东航客机坠毁事故
After China’s Worst Air Crash in Years, a Desperate Hunt for Survivors
The New York Times
Rescue workers searched a remote mountain valley in southern China on Tuesday for any survivors in the crash of a passenger plane carrying 132 people that plunged more than 20,000 feet in just over a minute.
No survivors have been found so far, a state broadcaster said on Tuesday, the morning after Monday’s crash.
China Eastern Airlines, which operated the Boeing 737-800, and the central government are investigating the cause of the crash, which is likely to be the country’s biggest aviation disaster in more than a decade.
Flight MU-5735 took off from Kunming, the capital of southwestern Yunnan Province, at 1:11 p.m., according to Flightradar24, a tracking platform. About halfway to its destination, Guangzhou, the commercial hub in southeast China, the plane was cruising at 29,100 feet.
Then, about 2:20 p.m., the plane “suddenly started to lose altitude very fast,” Flightradar24 said in a tweet. It quickly descended 20,000 feet — an almost vertical drop — and appeared to briefly regain altitude around 8,000 feet before continuing its plunge, according to Flightradar24’s data.
A thunderous boom then rippled across a tree-covered valley, where usually the loudest noises come from swarms of insects and villagers’ motorbikes. At first, residents in Teng County in the Guangxi region were baffled by the explosion, they told Chinese news outlets.
Plumes of smoke floated over clusters of bamboo and banana trees. Farmers came across shards of wreckage, apparently from the plane’s wings and fuselage, some showing the lettering of China Eastern. And villagers gathered to put out some of the fires that had broken out in the hills, one said in a telephone interview with The New York Times.
Rescue workers by the hundreds flooded the site but, according to initial reports, encountered only debris — including parts of a plane wing and pieces of charred cloth — in the heavily wooded, remote area.
Pictures and video showed a frenzy of nighttime activity as rescuers assembled tents and command posts, setting up power supplies and lights, and lining up dozens of ambulances in the hope of finding anyone alive. Dozens of local volunteers on motorbikes carried in water, food and tents.
Rain, which has been forecast for the area, held off for at least much of the night. But showers were expected on Tuesday, and could hamper the search on hillsides covered in bushes, ferns and bamboo.
The plane was carrying 123 passengers and nine crew members, China’s civil aviation administration said. Family members of the crew had started gathering at the airline’s office in Kunming, according to state media, and relatives of the passengers were at the airport in Guangzhou, the plane’s destination.
“The cause of the plane crash is still under investigation, and the company will actively cooperate with relevant investigations,” China Eastern said in a statement Monday night. “The company expresses its deep condolences to the passengers and crew members who died in the plane crash.”
On Monday, Boeing offered its condolences to the families of the victims and said it was in contact with China Eastern and a safety agency in the United States. It also said it would help authorities in China that are investigating the crash.
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注：中文文本为纽约时报官方译文，仅供参考
含注释全文：
After China’s Worst Air Crash in Years, a Desperate Hunt for Survivors
The New York Times
Rescue workers searched a remote mountain valley in southern China on Tuesday for any survivors in the crash of a passenger plane carrying 132 people that plunged more than 20,000 feet in just over a minute.
周二，救援人员在中国南部一个偏远的山谷搜寻东航客机空难幸存者。这架载有132人的客机在一分钟多的时间里骤降6000多米，随后坠毁。
plunge
1）可以作动词，也可以作名词，表示“骤降”，英文解释为“If an amount or rate plunges, it decreases quickly and suddenly.”举个例子：
His weight began to plunge.（动词）
他的体重开始骤然下降。
Japan's banks are in trouble because of bad loans and the stock market plunge.（名词）
日本各家银行处于困境，缘于不良贷款以及股市的暴跌。
◆2020年4月份瑞幸咖啡怎么了？文中就提到了CNN的标题China's Luckin Coffee plunges 75% on accounting probe用的是plunge一词，表示股价暴跌。类似的表达「暴跌」的词有：plummet，tank，sink，slump，...
◆slump表示“（价值等）暴跌”，英文解释为“If something such as the value of something slumps, it falls suddenly and by a large amount.”举个例子：
Net profits slumped by 25%.
净利润暴跌了25%。
◆plummet /ˈplʌmɪt/ 表示“（数量、比率、价格）暴跌”，英文解释为“If an amount, rate, or price plummets, it decreases quickly by a large amount.”举个例子：
Her spirits plummeted at the thought of meeting him again.
一想到又要见到他，她的心情便直往下沉。
◆tank，熟词僻义，作名词是坦克的意思，作动词有“表现得很糟糕，快速减少，衰落，下跌”的含义，英文解释为“If something such as a stock price or a movie tanks, it performs very badly, for example because it loses a lot of money.”举个例子：
Tech stocks have tanked.
科技股票暴跌了。
No survivors have been found so far, a state broadcaster said on Tuesday, the morning after Monday’s crash.
空难发生在周一，周二，一个国有广播公司称，尚没有发现幸存者。
China Eastern Airlines, which operated the Boeing 737-800, and the central government are investigating the cause of the crash, which is likely to be the country’s biggest aviation disaster in more than a decade.
运营这架波音737-800的中国东方航空公司和中央政府正在调查事故原因，这可能是该国十多年来最大的一次空难。
Flight MU-5735 took off from Kunming, the capital of southwestern Yunnan Province, at 1:11 p.m., according to Flightradar24, a tracking platform. About halfway to its destination, Guangzhou, the commercial hub in southeast China, the plane was cruising at 29,100 feet.
根据飞行追踪平台Flightradar24的数据，MU5735航班于下午1点11分从云南省会昆明起飞。在距离目的地广州一半距离时，这架飞机正在约8869米的高度巡航。广州是中国东南部的商业枢纽城市。
hub
hub一词可以理解为“（某地/活动）中心，枢纽，核心”，如：the commercial hub of the city 城市的商业中心，a hub airport 大型中转机场，举个例子：
cruise
cruise /kruːz/ 表示“（船只或飞机）巡航，以平稳的速度航行”，英文解释为“If a ship or aircraft cruises, it travels at a continuous speed.”
Then, about 2:20 p.m., the plane “suddenly started to lose altitude very fast,” Flightradar24 said in a tweet. It quickly descended 20,000 feet — an almost vertical drop — and appeared to briefly regain altitude around 8,000 feet before continuing its plunge, according to Flightradar24’s data.
然后，大约下午2点20分，这架飞机“突然开始快速下降”，Flightradar24在一条推文中说。根据该平台的数据，飞机快速下降了6000米——几乎是垂直下降——并且似乎在大约2400米的高度短暂恢复上升后继续下降。
descend
表示“下来；下去；下降”，英文解释为“to come or go down from a higher to a lower level”举个例子：
The plane began to descend.
飞机开始降落。
altitude
altitude表示“海拔；海拔高度；高程”，英文解释为“the height above sea level”举个例子：
We are flying at an altitude of 6 000 metres.
我们的飞行高度是6 000米。
区分：
◆latitude：the distance of a place north or south of the equator (= the line around the world dividing north and south) , measured in degrees 纬度
◆longitude：the distance of a place east or west of the Greenwich meridian , measured in degrees 经度
A thunderous boom then rippled across a tree-covered valley, where usually the loudest noises come from swarms of insects and villagers’ motorbikes. At first, residents in Teng County in the Guangxi region were baffled by the explosion, they told Chinese news outlets.
随后，雷鸣般的爆炸声在绿荫覆盖的山谷中震荡，而那里平时最吵闹的声音来自成群的昆虫和村民的摩托车。广西藤县的居民告诉中国新闻媒体，爆炸后他们一开始不知道发生了什么。
thunderous
表示“雷鸣般的”，英文解释为“extremely loud”如：thunderous applause 雷鸣般的掌声。
ripple
表示“（使）起涟漪；（使）如波浪般起伏”，英文解释为“to (cause to) move in small waves”举个例子：
The breeze rippled the water.
微风在水面吹起阵阵涟漪。
swarm
a swarm of/swarms of表示“一大群；一大堆”，可以指蜂拥的人群，也可以指昆虫之类的，如：a swarm of bees/wasps/ants/locusts 一大群蜜蜂/黄蜂/蚂蚁/蝗虫，举个例子：
A swarm of/Swarms of photographers followed the star's car.
成群结队的记者跟在这位明星的车后。
baffle
表示“使困惑”，英文解释为“If something baffles you, you cannot understand it or explain it.”举个例子：
An apple tree producing square fruit is baffling experts.
一棵结方形果实的苹果树正令专家们感到困惑。
outlet
outlet/outlets一词经常出现，media outlet / news outlets 都可以表示媒体/新闻机构；
outlet本身表示“商店，商行；销售公司；专卖店；直销店”，英文解释为“An outlet is a shop or organization which sells the goods made by a particular manufacturer or at a discount price, often direct from the manufacturer.”如：a fast-food outlet 快餐店 a retail outlet 零售店，举个例子：
At the factory outlet you'll find discounted items at up to 75% off regular prices.
在工厂的直销店里，你会找到比常规价低75%的打折商品。
◆而我们日常生活中常见的“奥特莱斯”商场就是outlets的音译，指的就是品牌直销购物中心。
Plumes of smoke floated over clusters of bamboo and banana trees. Farmers came across shards of wreckage, apparently from the plane’s wings and fuselage, some showing the lettering of China Eastern. And villagers gathered to put out some of the fires that had broken out in the hills, one said in a telephone interview with The New York Times.
浓烟在成簇的竹子和香蕉树上方飘过。农民们发现了机体的碎片，显然是来自飞机的机翼和机身，有些残骸上可以看到中国东方航空字样。一位村民在接受《纽约时报》电话采访时说，村民们聚集在一起扑灭了部分山火。
plume
plume /pluːm/ 表示“一缕（烟雾）、尘土等；一股（水柱）；一道（火光）”，英文解释为“A plume of smoke, dust, fire, or water is a large quantity of it that rises into the air in a column.”举个例子：
The rising plume of black smoke could be seen all over Hangzhou.
那股升起的黑烟整个杭州都可以看到。
◆电影《坚强》（Strong）中提到：Coming up in a big plume. 浓烟滚滚。
shard
表示“（玻璃杯、茶杯、容器或类似物品的）碎片”，英文解释为“a piece of a broken glass, cup, container, or similar object”举个例子：
Shards of glass have been cemented into the top of the wall to stop people climbing over.
墙头上用水泥粘着玻璃碎片，以防止人们翻过去。
fuselage
表示“飞机机身”，英文解释为“the main body of an aircraft”举个例子：
A close inspection revealed minute cracks in the aircraft's fuselage and wings.
经过细致的检查，发现飞机的机身和机翼上都有细小的裂缝。
Rescue workers by the hundreds flooded the site but, according to initial reports, encountered only debris — including parts of a plane wing and pieces of charred cloth — in the heavily wooded, remote area.
数百名救援人员赶赴现场，但根据最初的报告，他们在这片树木繁茂的偏远地区只找到了碎片——包括部分机翼和烧焦的布片。
debris
表示“碎片，残片；残渣；垃圾；废弃物”，英文解释为“pieces of material that are not wanted and rubbish/garbage that are left somewhere”举个例子：
Clear away leaves and other garden debris from the pond.
把池塘里的树叶和其他庭园垃圾清除干净。
charred
charred /tʃɑːrd/表示“烤焦的；焦黑的”，英文解释为“burned and black”。
Pictures and video showed a frenzy of nighttime activity as rescuers assembled tents and command posts, setting up power supplies and lights, and lining up dozens of ambulances in the hope of finding anyone alive. Dozens of local volunteers on motorbikes carried in water, food and tents.
图片和视频显示，救援人员在夜间搭建帐篷和指挥所，接通电源和照明灯，数十辆救护车排列等候，希望找到幸存者。数十名当地志愿者骑着摩托车运送水、食物和帐篷。
frenzy
表示“疯狂，狂热，狂暴”，英文解释为“(an example of) uncontrolled and excited behaviour or emotion that is sometimes violent”，举个例子：
The audience worked/whipped themselves into a frenzy as they waited for her to come on stage.
观众在期待她登上舞台的过程中情绪变得狂热起来。
◆work yourself into a frenzy / panic / state etc,表示“使自己变得疯狂/恐慌/紧张等”（to make yourself become very nervous, angry etc）举个例子：
He seemed to be working himself into a rage.
他似乎开始怒火中烧。
Rain, which has been forecast for the area, held off for at least much of the night. But showers were expected on Tuesday, and could hamper the search on hillsides covered in bushes, ferns and bamboo.
天气预报曾预测该地区有降雨，但至少在晚上的大部分时间里都没有下雨。但预计周二会有阵雨，可能不利于在灌木、蕨类植物和竹子覆盖的山坡进行搜索。
hamper
表示“阻碍，妨碍”，英文解释为“to prevent someone doing something easily”举个例子：
Fierce storms have been hampering rescue efforts.
猛烈的暴风雨妨碍了救援工作的进行。
◆电影《降临》（Arrival）中的台词提到：Trying to answer this in any meaningful way is hampered by the fact that... 试图从任何有意义的角度来回答 都困难重重，
The plane was carrying 123 passengers and nine crew members, China’s civil aviation administration said. Family members of the crew had started gathering at the airline’s office in Kunming, according to state media, and relatives of the passengers were at the airport in Guangzhou, the plane’s destination.
中国民航局表示，这架飞机载有123名乘客和九名机组人员。据官方媒体报道，机组人员的家人已经开始抵达昆明的航空公司办公室，乘客的亲属来到航班目的地广州的机场。
“The cause of the plane crash is still under investigation, and the company will actively cooperate with relevant investigations,” China Eastern said in a statement Monday night. “The company expresses its deep condolences to the passengers and crew members who died in the plane crash.”
“本次飞机失事的原因还在调查中，公司将积极配合相关调查，”东航周一晚间在一份声明中表示。“公司对本次飞机失事中遇难的旅客和机组人员表示沉痛的哀悼。”
condolence
1）复数形式，表示“哀悼”，英文解释为“When you offer or express your condolences to someone, you express your sympathy for them because one of their friends or relatives has died recently.”举个例子：
He expressed his condolences to the families of the people who died in the incident.
他向那次事故遇难者家属表达了哀悼。
2）不可数形式，表示“吊唁”，英文解释为“A message of condolence is a message in which you express your sympathy for someone because one of their friends or relatives has died recently.”举个例子：
She sent him a letter of condolence.
她给他发了一封吊唁信。
On Monday, Boeing offered its condolences to the families of the victims and said it was in contact with China Eastern and a safety agency in the United States. It also said it would help authorities in China that are investigating the crash.
周一，波音向遇难者家属表示哀悼，并表示正在与东航和美国的一家安全机构联系。它还表示，将帮助中国有关部门调查这起事故。
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