美国国家公共电台 NPR--Search and rescue teams from all over the world are descending on Turkey

Search and rescue teams from all over the world are descending¹ on Turkey

Transcript²

It's a highly coordinated³ effort, but war and complicated politics can hamper⁴ progress. Dozens of countries have offered to help, including Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Search and rescue workers from all over the world are pouring into Turkey to help victims of Monday's 7.8 magnitude earthquake. Turkey's state news media says more than 65 countries have offered assistance so far. But access to neighboring Syria, which was also hit hard, is much more difficult. NPR's international affairs correspondent Jackie Northam reports.

JACKIE NORTHAM, BYLINE⁵: The main priority after a major earthquake is search and rescue, finding anyone who may still be alive under the rubble⁶. Stephen Allen leads the U.S. government's disaster response team. Speaking from Ankara, he says Turkey has a robust⁷ search and rescue system.

STEPHEN ALLEN: They really worked on it over the last 20 years. But the size and scale of this one is beyond what they could handle.

NORTHAM: So Turkey appealed to the international community for help. Dozens of countries are rushing to get search and rescue teams into Turkey from neighboring Greece and other EU countries. Israel, even the Taliban have offered to help, as has Russia and China. Ukraine has people on standby. The U.S. deployed⁸ two teams on Tuesday afternoon, says Allen.

ALLEN: Each one is about 80 people. They have teams of rescue dogs. There's 12 dogs total. And they're coming with 170,000 pounds of specialized⁹ tools and equipment. That includes things like hydraulic¹⁰ concrete-breaking equipment, saws, torches, drills, as well as some advanced medical capability¹¹.

NORTHAM: It's all being hauled over in two military aircraft. But it's no easy task coordinating¹² the multitude of international rescuers and their equipment heading into Turkey. Jon Viglundsson (ph) is with the Icelandic Search and Rescue in Reykjavik. He says coordination¹³ lies with a group called INSARAG, the International Search and Rescue Advisory¹⁴ Group.

JON VIGLUNDSSON: It's U.N.-based. Their main function is to come into disaster areas like this and provide control and coordination between international rescue units coming in and locals.

NORTHAM: Viglundsson says he believes the disaster area will be divided up into smaller sections that will have their own command centers. This is where the 11 members of the Icelandic Search and Rescue team will be working.

VIGLUNDSSON: That's where our people are specialized in, coordination and control. So we believe that in this instance, the need for that would be the most.

NORTHAM: Sir Stephen O'Brien, a former U.N. under-secretary general for humanitarian¹⁵ affairs and emergency relief coordinator¹⁶, says it's surprising which countries excel at search and rescue, places like Afghanistan and Iran, because of the number of earthquakes they've had.

STEPHEN O'BRIEN: The Japanese are brilliant at it as well. They tend to be the world's leaders on tsunamis¹⁷.

NORTHAM: O'Brien says conditions on the ground in Turkey are challenging, so too are geopolitics. It's unclear if international search and rescue teams will be able to access earthquake victims in parts of Syria, an area complicated by an ongoing¹⁸ civil war.

O'BRIEN: And you can see there are reports where people are nervous to go in because you don't want your emergency workers to be put at risk either. You've got to protect them. They're a major resource.

NORTHAM: Viglundsson says, no matter where they're from, every search and rescue worker comes up against a hard truth in a disaster like this.

VIGLUNDSSON: There is always hope at the beginning. And hope is the last thing to die. But the possibilities of finding people alive will dwindle¹⁹ with every hour.

NORTHAM: A winter storm has now settled on the region.

Jackie Northam, NPR News.

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1 descending   

n. 下行 adj. 下降的

参考例句：

• The results are expressed in descending numerical order . 结果按数字降序列出。
• The climbers stopped to orient themselves before descending the mountain. 登山者先停下来确定所在的位置，然后再下山。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

4 hamper   

vt.妨碍，束缚，限制；n.(有盖的)大篮子

参考例句：

• There are some apples in a picnic hamper.在野餐用的大篮子里有许多苹果。
• The emergence of such problems seriously hamper the development of enterprises.这些问题的出现严重阻碍了企业的发展。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

7 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

8 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

9 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

10 hydraulic   

adj.水力的；水压的，液压的；水力学的

参考例句：

• The boat has no fewer than five hydraulic pumps.这艘船配有不少于5个液压泵。
• A group of apprentics were operating the hydraulic press.一群学徒正在开动水压机。

11 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

12 coordinating   

v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的现在分词 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• He abolished the Operations Coordinating Board and the Planning Board. 他废除了行动协调委员会和计划委员会。 来自辞典例句
• He's coordinating the wedding, and then we're not going to invite him? 他是来协调婚礼的，难道我们不去请他？ 来自电影对白

13 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

14 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。

15 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

16 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

17 tsunamis   

n.海啸( tsunami的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our oceans are alive with earthquakes, volcanoes, and more recently, tsunamis. 海中充满着地震、火山，包括最近发生的海啸。 来自常春藤生活英语杂志-2006年2月号
• Please tell me something more about tsunamis! 请您给我讲讲海啸吧！ 来自辞典例句

18 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

19 dwindle   

v.逐渐变小（或减少）

参考例句：

• The factory's workforce has dwindled from over 4,000 to a few hundred.工厂雇员总数已经从4,000多人减少到几百人。
• He is struggling to come to terms with his dwindling authority.他正努力适应自己权力被削弱这一局面。