Rescue work on trapped miners in E China continues_社会生活

Rescue work on trapped miners in E China continues

文章来源：文章作者：发布时间：2007-08-24 07:25 字体： [大中小]　进入论坛

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XINTAI, Shandong, Aug. 24 - Hundreds of rescuers are make utmost efforts to free the 181 trapped people at two flooded pits in the eastern province of Shandong, local work safety official said on Thursday.

Rescuers began their sixth day at the collieries on Thursday after flood water swept through a 65-meter wide breach¹ in the Wenhe River levee, inundating² the Huayuan and Minggong mines, about 150 km south of Shandong's provincial³ capital Jinan, last Friday afternoon.

By 5:00 p.m. Thursday, the water level at Huayuan Mine where 172 miners are trapped had fallen by 27.43 meters to 65.17 meters, meaning there was still a 95-meter depth of water to the nearest working site estimated to have trapped miners.

Two more powerful pumps became operational on Thursday, bringing the drainage capacity to more than 2,500 cubic meters per hour, 1,000 cubic meters more than the previous capacity.

A water pump with the capacity of 600 cubic meters per hour, which was put into operation Wednesday afternoon but soon halted due to a broken pipe, resumed pumping around 6:40 a.m. Thursday, according to the rescue headquarters.

In addition, two of the four drilling sets, called in from the Shengli Oilfield on Monday, began to drill wells to divert water from the flooded shafts⁴. They had dug 119 meters deep, almost one-third of the 385-meter target.

Around 120 cubic meters of water can be pulled out via each well per hour, the headquarters said.

The rescue headquarters are waiting for more powerful drilling machines to speed up the operation.

Another water pump with a capacity of 600 cubic meters per hour has been put into operation late Wednesday night, the rescuers said.

Worth of materials and money donated by governments of cities in Shandong and other places across the country reached a total worth of 7.78 million yuan (about 1.03 million U.S. dollars).

Water resources specialists have blamed the disaster largely on heavy rain and inadequate⁵ flood prevention facilities.

Xintai, the city where the two ill-fated mines are located, reported 730 mm of precipitation from Jan. 1 to Aug. 17, according to local meteorological data.

"That's about the same volume of rainfall we had for the whole year," said Yin Changwen, a water conservation expert with the rescue headquarters.

The city's average annual precipitation was 745 mm, he said.

Between 2:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. last Friday, the Dongzhou Reservoir on the upper reaches of the Weishui River, a tributary⁶ of the swollen⁷ Wenhe River, received 161 mm of rainfall, the biggest rain volume in 70 years, said Yin.

"The torrent⁸ from upstream poured down into the Wenhe River at 1,800 cubic meters per second, and instantly tore a breach in the levee," he said.

Before the breach was blocked early on Sunday to pave way for the rescue operation, an estimated 12.6 million cubic meters of water had poured down the two adjacent pits.

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收听单词发音

1 breach
n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破
参考例句：
We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。 He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

2 inundating
v.淹没( inundate的现在分词 )；（洪水般地）涌来；充满；给予或交予（太多事物）使难以应付
参考例句：
Floodwaters are inundating states up and down the Eastern Seaboard. 洪水淹没了东部沿海各州。来自互联网 Their invasion of the city effecttidal wave inundating first the immigrant colonies. 他们的涌入城市，象潮头一样首先淹没了移民地带。来自互联网

3 provincial
adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人
参考例句：
City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。 Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

4 shafts
n.轴( shaft的名词复数 )；（箭、高尔夫球棒等的）杆；通风井；一阵（疼痛、害怕等）
参考例句：
He deliberately jerked the shafts to rock him a bit. 他故意的上下颠动车把，摇这个老猴子几下。来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子 Shafts were sunk, with tunnels dug laterally. 竖井已经打下，并且挖有横向矿道。来自辞典例句

5 inadequate
adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的
参考例句：
The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。 She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。

6 tributary
n.支流；纳贡国；adj.附庸的；辅助的；支流的
参考例句：
There was a tributary road near the end of the village.村的尽头有条岔道。 As the largest tributary of Jinsha river,Yalong river is abundant in hydropower resources.雅砻江是金沙江的最大支流，水力资源十分丰富。

7 swollen
adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀
参考例句：
Her legs had got swollen from standing up all day.因为整天站着，她的双腿已经肿了。 A mosquito had bitten her and her arm had swollen up.蚊子叮了她，她的手臂肿起来了。

8 torrent
n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发
参考例句：
The torrent scoured a channel down the hillside. 急流沿着山坡冲出了一条沟。 Her pent-up anger was released in a torrent of words.她压抑的愤怒以滔滔不绝的话爆发了出来。

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