VOA慢速英语2016 美国紧急营救南极站点生病人员

AS IT IS 2016-06-23 Rare Rescue for Sick South Pole Workers 美国紧急营救南极站点生病人员

In a rare and difficult mission, a plane successfully rescued two sick workers from the U.S. science station at the South Pole Wednesday.

The medical rescue took place in the dark. Regular flights to the South Pole are usually considered too risky¹ between the months of February and October.

The Amundsen-Scott station is run by the National Science Foundation. The plane arrived there after a difficult 2,400-kilometer, nine-hour trip from a British base on the Antarctic Peninsula.

NSF spokesman Peter West told VOA the rescue operation went according to plan.

“It was a very challenging operation for the pilots, for everyone who is around to support the pilots, everyone from weather forecasters, to flight followers², all those people. So it was extremely challenging and they have performed exceedingly well in the face of those challenges.”

The National Science Foundation did not release the workers’ names, nationalities, or medical conditions.

The NSF decided³ last week to evacuate⁴ at least one person from the station. The station has a doctor and a physician’s assistant. They make contact with doctors in the U.S. as needed. But, the worker needed medical care that the station’s doctor could not provide. They decided to evacuate a second worker who was also sick.

West said the rescue operation was considered risky because right now Antarctica is always dark and extremely cold.

“It is dark there now, because we are into the Antarctic night. It is very cold at the South Pole. The average temperature is minus 60 Celsius⁵, though it can be colder and can be warmer. There is weather to contend with, which is not the same as temperature. Blowing and drifting snow and all of those things.”

There have been three emergency medical evacuations from the Amundsen-Scott station since 1999.

In 1999, a flight rescued the station's doctor, Jerri Nielsen. She had breast cancer and had been treating herself. She was rescued in the Antarctic spring, when weather conditions are somewhat better. Rescue operations also took place in 2001 and 2003.

Tim Stockings is the operations director at the British Antarctic Survey in London. He told the Associated Press that the latest rescue mission is pushing the limits of what is safe and acceptable.

”Things can change very quickly down there," he said. "The air and Antarctica are unforgiving environments and punishes any slackness very hard.”

Tuesday afternoon’s temperature at the South Pole station was minus 60 degrees Celsius, according to the NSF weather station. The wind chill made it feel like minus 78 degrees Celsius.

West said the extreme cold affects many things on planes.

“Most aircraft are not set up to be able to fly in very cold temperatures. The hydraulic⁶ systems that move things around like flaps and that sort of thing freeze very easily, get cold very easily. There are issues with fuel and how cold that can be.”

But West called Twin Otter⁷ planes used for the rescue mission “very tough aircraft.” He said they are designed to fly in conditions as low as minus 75 degrees Celsius.

A South Pole webcam showed the station in the distance during the landing. West told the Associated Press there was some light because of the full moon.

West called the research taking place at the Amundsen-Scott station “very important science.” Research at the station includes astronomy, physics, and environmental science.

Scientists have been researching gas levels in the atmosphere—including carbon dioxide—for more than 50 years at the South Pole.

Until Wednesday, there were 48 people living and working at the South Pole station. Now there are 46.

The National Science Foundation runs two other science stations in Antarctica.

Words in This Story

mission – n. an important job to do

exceedingly - adj. beyond expectations

slackness – n. something done poorly and carelessly

hydraulic – adj. something operated by the pressure of fluids

flap – n. a part of the wing that helps an airplane fly

1 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

2 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

5 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

6 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。

7 otter   

n.水獭

参考例句：

• The economists say the competition otter to the brink of extinction.经济学家们说，竞争把海獭推到了灭绝的边缘。
• She collared my black wool coat with otter pelts.她把我的黑呢上衣镶上了水獭领。