【新闻正文】

　　Earthquake Toll in Mexico Now 29; Leader Declares Emergency

　　MEXICO CITY, Jan. 22　President Vicente Fox declared a state of emergency today in Colima, a coastal state hit overnight by a powerful earthquake that rolled across central Mexico from the Pacific Ocean, killing at least 29 people and rattling millions of Mexico City residents.

　　【本节要点】：earthquake

　　让我们继续上次有关地震的话题。大地震总要造成人员伤亡。如何表述地震中的人员伤亡呢？像本则新闻标题那样用toll这个词,是一种常见的说法。此外，还有许多其他方式，比如claim,例如：

　　The quake has claimed more than 15,000 lives.

　　当然也可以这样平实地说：

　　At least 64 people were killed and more than 2,000 were injured in the quake.

　　也可以以数字作主语：

　　The largest number of deaths appeared to be in a neighborhood called Las Colinas in Santa Tecla.

　　发生地震后，就要立即展开营救行动(rescue effort)以及救济工作(relief).在营救现场，会有crane(吊车), bulldozer(推土机)，truck(卡车)等大型机械在工作，但由于还有生死不明的人被埋在废墟下面，为避免伤及可能的幸存者，人们往往只能用铁锹(spade)，撬棒(crowbar)，甚至徒手(bare hands)来搜救幸存者，如果条件好会有救援犬(rescue dog)的协助。。请看例句：

　　Relief crews were clawing through debris to rescue potential survivors with their bare hands and small tools.

　　震后幸存下来的人是幸运的，可是他们还要面临如何解决食物(food)、清洁饮水(purefied water)、御寒衣物(clothings and blankets)和临时住所(temporary shelters)，药品(medicine)等棘手问题，这些也是救灾工作的重点。请看下面句子：

　　International organizations have also rushed relief supplies and medical personnel to Gujarat.国际组织已将救援物资和医务人员火速运往古吉拉特邦。

　　Aid continues to poursintosthe devastated country.救灾物资继续源源不断涌入受灾国。

　　与此同时，医护人员(medical staff)还要在灾区建立临时医院(converted hospital)或临时门诊部(improvised out-patient department)来救护伤员。当然还要有警察来维持秩序(law and order)以及专家来调查评估(survey, assess)地震造成的损失(damage,loss)。

　　最终，经过几天的营救工作后，工作的重点要由救援(rescue)过渡(shift to)到恢复和重建(rehabilitation and reconstruction)上来。例如：

　　Since May, UNICEF(United Nations Children's Emergency Fund ) has shifted its focus from relief to rehabilitation in earthquake-affected areas.自五月以来，联合国儿童基金会已将在地震灾区的工作重点由救援转向恢复重建上来。

　　以上是对于有关地震的英语常识的简要介绍，当然这只是其中一小部分，更多的内容需要大家在日常通过大量的阅读来积累，我所做的仅仅是为了抛砖引玉而已。