纽约时报中文网 - 英文原版-英Tornado Kills 5 in Guangzhou a Chinese City Battered by Recent Rains
April 29, 2024 3 min 427 words
《纽约时报》这篇报道的主要内容是：广州近日遭遇龙卷风袭击，造成5人死亡，多名市民受伤，龙卷风带来的暴雨也给城市造成一定财产损失。在简述了龙卷风造成的损失后，报道重点描述了一位目击者的经历，这位目击者描述了他看到的龙卷风袭击场景，并表达了对自然灾害的恐惧。 评论：该报道在描述事实方面较为客观，但存在以下偏见： 1以点概全：报道过度放大了龙卷风带来的损失，以一位目击者的个人经历来概括整个事件，未全面反映广州整体受灾情况，容易造成外国读者对广州受灾严重的误判。 2暗示不明：报道未明确点出龙卷风发生的具体时间，仅以“近日”二字带过，可能导致不了解中国近期天气的外国读者，误以为中国正遭遇频繁的极端天气，从而对中国应对气候变化能力产生负面印象。 3情绪倾向：报道过多描述目击者的恐惧情绪，可能引起读者对中国应对自然灾害能力的同情和担忧，而对中国抗灾能力及成果缺乏全面认识。 综上，该报道虽无刻意抹黑，但确有引导读者产生特定情绪的倾向，存在一定偏见。
A tornado that swept through the southern Chinese economic hub of Guangzhou killed five people and damaged scores of factory buildings on Saturday.
The tornado struck at about 3 p.m. and injured another 33 people as it slammed through the Baiyun district, in the city’s northern suburbs, the local government said. It lasted about four minutes. Hailstones, some with diameters of around 2 inches, also fell over parts of the city.
Videos shared by Chinese official media showed transmission towers and power lines igniting and debris swirling in the air, against a backdrop of a giant funnel that had darkened the midafternoon sky.
Guangzhou, a sprawling city of 19 million people and a manufacturing and technology hub, has been battered this month by heavy spring downpours. Flooding across Guangdong Province, of which Guangzhou is the capital, had already led to the evacuation of tens of thousands of people last week.
The flow of warm, humid air from the South China Sea had led to the accumulation of a “large amount of unstable energy” near the ground, according to the Guangzhou government.
The authorities said a total of 141 factory buildings were damaged by the tornado and latest rains. Guangdong’s meteorological authorities said the tornado had been a level 3 out of 5, which signals wind speeds between 136 and 165 mph.
Search and rescue work had been concluded by Saturday evening, state media said. But officials warned that torrential rains and heavy wind and lightning would likely continue in Guangzhou in the coming days, as China prepares for a five-day Labor Day holiday beginning Wednesday.
One video shared by the Guangzhou government reminded residents not to go outdoors in heavy hail, or if they had to, to wear helmets.
The brown waters of the Pearl River flow through the heart of Guangzhou, much of which is very low-lying and has a long history of flooding.
The city has undertaken extensive efforts over the past few decades to improve its resistance to the inundations that have long accompanied the annual arrival of heavy rainstorms in late spring.
Municipal regulations have required in recent years that new apartment buildings have shops, not apartments, on the ground floor. The goal is to minimize the risk to human life during floods.
Janet Yellen, the U.S. treasury secretary, visited Guangzhou during an official visit to China earlier this month. The city recently held the Canton Fair, a major trade exhibition.
Keith Bradsher contributed reporting, and Amy Chang Chien contributed research