catastrophe
单词辨析：
指因有人死亡而令人震惊的不幸事件。
Mother's sudden death was a tragedy to the family.
母亲的突然去世对全家是一个极大的不幸。
The tragedy he mentioned took place in March.
他提到的那一悲惨事件发生在3月。
The tragedy occurred during the earthquake when four people of the same family were killed.
地震中悲剧发生了，一家人中有四个丧命。
指困难重重或不走运的境况。
The others were greatly inspired by his courage in the face of adversity.
他面对逆境的勇气极大地鼓舞了其他人。
He is always ready to deal with adversity.
他时刻准备着去应对逆境。
指意外发生的、造成重大损失的灾祸，语气强于 disaster，侧重于悲痛的心情；有时也指个人的不幸， 多为幽默用语。
It will be a calamity for farmers if it keeps raining.
如果雨一直下个不停，将会给农民带来灾难。
The flood brought calamities to the local people.
洪水给当地民众带来了巨大灾难。
The marriage proved to be the greatest calamity of her life.
事实证明这桩婚姻是她一生中最大的不幸。
It will be a calamity if I fail my English exam.
这次英语考试我要是通不过就惨了。
语气最强，指造成破坏、死亡的可怕灾难，强调最终的结局；也可指极为麻烦的局面或悲惨的结局。
Food is required immediately to avert a humanitarian catastrophe.
急需食物以避免一场人道主义灾难。
The forest fire was a catastrophe.
那场森林火灾是个大灾难。
The natural catastrophe dealt a heavy blow to this country's economy.
这场自然灾害给该国经济带来了严重的打击。
If the project is cancelled, it will be a catastrophe for all of the companies concerned.
如果该项目取消，对所有相关公司将是个灾难。
普通用词，通常指各类人为或自然的灾祸，如核泄漏、洪水、暴风雪等。
The plane flew through the clouds in time and a disaster was narrowly averted.
飞机及时地飞过了云层，侥幸避免了一场灾难。
The oil spill was a disaster for sea animals.
那次石油泄漏对海洋动物是一场灾难。
The conference turned out to be a complete disaster.
大会最终搞得一团糟。
They overcame the natural disaster and even had a bumper harvest.
他们战胜了自然灾害，甚至还获得了大丰收。
多指较为严重的不幸，强调多由厄运或外界因素所致。
The climbers had the misfortune of running into a snowslide, but no one got hurt.
登山队员不幸遇到雪崩，但没有人受伤。
She is distressed by misfortune.
厄运使她忧伤。
We had the misfortune to run into a violent storm.
我们不幸遭遇了猛烈的暴风雨。
Misfortune befell me when I was still young.
我年纪还很小的时候就遭到了不幸。
相关例句：
The planet is hit by an environmental catastrophe, and, in that crisis, lives are torn apart.
地球遭受了环境灾难，而在这场危机中，人们的生活都被撕裂了。
Until he saw the trapped wagons and animals, he did not realize the full extent of the catastrophe.
直到他看见受困的马车和动物，才意识到灾难的严重性。
And this is what sets this catastrophe apart from the earthquakes and plagues of former years.
而正是这一点把这次灾难和以往的地震和瘟疫区别开。
But there is still time to avert catastrophe, Dr. McCauley and his colleagues also found.
但我们仍有时间来避免灾难，麦考利博士和同事还发现。
They were warned of the ecological catastrophe to come.
他们得到了将要来临的生态大灾难的警告。
The natural catastrophe dealt a blow to this country's economy.
这场自然灾害给这个国家的经济带来了严重的打击。