"These lakes pose a very severe risk," said Liu Yuan, an environmental official with the Land and Resources Ministry.
(pose a very severe risk就是“构成十分严重威胁”的意思，其中的pose risk属于固定搭配，类似的说法还有pose threat，这又是一个十分地道的英语表达。)
Altered landscape
The satellite images were provided by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, according to the US Embassy in Beijing, along with medical and rescue equipment. Initial photographs were marred by heavy cloud cover, and the Chinese received another batch two days ago. The images also revealed damage to dams, reservoirs and hydroelectric plants.
(Hydroelectric plants就是“水力发电厂”，而“火力发电厂”在英语中的表达则是thermal power plant。)
The magnitude 7.9 quake rearranged Sichuan province's already complicated landscape of rushing rivers, flood-prone valleys and jagged mountains. Even re-creating roads is a dangerous mission. More than 200 government employees, most of them with the Transportation Ministry, were entombed in mud by landslides over the weekend when they tried to clear the rubble from a road near the epicenter in Wenchuan.
(flood-prone是个合成单词，其中的prone我们许多人可能不熟悉，但在英语中它却是一个常用词，其意思是“易于发生某事(尤指不好的或有害的事)的”，“很可能……的”，“有……倾向的”。作为形容词，其搭配可以是be prone to something，如Some plants are prone to a particular disease.(某些植物很容易生某种特定的疾病。)，也可以是be prone to do something，如Kids are all prone to eat junk food.(孩子往往都喜欢吃垃圾食品。)不过，prone这个单词的另一常见用法就是与一个前置名词一起构成一个合成词，表示容易发生或出现该名词所指的现象或事情，这时候通常是指不好的现象或事情，如accident-prone就表示“容易出事故的”。
Re-creating roads再造道路；entomb是“埋葬”，“掩埋”的意思，为英语中的正式用词，只用被动式。一般地说，英语中表示“掩埋”的首选单词是bury，但由于这些工人被埋进泥石流之中之后几乎没有可能被救出，因此，这里使用了entomb就十分形象生动，因为显而易见，那里就是他们的tomb了。)
"The devastating phenomenon we see today is a natural consequence of the earthquake," said Guo Huadong, a geologist with the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
(The Chinese Academy of Sciences就是我们所熟知的中国科学院，需要注意的是这里的science应该使用复数，表示有许多科学门类。)
Guo, whose department reviewed the satellite images, said many areas would be left uninhabitable. Beichuan, where many of the 20,000 residents were killed, is in a steep valley squeezed between a river and mountain.
(Uninhabitable就是“不适宜人类居住的”，Uninhabitable的词干就是动词inhabit，其派生构造首先是加上后缀-able，表示“能够……的”，然后是加上表示否定意义的前缀un-。我们在学习英语的时候掌握一些基本的构词法知识是完全有必要的。)
"Maybe they can build a memorial there to victims of the earthquake," he said. "But as far as living there, it is not a wise idea."
(Memorial是“纪念物”，“纪念碑”的意思，其实也可以指“纪念馆”，“纪念堂”。在中国，许多“纪念馆”的英文都被翻译为memorial hall，其实这里的hall纯属多余，一个memorial即可，美国有Lincoln Memorial，中国有Chairman Mao's Memorial。)
An appeal for tents
Housing the homeless is the next priority. The Chinese government appealed to the international community Thursday for 3.3 million tents, saying that only 400,000 had reached the disaster area. Officials said Chinese factories were working around the clock to produce tents but could not meet the demand.
(Housing在这里作为动词使用可谓贴切逼真，形象生动，因为安置受灾群众就是为他们提供可以安身的住处；working around the clock to produce tents帐篷生产企业则是全天候生产。)
The government also has set a goal of building 1 million temporary houses by August.
(Temporary houses就是临时住房，也可以说temporary shelters或makeshift houses，其中的makeshift又是一个我们不太熟悉却属于地道英语的词汇。本文中的临时住房可以指帐篷，但考虑到帐篷在文中已单独出现，因此它更应该指帐篷以外的各种活动板房(movable plank houses/movable houses)和预制房屋(prefabricated house)。
责任编辑：虫虫
