Twenty-one dead as extreme weather hits ultramarathon in China

The Guardian

Twenty-one people have died after hail, freezing rain and high winds hit runners taking part in a 100km (62-mile) ultramarathon in a mountainous part of northern China.

在中国北部山区，冰雹、冻雨和大风袭击了参加100公里（62英里）超马的选手，21人遇难。

hail

hail作不可数名词，表示“雹，冰雹”，英文解释为“small, hard balls of ice that fall from the sky like rain”，下文出现另一个词hailstone.

ultramarathon

表示“（比马拉松距离还要长的）超级马拉松，超马”，英文解释为“a running race that is longer than a marathon (= a race that is approximately 26 miles)”举个例：

I'd just run my first ultramarathon, a 50-kilometer race.

我刚刚跑了我的第一个超级马拉松，比赛全长50公里。

More than 700 rescuers and army personnel used thermal-imaging drones and radar detectors to try to find runners caught by the storm in the race in Yellow River stone forest near Baiyin in north-western Gansu province, officials said.

官方通报称，700多名救援人员使用热成像无人机和雷达探测器，试图找到在甘肃省西北部白银市附近的黄河石林比赛中被暴风雨袭击的选手。

thermal-imaging

表示“热成像”，英文解释为“the use of special electronic equipment, in conditions in which it is difficult to see, to create a picture based on the heat produced by a person or object”。

Twenty-one people died and eight were injured, officials from Baiyin told a news briefing.

白银市官员在一次新闻发布会上说，21人死亡，8人受伤。

“At around noon, the high-altitude section of the race between 20-31km was suddenly affected by disastrous weather. In a short period of time, hailstones and ice rain suddenly fell in the local area, and there were strong winds. The temperature sharply dropped,” Baiyin city mayor, Zhang Xuchen, said on Sunday.

周日白银市市长张旭晨说，“中午时分，比赛中20-31公里的高海拔路段突然受到极端天气的影响。在很短的时间内，当地突然下起了冰雹和冻雨，并出现了强风。气温急剧下降。”

disastrous

disastrous表示“极糟糕的；灾难性的；完全失败的”，英文解释为“very bad, harmful or unsuccessful”，如：a disastrous result 灾难性的结果。

hailstones

通常复数，表示“冰雹，雹子”，英文解释为“a small, hard ball of ice that falls from the sky like rain”。

Rescue teams were dispatched but at around 2pm, weather conditions worsened and the race was immediately called off as local authorities sent more rescuers to help, Zhang added.

张旭晨补充说，救援队已被派出，但在下午2点左右，天气状况恶化，比赛立即被取消，当地政府派出更多的救援人员来帮助。

dispatch

1）表示“派遣”，英文解释为“If you dispatch someone to a place, you send them there for a particular reason.”举个例：

He had been continually dispatching scouts ahead.

他一直不断地派遣侦察员到前面去。

2）表示“发送”，英文解释为“If you dispatch a message, letter, or parcel, you send it to a particular person or destination.”举个例：

The victory inspired him to dispatch a gleeful telegram to her.

胜利鼓舞了他发喜电给她。

2020年政府工作报告Part 3中就提到：举全国之力予以支援，调派4万多名医护人员驰援，rallying the support of the entire country, dispatching over 40,000 doctors and nurses,

call off

表示“取消，停止，中止（尤指体育赛事）”，英文解释为“to decide that a planned event, especially a sports event, will not happen, or to end an activity because it is no longer useful or possible”举个例：

Tomorrow's match has been called off because of the icy weather.

因为天气寒冷，明天的比赛取消了。

“This incident is a public safety incident caused by sudden changes in weather in a local area,” he said, adding that provincial authorities will further investigate its cause.

他表示，“该事件是一起因局部天气突变发生的公共安全事件”，省委省政府将对事件原因进行进一步深入调查。

Temperatures in the mountainous terrain dropped further overnight on Saturday, Xinhua news agency said, making search and rescue “more difficult”.

新华社表示，星期六，山区的气温在一夜之间进一步下降，使搜救工作“更加困难”。

terrain

表示“地形，地势”，英文解释为“Terrain is used to refer to an area of land or a type of land when you are considering its physical features.”举个例：

The terrain changed quickly from arable land to desert.

这里的地形很快由耕地变为沙漠。

A “significant” drop in temperatures had been forecast in most parts of Gansu over the weekend but there was anger on Chinese social media that officials had failed to plan for bad weather.

周末，甘肃大部分地区的气温预计会有“明显”下降，但中国的社交媒体上出现了愤怒的声音，认为官员们没有为恶劣的天气做好准备。

forecast

可以作动词，也可以作名词，表示“预测；预报”，英文解释为“to say what you expect to happen in the future”举个例：

Snow has been forecast for tonight.

预报今晚有雪。

“Why didn't the government read the weather forecast and do a risk assessment?” one commentator wrote.

“为什么政府不看天气预报，不做风险评估？”一位评论员写道。

“This is totally a man-made calamity. Even if the weather is unexpected, where were the contingency plans?”

“这完全是一场人为的灾难。即使天气意外，应急计划在哪里？”

man-made

表示“人造的；合成的；人为的”，英文解释为“artificial rather than natural”如：man-made fibres 人造纤维。

calamity

calamity /kəˈlæmɪtɪ/表示“灾难；灾祸”，英文解释为“A calamity is an event that causes a great deal of damage, destruction, or personal distress.”

contingency

contingency /kənˈtɪndʒənsɪ/ 表示“可能发生的事”，英文解释为“A contingency is something that might happen in the future.”举个例：

I need to examine all possible contingencies.

我得查看所有可能发生的事。

At the news briefing on Sunday, Baiyin officials bowed and apologised, saying they were saddened by the tragic deaths of the runners and that they were to be blamed.

在周日的新闻发布会上，白银市官员鞠躬道歉，深感内疚和自责，并对遇难人员表示沉痛哀悼。

bow

表示“（使）鞠躬；（使）欠身；点头致意”，英文解释为“to bend your head or body forward, especially as a way of showing someone respect or expressing thanks to people who have watched you perform”举个例：

They bowed to the Queen.

他们向女王鞠躬。

The Gansu provincial government has set up an investigation team to further look into the cause of the deaths, the People's Daily reported.

据《人民日报》报道，甘肃省政府已经成立了一个调查小组，进一步调查死亡的原因。

Gansu, one of China's poorest regions, borders Mongolia to the north and Xinjiang to the west.

甘肃是中国最贫穷的地区之一，北面与蒙古接壤，西面与新疆接壤。

border

作动词，表示“和…毗邻；与…接壤”，英文解释为“to share a border with another country or area”举个例：

Swaziland borders South Africa and Mozambique.

斯威士兰毗邻南非和莫桑比克。

Yellow River stone forest is famous for its rugged mountain scenery marked by stone stalagmites and pillars, and is used as a location in many Chinese television shows and movies, according to the China Daily.

据《中国日报》报道，黄河石林以其以石笋和石柱为标志的崎岖山景而闻名，并被用作许多中国电视节目和电影的拍摄地。

rugged

rugged /ˈrʌɡɪd/ 表示“崎岖多岩的”，英文解释为“A rugged area of land is uneven and covered with rocks, with few trees or plants.”举个例：

We left the rough track and bumped our way over a rugged mountainous terrain.

我们驶离坎坷的小道，又颠簸过了崎岖多岩的山地。

stalagmite

stalagmite /ˈstæləɡˌmaɪt/ 表示“石笋”，英文解释为“a column of rock that rises from the floor of a cave, formed over a very long period of time by drops of water containing lime falling from the roof of the cave”。

pillar /ˈpɪlə/

表示“（建筑物的）柱子，支柱；墩”，英文解释为“strong column made of stone, metal, or wood that supports part of a building”举个例：

A row of reinforced concrete pillars supports the bridge.

一排钢筋混凝土柱子支撑着桥梁。

补充：

pillar of sth表示“重要成员；栋梁，中坚，核心”，英文解释为“a very important member or part of a group, organization, system, etc.”举个例：

Equality is one of the pillars of socialism.

平等是社会主义理论的重要组成部分之一。

My father is a pillar of the family.

我父亲是家庭的顶梁柱。

《经济学人》（The Economist）一篇讲述美国牛仔服饰的文章中提到：When Strauss died in 1902 he was eulogised as one of San Francisco’s foremost philanthropists and a pillar of the Jewish community. 施特劳斯在1902年去世时被誉为旧金山最杰出的慈善家之一和犹太社区的支柱。

Its rock formations are believed to be 4 billion years old. Xinhua said a total of 172 people were taking part in the race.

它的岩层被认为有40亿年的历史。新华社说，总共有172人参加了比赛。