原文:Samoans searched flattened homes and debris-filled swamps Thursday, while dazed survivors told of being trapped underwater or flung inland by a tsunami that ravaged towns and killed at least 150 people in the South Pacific.
翻譯:薩摩亞居民週四在倒塌的房屋和充滿破損物品的沼澤內搜尋,而還沒回過神的生還者訴說,他們如何被困在水中,或被海嘯沖到內陸。海嘯沖毀當地城鎮,在南太平洋共造成至少150人死亡。
字辭解析:
*debris(名詞)
殘破的碎片,單、複數不變,s不發音;
例如在高速公路上常看到輪胎脫落的小片橡膠、車子掉落的小塊金屬等,都算是debris,有可能構成行車安全的威脅。這裡是指遭海嘯沖毀的建築和其他東西受損形成的雜物。
例句:The Coast Guard reported sighting of debris near where the airliner was believed to have gone down.(海岸防衛隊回報發現碎片,地點在據信客機墜落位置附近。)
*dazed(過去分詞)
(因為受到重大刺激而顯得)失魂落魄的樣子、發呆;
例句:Hotel owner Jobi Watts says he is dazed by the devastation and is waiting on advice before deciding whether to rebuild.(旅館老闆瓦茲說,這次破壞讓他呆了,要先等待建議,才會決定是否重建。)
*flung(過去分詞)
丟 擲;
原形是fling, 過去式跟過去分詞都是flung。例句:To their great excitement, Joe flung his three little children into the swimming pool one after another.(喬把他的三個小小孩一一丟進游泳池,他們樂壞了。)
Tsunami(海嘯)源自日文,在英文日常用語中,tsunami跟tidal wave經常混用,但科學家用tidal wave來指「滿潮」,它的威力遠遠不如由海底地震或火山爆發所引起的海嘯。