万花筒 2008-05-25&-05-26 雪地求生

A lot of desperate situations, that started out by people having spent a cold night in a vehicle. Not so bad for me, I got my snack food.

 

Energy bars or any high calorie foods, like candy are all great.

 

“My sleeping bag, and I even got a candle. If I have to, I can always start the car, every once in a while just to heat up, once I keep the windows crack opened a bit because of the carbon monoxide. And also make sure that I keep the tailpipes clear off any snow. Well, the snow is getting deep, and the hour’s getting late. Let me see. Bottom of the sun, one, two, three hand widths. It’s about three hours. From what I can see, the spot down here, the fallen over tree might make a good shelter.

 

Les stops in some good time to get some shelter for the night. Remember that hub cap from the truck? A key element of survival¹ is staying calm and keeping focused on basic essentials. In cold temperatures, these are water, warm and shelter.

 

I’m not gonna knock this snow out of my way, because snow is a fantastic insulator². If you can use it to your advantage, then do so. It blocks out the winds and keeps in the heat.

 

Without an ax, look for dead wood is easier to break. Les has a neat way to snap³ logs to size. Driving the branches into firm snow gives a quick and easy lean-to to keep the wind off. Another essential is kindling⁴ for a fire.

 

These branches are dead like this, for the beetles⁵ are beginning to attack the tree. Bad for the tree, but good for a fire starter. The ability to make fire is everything when it comes to surviving the cold.

 

Les has some cotton wool and petroleum⁶ jelly⁷. The cotton acts as a wick and the petroleum jelly as a fuel to make it a great fire starter. The cotton soaks up the petroleum jelly and burns just like a candle. One of the biggest problems that people have when it comes to getting a fire going is simple preparation. They want the fire too quickly; they get a little tiny flame. Then they throw on it some big hunk of wood, it’s not gonna do. You got to break it down to tiny, tiny elements, start slowly. I wanna a small fire that I can put inside the shelter and have the heat in there with me. Hub cap makes a nice fire basin, doesn’t it?

 

1 survival   

n.留住生命，生存，残存，幸存者

参考例句：

• The doctor told my wife I had a fifty-fifty chance of survival.医生告诉我的妻子，说我活下去的可能性只有50%。
• The old man was a survival of a past age.这位老人是上一代的遗老。

2 insulator   

n.隔离者；绝缘体

参考例句：

• Few substances can equal fur as an insulator.作为绝缘体很少有其他材料能与动物皮毛相媲美。
• A loose mulch acts on the surface as an insulator.疏松的覆盖物在土壤表面起了隔热的作用。

3 snap   

n.啪地移动，突然断掉；v.猛咬，咬断，谩骂，砰然关上

参考例句：

• He broke off the twig with a snap.他啪地一声把那根树枝折断了。
• These earrings snap on with special fasteners.这副耳环是用特制的按扣扣上去的。

4 kindling   

n. 点火, 可燃物 动词kindle的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• There were neat piles of kindling wood against the wall. 墙边整齐地放着几堆引火柴。
• "Coal and kindling all in the shed in the backyard." “煤，劈柴，都在后院小屋里。” 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子

5 beetles   

n.甲虫( beetle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Beetles bury pellets of dung and lay their eggs within them. 甲壳虫把粪粒埋起来，然后在里面产卵。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This kind of beetles have hard shell. 这类甲虫有坚硬的外壳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

7 jelly   

n.冻，果子冻，胶状物

参考例句：

• We had toast and jelly at breakfast.我们早餐吃的是烤面包和果冻。
• The medicine was a clear jelly.这种药是透明的胶状物。