✸✸Poor planning bears even more blame. Houston, which has almost no restrictions on land-use, is an extreme example of what can go wrong. Although a light touch has enabled developers to cater to the city’s rapid growth—1.8m extra inhabitants since 2000—it has also led to concrete being laid over vast areas of coastal prairie that used to absorb the rain. According to the Texas Tribune and ProPublica, a charity that finances investigative journalism, since 2010 Harris County has allowed more than 8,600 buildings to be put up inside 100-year floodplains, where floods have a 1% chance of occurring in any year. Developers are supposed to build ponds to hold run-off water that would have soaked into undeveloped land, but the rules are poorly enforced. Because the maps are not kept up to date, properties supposedly outside the 100-year floodplain are being flooded repeatedly.
1） bear 英 [beə(r)] 美 [ber] n.熊;（在證券市場等）賣空的人;蠻橫的人 vt.承擔;忍受;支撐;生育
vi. 生（孩子）;結（果實）;與…有關 adj.跌價的;股票行情下跌的;賣空者的
The ice was not thick enough to bear the weight of marching men.
冰不夠厚，承載不了行軍隊伍的重量。
短語：bear in mind 英 [bɛə in maind] 美 [bɛr ɪn maɪnd] 牢記;記住;不恝於懷;銘記不忘
bear on 英 [bɛə ɔn] 美 [bɛr ɑn] 靠在…上;壓在…上;對…產生影響;與…有關
bear out 英 [bɛə aut] 美 [bɛr aʊt] 證明，證實
bear cat 英 [bɛə kæt] 美 [bɛr kæt] n.熊貓，<俗>蠻幹者
2） go wrong 英 [ɡəu rɔŋ] 美 [ɡo rɔŋ] v.走錯路，誤入岐途，（機器等）發生故障;出岔子;出亂子
I know only too well that plans can easily go wrong
計劃很容易出岔子，我太清楚這點了。
3） cater to 英 [ˈkeitə tu:] 美 [ˈketɚ tu] v.面向;供應伙食，迎合
Exercise classes cater to all levels of fitness.
各種健身班會照顧到不同身體狀況的人。
4） run-off 英 [ˈrʌnˌɔ:f, -ˌɔf] 美 [ˈrʌnˌɔf, -ˌɑf] n.（最後一次）決賽，決定性競選，<美>流走之物
There will be a run-off between these two candidates on December 9th
12月9日將舉行這兩位候選人的決勝選舉。
5） keep up to date 英 [ki:p ʌp tu: deit] 美 [kip ʌp tu det] 使記到最近時期，使跟上時代;跟上潮流
So that's why I think you need to keep up to date with your app.
所以這就是為什麼我認為你需要不斷更新您的應用程序。
✸✸ Government failure adds to the harm. Developing countries are underinsured against natural disasters. Swiss Re, a reinsurer, says that of the $50bn or so of losses to floods, cyclones and other disasters in Asia in 2014, only 8% were covered. The Bank of International Settlements calculates that the worst natural catastrophes typically permanently lower the afflicted country’s GDP by almost 2%. America has the opposite problem—the federal government subsidises the insurance premiums of vulnerable houses. The National Flood Insurance Programme (NFIP) has been forced to borrow because it fails to charge enough to cover its risk of losses. Underpricing encourages the building of new houses and discourages existing owners from renovating or moving out. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, houses that repeatedly flood account for 1% of NFIP’s properties but 25-30% of its claims. Five states, Texas among them, have more than 10,000.
1） underinsured 英 [ˌʌndərɪnˈʃʊəd] 美 [ˌʌndərɪnˈʃʊrd] adj.保險（額）不足的
Some of Obama's initiatives will provide short-term relief to both the uninsured andunderinsured.
奧巴馬的舉措中的一些將提供短期救濟未投保和保險額不足的雙方。
2） afflict 英 [əˈflɪkt] 美 [əˈflɪkt] vt.折磨;使受痛苦;使苦惱
The afflicted person should keep off solid foods and drink plenty of fluids.
病人不應吃固體食物而要多喝流質食物。
3） premiums n.保險費;費用( premium的名詞複數 );額外費用;（商品定價、貸款利息等以外的）加價
It is too early to say whether insurance premiums will be affected.
現在說保險費是否會受影響還為時過早。
4） renovating 英 ['renəveɪtɪŋ] 美 ['renəveɪtɪŋ] v.翻新，修復，整修( renovate的現在分詞 )
The couple spent thousands renovating the house
這對夫婦花了幾千元來翻新房子。
✸✸ such households and, nationwide, their number has been going up by around 5,000 each year. Insurance is meant to provide a signal about risk; in this case, it stifles it. What to do? Flooding strengthens the case for minimising climate change, which threatens to make wet places wetter and storms stormier. Even those who doubt the science would do well to see action as an insurance policy that pays out if the case is proven. However, that will not happen fast, even if all countries, including America, sign up to international agreements. More immediately, therefore, politicians can learn from Houston. Cities need to protect flood defences and catchment areas, such as the wetlands around Kolkata and the lakes in and around Pokhara in Nepal, whose value is becoming clear. Flood maps need to be up to date. Civil engineers, often starved of funds and strangled by bureaucracy, should be building and reinforcing levees and reservoirs now, before it is too late. The NFIP should start to charge market premiums and developing countries should sell catastrophe bonds. All this is a test of government, of foresight and the ability to withstand the lobbying of homeowners and developers. But politicians and officials who fail the test need to realise that, sooner or later, they will wake up to a Hurricane Harvey of their own.
1） meant to be 英 [ment tu: bi:] 美 [mɛnt tu bi] 命中註定
hat was meant to be a dig at me.
那是對我的挖苦。
2） stifle 英 [ˈstaɪfl] 美 [ˈstaɪfəl] vt.& vi.扼殺;（使）窒息;（使）窒悶 vt.扼殺;遏制;鎮壓;藏匿 n.後腿膝關節;後膝關節病
Regulations on children stifled creativity
給孩子們定的各種規矩扼殺了他們的創造力。
3） pay out 英 [pei aut] 美 [pe aʊt] 付出;支付;懲罰;鬆開（繩索等）
Many policies pay out only after a period of weeks or months.
很多保單在幾周或幾個月後才得以賠付。
4） sign up 英 [sain ʌp] 美 [saɪn ʌp] 報名;跟…簽訂合同
He signed up as a steward with P& O Lines
他簽約了P&O航運公司，成為了一名乘務員。
5） starve of （使）喪失;（使）因缺乏而受困苦;渴望
The most damaging thing the West could do is to starve Russia of new foreign capital.
西方能夠祭出的最陰險一招就是不讓俄羅斯得到新的外資。
6） sooner or later 英 [ˈsu:nə ɔ: ˈleitə] 美 [ˈsunɚ ɔr ˈletɚ] 遲早;早晚有一天
I will tell you, sooner or later, all the complicated process.
我遲早要把這一複雜的過程全部告訴你。
7） wake up to 英 [weik ʌp tu:] 美 [wek ʌp tu] （使）認識到
People should wake up to the fact that people with disabilities have got a vote as well.
人們應該認識到殘疾人同樣也享有投票權。
