日本：电梯内拟提供饮用水和马桶

 　　Japan is looking into installing toilets and emergency drinking water in buildings' lifts in case people are trapped after earthquakes.

　　日本考虑在大楼电梯内配装马桶，并提供紧急饮用水，以备有人在地震后被困电梯时使用。

　　Officials from the country's infrastructure¹ ministry² met industry representatives to discuss the proposals in the aftermath of Saturday's 7.8-magnitude undersea quake, which was felt across the country, the Kyodo news agency reports. One idea is that lifts could be fitted with portable toilets featuring a waterproof³ bag or other absorbent material inside a collapsible cardboard structure.

　　据日本共同社报道，在5月30日日本海域发生7.8级地震后，日本国土交通省官员紧急会见了工业界代表，商讨上述提议。此次地震在日本全国都有震感。商讨中提出的一个安装想法是，电梯内可安装配有防水袋或其它类型高吸水性材料的便携马桶，整个马桶用可折叠纸板结构制成。

　　日本：电梯内拟提供饮用水和马桶

　　In the capital, Tokyo, almost 20,000 lifts stopped after Saturday's quake, with 14 of them trapped between floors. In one case, people were stuck inside for more than an hour before being rescued. After the country's devastating⁴ 2011 earthquake, some people were trapped in lifts for more than nine hours. About 60% of Japanese lifts are designed to detect tremors⁵ and stop at the closest floor before automatically opening their doors.

　　上周地震发生后，日本首都东京约有两万部电梯停止工作，其中有14部停在了楼层中间。有乘客被困于电梯中一个多小时才获救。在2011年日本灾难性大地震后，甚至有乘客被困电梯长达九个小时。日本约60%的电梯都具备地震探测功能，可在地震时快速停在最近的楼层并自动开门。

　　Japan is regularly shaken by earthquakes, but seismologists say it's likely the capital will be hit by a major quake - referred to as the "big one" - within the coming decades. The government estimates that as many as 17,000 people could be trapped inside lifts in the capital's high-rises if that happens.

　　日本常年遭受地震困扰，有地震学家称，未来十年内，东京可能会遭受一次十分剧烈的地震。日本当局估计，若大地震真的发生，可能将有多达1.7万名乘客会被困在首都高楼的电梯内。

　　Vocabulary

　　absorbent: 吸水的

　　collapsible: 可折叠的

　　high-rise: 高楼

1 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

2 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

3 waterproof   

n.防水材料；adj.防水的；v.使...能防水

参考例句：

• My mother bought me a waterproof watch.我妈妈给我买了一块防水手表。
• All the electronics are housed in a waterproof box.所有电子设备都储放在一个防水盒中。

4 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

5 tremors   

震颤( tremor的名词复数 )； 战栗； 震颤声； 大地的轻微震动

参考例句：

• The story was so terrible that It'sent tremors down my spine. 这故事太可怕，它使我不寒而栗。
• The story was so terrible that it sent tremors down my spine. 这故事太可怕，它使我不寒而栗。