第694期:美国高速69车追尾事件中的一个词
昨天美国各大媒体的头条新闻都是弗吉尼亚州高速公路上69车连环追尾事故的报道。
今天,我们就来讲一个这则新闻中的词:pileup 连环相撞(车祸)。
我们先来看几个美国媒体对这起事故报道的标题:
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69-Vehicle Pileup on Virginia Highway Injures 51, Police Say (New York Times)
The authorities attributed the chain of crashes on Sunday morning to fog, ice and rubbernecking.
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More than 50 people injured in 69-vehicle pileup on Virginia Interstate (ABC News)
An icy roadway and fog contributed to the chain-reaction crash, officials said.
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At least 51 injured in 69-vehicle highway pileup in Virginia (NBC News)
The major wreck shut down traffic on Interstate 64 for several hours after what appeared to be a chain-reaction accident.
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Heavy fog and icy roads lead to 69-vehicle pileup on a highway in Virginia (CNN)
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Massive 69-car pileup in Virginia leaves several with critical injuries, shuts down interstate (Fox News)
各家媒体对同一事件的标题不同,但都选用了pileup 这个词。这就是我们今天要讲的重点词汇。
Pileup,注意是pile和up连起来写成的一个词,意思就是多车相撞:a collision involving usually several motor vehicles (Merriam-Webster).
Pile是堆(名词)、堆积(动词),大家可能都认识一个常用词组 pile up,表示堆积。
这样的话,上面新闻标题里的pileup就很好记住了。
普通的汽车追尾用英语表达是 rear-end collision. 这是最正式的说法。
追尾还可以简单地说 rear-end(动词)。
例句:
My new car was rear-ended while it was parked outside the station. 我的车停在车站外面时被人从后面撞了(被追尾了)。
只有很多车连环追尾,堆积在一起的大事故才叫pileup.
当然,pileup不单指很多车辆追尾事故,也可以指堆积了很多的东西。
例如,你每次休假回来,重新上班的第一天,一打开电脑,几百封邮件扑面而来,那些堆积的邮件就叫 a pileup of emails.
冬天开车,路面湿滑,希望大家谨慎驾驶,注意安全。