VOA标准英语2012--India Holds Large-Scale Drill for a Potential Disaster

India Holds Large-Scale Drill for a Potential Disaster

By the time the sirens sounded all around New Delhi, two months planning had been completed.
In nine different parts of the city, rescue workers simulated a 7.2 magnitude earthquake 275 kilometers northeast of the capital.
At this high-rise government building, volunteers fanned out to get shopkeepers away from the building.
Firefighters and paramedics practiced moving simulated casualties to emergency vehicles.
Deputy District Commissioner¹ D.K. Mishra says the drill was aimed at teaching people the basic mantra of earthquake preparedness - drop, cover and hold on - but also to evaluate professional rescuers.
"Different emergency responders - those who have to rescue people, to move the people to the hospital, to provide different kinds of facilities to the people, relief material - we have to test their capacities," said Mishra. "How swiftly they operate, they come to the point, and handle the situation."
India comes late to the process of disaster preparation. Its National Disaster Management Agency was inaugurated only in 2005, soon after the Asian tsunami². Although this week's drill was a significant beginning, the country still has plenty of work to do.
Angeli Qwatra is an internationally recognized emergency management specialist. She observed a drill in one of Delhi's underground subway stations.
"It was supposed to last for half an hour. It lasted only five to seven minutes," said Qwatra. "The passengers had to be detained because the scenario³ was a crack had developed in the track."
Qwatra says subway staff failed to manage the commuting⁴ crowds, many of whom re-boarded trains long before the half hour drill was complete. She says professionals and ordinary citizens alike need to take such drills far more seriously.
"I think it starts with attitude and also the awareness⁵ levels," she said. "The officials are not aware of the risks. If they were aware, they would realize the loss of life, and property and economic loss that can happen. So this kind of training has to happen."
But researchers say New Delhi - and nearly every Indian city - face a much deeper danger than a deficit⁶ of awareness about first response.
They say decades of corruption⁷ have permitted many contractors⁸ to bribe⁹ their way out of ensuring the city's building are up to code in standing¹⁰ up to earthquakes.
With the Indian capital situated¹¹ in a seismically¹² active zone, the ramshackle state of many structures here could dramatically increase the casualty count in a city of more than 16 million people.

1 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

2 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

3 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

4 commuting   

交换（的）

参考例句：

• I used the commuting time to read and answer my mail. 我利用上下班在汽车中的时间来阅读和答复给我的函电。
• Noncommuting objects are as real to the mathematicians as commuting objects. 对于数学家来说，不可交换的对象与可交换的对象是一样真实的。

5 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

6 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

7 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

8 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 bribe   

n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通

参考例句：

• He tried to bribe the policeman not to arrest him.他企图贿赂警察不逮捕他。
• He resolutely refused their bribe.他坚决不接受他们的贿赂。

10 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

11 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

12 seismically   

地震

参考例句：

• The crust and mantle are separated by a seismically determined boundary known as the Moho-discontinuity. 改译为：地壳与地幔的交接处系根据地波走失而确定的一个界面，通称为莫霍界面。 来自互联网
• China's code is now on par with similar codes in seismically active areas of the world. 中国现在施行的标准与世界其他地震活跃地区施行的标准基本一致。 来自互联网