Part A Spain Train Derailment
Vocabulary Preparation:
derailment n. an accident in which a train runs off itstrack （火车、有轨电车等的）脱轨，出轨
death toll the numberof deaths resulting from some particular cause such as an accident or a battleor a natural disaster 死亡人数
flip v. to toss with asharp movement so as to cause to turn over in the air 翻，翻动
flame n. the processof combustion of inflammable materials producing heat and light and (often)smoke 火焰；燃烧
rip apart to tear someone or something apart into pieces 把…扯破
festivities n. events that areorganized in order to celebrate something 庆典, 庆祝活动
carriage n. a railcar where passengers ride （火车的）客车车厢
curve n. curved segment (of a road or river orrailroad track etc.) 弯，曲
contributing adj. tending to bringabout; being partly responsible for 起作用的
impact n. the action of oneobject hitting another, or the force with which one object hits another 撞击力；碰撞
horrific adj. extremely bad, in a way that is frightening or upsetting 极坏的；令人惊恐的
thereafter adv. after a particular event or time 之后；此后
forensic a. is used to describe the work ofscientists who examine evidence in order to help the police solve crimes 法医的
strap v. to tie with a strap 被捆；受缚
Notes:
Santiago de Compostela/ 7sAntI5B:gEJdE7kCmpE5stelE/ is the capital ofthe autonomous community of Galicia innorthwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of SaintJames the Great, now the city's cathedral, as destination of the Wayof St. James, a leading Catholic pilgrimage route originated in the9th century. In 1985 the city's Old Town was designateda UNESCO World Heritage Site. 圣地亚哥•德•孔波斯特拉（西班牙西北部加利西亚自治区的首府）
Portugal /5pC:tjJgEl / is a country insouthwest Europe, west of Spain. Its capital is Lisbon. 葡萄牙（欧洲西南部国家）
Exercise 1: Listen to the news report and get the mainidea.
What is the main point of the report?
The deadly train derailment in Spain, killing at least 78 people, seems to be linked to excessive speed.
The deadly train derailment in Spain, killing at least 78 people, seems to be linked to technical problems.
The deadly train derailment in Spain, killing at least 78 people, seems to be linked to a sharp curve.
The deadly train derailment in Spain, killing at least 78 people, seems to be linked to the condition of the track.
Exercise 2: Listen to the news report again and fill inthe blanks with the exact words or phrases.
This is aspecial report from ABC News digital.
Dan Kloeffler: I'm Dan Kloeffler inNew York with this ABC News Digital special report on that deadly trainderailment in Spain. The train was traveling at high speed last night when ittried to 1 . And a car started flying off thetracks. It happened in the town of Santiago de Compostela in the western partof Spain, north of Portugal. The 2 is now at 78. ABC's Lama Hasan is monitoringthe situation from our London bureau with more.Lama.
Lama Hasan: Good morning, Dan. Well, we’re learning that among the 141 injured are at least fiveAmericans. In what is now described as Spain's worst train disaster in fortyyears at least 78 people were killed. Witnesses described the train carsflipping and 3 after coming off the tracks. One car rippedapart by the force of the crash. Now the train was traveling from Madrid, andit derailed in northwestern Spain which has a tourist 4 that was preparing to celebrate a popular summerfestival that attracts Christians from all over the world. The festivities arebeing cancelled now. There are reports this morning saying that the 5 train carrying 218 passengers was traveling atnearly three times the speed limit on a sharp curve because it was reportedly 6 .Now we do know that one Spanish journalist said that the driver was driving toofast at the time of the accident. Traveling 180 miles per hour in a sixty mileper hour zone, so you can just imagine how fast the driver was going. Now weunderstand that the state rail company says the train did not have anytechnical problems, it was checked right before it was on the tracks. Aninvestigation has now been 7 .
Dan Kloeffler: Lama,I understand obviously that they've been looking atobviously the speed of the train –and they’ve also been looking at thecondition of the track. Any word on potentially about the conductor, about anynearby stations, the rail stations that coordinate the traffic between thetrains or even the weather conditions playing any kind of a factor into this.
Lama Hasan: Not at the moment as I just said an investigation is under way. Weunderstand that there was no technical problem. So far we understand that oneof the main 8 factors was the speed that the driver wasdriving at the time of the 9 . So again we will have to wait until weget the investigation and the results from the investigation. I don't thinkweather had anything to do with it.
Dan Kloeffler: Whatabout --- have we been hearing anything about -- obviously this video is justso horrific to watch. And shortly thereafter, do we know of any witnesses, anyaccounts that came rushing then to the scene there to help try, to help thosepeople that were involved in that crash?
Lama Hasan: Even this morning -- you know this train crash happened late last night,Spain time. And even this morning there were police officers, forensic officerson the site, and rescuers on the site as well, trying to find some of thesurvivors because some of them were still 10 into their seats on the train. So even earlierthis morning they were trying to get to the survivors. But as of now weunderstand that at least 141 have been injured. And of course, theinvestigation will most likely give us an insight into what happened.
Dan Kloeffler: Allright. ABC's Lama Hasan in London with the latest on that investigation. Lama,thank you for that. Of course we have a complete report on abcnews.com on thatdeadly Spanish train derailment. 78 people were killed including five Americansand as Lama reported at least 141 passengers were injured from that accident lastnight.Speed seems to be the major cause for that accident. Of course as thatinvestigation continues we will update you as those developments are released.For now, I’m Dan Kloeffler in New York with this ABC News Digital specialreport.
