺，二站4臺），均為沸水堆。2011年3月，里氏9.0級地震導致福島縣兩座核電站反應堆發(fā)生故障，其中第一核電站中一座反應堆震后放射性物質泄露。2011年4月12日，日本原子能安全保安院根據國際核事件分級表將福島核事故定為最高級7級。

隨著核電站險情的升級，核電站救災團隊的人數不得不從50人增加到了100人，繼而是180人。媒體稱這是“自殺式任務”，留守的工作人員則是“敢死隊員”，每個人都做好了隨時犧牲的心理準備。

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——這正是這群180余名日本核電站工人如今被冠以的頭銜。他們工作的福島第一核電站，正是我們本周報道的對象，這個核電站的大多數人正在被告知要求離開。但是這180多名工人仍然寸步不離崗位，即便這有可能將他們的健康——抑或是他們的生命——獻給一線。在這些照片中，這些工作人員面臨的一些危險隨處可見。核電站內的大火、爆炸持續(xù)威脅著核反應堆的穩(wěn)定。重中之重的是高強度的輻射亦會泄漏到大氣中。周三，核電站周圍一個站點的輻射水平暴漲，工人們被迫離開。但當水平線再次回落，工人們就回去了。

也是在同一天，日本天皇少有地在熒屏上露了面。天皇只是一個名譽的職位；他并不掌握實權。但他卻是日本人民生活中的一個重要角色。而且這是天皇第一次在此類國家危機中公開演講。他說：“我真心希望此次災難中的
受害者永遠不要放棄希望，照顧好自己，為了明天堅強地活下去?！彼€補充說：“我想要所有的日本公民銘記每一位在災難中受害的同胞，不只是在今天，而是在今后很長一段時間里?！?/p>

在日本，許多人被迫離開家園。日本媒體報道說，45萬人（接近50萬人）住在諸如在中學健身房里搭建的疏散中心這樣的避難所里。許多人正試圖逃離日本。拉赫瓊向我們展示了東京機場的擁堵場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.

這句話的聽力難點在于動詞引導的狀語修飾語中包含的短語。put sth on the line的含義是“使……處于危險中”，如果不懂該詞的意思亦可根據上文their health（他們的健康）和 maybe even their lives（甚至是他們的生命）來推斷出該短語的含義。聽錄音時如果碰到陌生的單詞或詞組，不要慌神，有難度的單詞或詞組常?？梢詮纳舷挛闹型茢喑鲆馑肌?/p>

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.

播音員在朗讀這句話的時候感情飽滿，重讀all，表明了日本天皇對全民殷切的希望；在devastation后稍有停頓，引出not only today, but for a long time afterwards，強調了天皇呼吁永遠記住這些遇難者同胞。

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

英文中有很多弱讀現象，當輔音爆破音或摩擦音后面跟的是爆破音、破擦音和摩擦音等時，前面的輔音要失去爆破，這樣的現象也被稱為吞音。packed以爆破音[d]結尾，scene以摩擦音[s]開頭，前面的輔音失去爆破，讀為[p?ksi:n]。同理，聽deserted streets時，讀音為[di'z?:tistri:ts]，基本聽不到前面的[d]音。