VOA慢速英语:Seeking Answers in Shipwreck in Italy

The wreck of the cruise ship Costa Concordia in Italy comes just before the one hundredth anniversary of a much worse disaster at sea. This April will mark a century since the wreck of the Titanic. The Titanic was the biggest cruise ship of its time. It struck an iceberg on its way from England to New York. The ship was carrying more than two thousand people. Most of them died.
意大利协和号邮轮的事故恰逢全球最严重海难一百周年前夕。今年4月份将迎来泰坦尼克号失事整整一百周年。泰坦尼克号是当时最大的邮轮，它在从英国驶往纽约的途中撞上冰山。船上载有超过两千人，大部分人遇难身亡。

The sinking of the Titanic not only led to major motion pictures. The Titanic disaster led to new requirements including safety training for passengers within twenty-four hours of sailing. The passengers on the Concordia had been at sea for just a few hours when it struck rocks off Italy's northwestern coast last Friday night. Their safety training had been planned for the next day.
泰坦尼克号的沉没，不仅产生了大题材电影。泰坦尼克号的灾难，也导致了一些新的要求。其中包括航行24小时内对乘客进行安全培训。上周五晚协和号邮轮在意大利西北海岸附近撞上礁石时，邮轮上的乘客才刚刚出海几个小时。他们的安全培训计划在第二天进行。

Passengers say the ship turned onto its side so quickly that many lifeboats could not be lowered into the water. Passengers were sitting down to late dinner when the ship hits rocks. They were told the ship was having electrical problems. Some said there was no organization among the crew during the crisis. Some people jumped into the cold sea and swam toward land.
乘客们称，这艘船侧倾得如此之快，许多救生艇无法降到水中。当船体撞上礁石时，乘客们正坐着在吃晚餐。他们被告知邮轮的电力出现问题。有人称，危机之中船员中没有组织。有的人跳入冰冷的海水中向陆地游去。

There were four thousand two hundred passengers and crew members on the ship. Rescuers used lifeboats and helicopters to take most of them to the island of Giglio and to Porto Santo Stefano on the mainland. Officials said at least twelve people died and twenty others were missing.
船上有4200名乘客和船员。救援人员使用救生艇和直升飞机将大部分人送到吉利奥岛和大陆上的波尔图-圣斯特凡诺。官员们称，至少有12人死亡，另外20人失踪。

Movements of the grounded ship and concerns about bad weather have interfered with efforts by divers to search underwater areas. The concern is that the ship could move off its rocky resting place and slide into deeper water. Bad weather could also delay work to remove fuel from the ship and protect the environment along the Tuscan coast.
搁浅船只的移动和对恶劣天气担忧影响到潜水员对水底区域的搜索。令人担忧的是，船体可能会离开礁石搁浅处，滑入更深的水域。恶劣天气也会延误清理船上燃料，保护托斯卡纳沿岸的环境保护工作。

The ship is part of Carnival, the world's largest operator of cruise ships. Carnival is based in the American city of Miami, Florida. Its one hundred one ships carry about half of the world's fifteen million sea-going tourists each year. Carnival Corporation says it will closely examine safety at all of its cruise lines, including Costa Cruises, which operated the Concordia.
该船只隶属于全球最大邮轮经营商嘉年华公司。该公司总部位于美国佛罗里达州迈阿密市。该公司旗下的101艘邮轮每年承运了全球1500万远洋游客的近一半。嘉年华公司表示他们会仔细检查旗下所有邮轮公司的安全，包括经营协和号的歌诗达邮轮公司。

Shortly after the accident, the ship's owners blamed the captain of the Concordia. They said he had made an unapproved change in direction and brought the ship too close to the coast.
事故发生后不久，船主将事故归咎于协和号船长。他们说，船长未经批准改变航向，使邮轮太靠近海岸。

A judge released Captain Francesco Schettino from jail on Tuesday and placed him under house arrest. He faces charges of causing deaths and fleeing his ship before all the passengers were rescued.
一名法官于周二将船长Francesco Schettino从监狱释放，取而代之的是将其软禁在家里。他面临过失致人死亡以及在所有乘客被救出前逃离他负责的邮轮的指控。

A recording of an exchange with an Italian coast guard officer showed that Captain Schettino refused orders to get back on the ship. Coast Guard Captain Gregory De Falco demanded that Captain Schettino use a ladder to climb back onto the Concordia and report how many people were still on the ship. But Captain Schettino said he was not going anywhere, that it was too dark. He said he was handling the rescue from a lifeboat. An angry Captain De Falco shouted that Captain Schettino was "going to pay" for his actions.
一段与海岸警卫人员的通话记录表明，Schettino船长拒绝了让他返回邮轮的命令。海岸警卫队队长Gregory De Falco要求Schettino船长使用梯子爬回协和号，并报告还有多少人在船上。但Schettino船长说他不会去任何地方，那里太黑了。他说他在救生艇上处理营救。愤怒的De Falco队长大声说，Schettino船长要为他的行为付出代价。