美国国家公共电台 NPR In Hokkaido, Being In North Korea's Missile Flight Path Means Cold War-Era Drills

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

As North Korea has been advancing its nuclear program, one country especially alarmed right now is North Korea's neighbor Japan. Last Tuesday, a North Korean missile flew over the Japanese island of Hokkaido. And that's where we find NPR's Elise Hu. She has met residents in the flight path who are rethinking the threat.

(SOUNDBITE OF MISSILE ALERT¹)

VOICE RECORDING²: (Speaking Japanese).

ELISE HU, BYLINE³: Missile alert, missile alert - this is the warning residents of Hokkaido awoke to last week. Today, the alert's going off again in Hokkaido's town of Iwamizawa, so its locals can be better prepared should a missile come this way again.

MAKOTO TAKAHASHI: (Speaking Japanese).

HU: The folks here, mostly retirees, join students at Maple⁴ Tree Elementary, where classes of children as young as 5 are guided by their teachers into a designated⁵ evacuation spot, the school gym. Here, they wait out instructions.

TAKAHASHI: (Speaking Japanese).

HU: This was just a drill, the principal says, and you all did a good job. In the event of an actual missile situation, this would happen quickly. So make sure you stay calm and move to this location. Similar air raid⁶ practices are happening across this island nation as part of Japan's civil defense⁷. This northern Japanese island is known for its ski resorts, lush green fields and endless horizon - a peaceful place, usually, unless it's rattled⁸ by North Korean neighbors. After the drill, the schoolchildren being picked up by their parents seem unfazed.

Where were you all when the actual missile flew over Hokkaido?

MAO AKIYAMA: (Through interpreter) We were sleeping (laughter).

HU: That's 11-year-old Mao Akiyama and her younger brother, who remember getting a surprise to start their day last week.

MAO: (Through interpreter) When I woke up in the morning, my grandma was saying something about missiles, and she was getting all upset about it, so (laughter)...

HU: Now many retirees from this town and across Japan are voluntarily taking part in these drills, evidence of the growing concern about North Korea's fast-advancing nuclear and missile programs. Seventy-eight-year-old Hisato Yamada was at home last Tuesday when the alert came across her phone.

HISATO YAMADA: (Through interpreter) My phone was ringing. And I guess you really feel quite scared and nervous at the time.

HU: The government sends out alerts⁹ through Japan's emergency management system, J-Alert. It cuts into broadcast TV and radio and lets officials reach every mobile phone in the country.

YAMADA: (Through interpreter) I really thought this was scary. I mean, sometimes, there are accidents. Sometimes, missiles fall out of the sky. You never know. So I think it's great I can do this kind of training.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

HU: Yamada, who's now nearing the end of her life, says she never wanted to think about evacuations again after living through an actual one during World War II. She was 6 years old.

YAMADA: (Through interpreter) I really don't like to live in a world where I always have to feel afraid that something might happen again, that this danger still exists, that a missile might come. I don't feel happy with this kind of world that we are living in.

HU: Some 70 years after the start of the Cold War, she and her neighbors are practicing duck-and-cover drills reminiscent of her wartime youth.

Elise Hu, NPR News, Iwamizawa.

(SOUNDBITE OF SATOMI SAEKI'S "MATSURI NO TAIKO (FESTIVAL DRUM)")

1 alert   

adj.机警的，活泼的，机灵的；vt.使...警觉

参考例句：

• Drivers must be on the alert for traffic signals.驾驶员必须密切注意交通信号。
• The rabbIt'seems to be very alert all its life.兔子似乎一生都小心翼翼，十分警觉。

2 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

3 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。

4 maple   

n.槭树，枫树，槭木

参考例句：

• Maple sugar is made from the sap of maple trees.枫糖是由枫树的树液制成的。
• The maple leaves are tinge with autumn red.枫叶染上了秋天的红色。

5 designated   

a.指定的，特指的

参考例句：

• Smoking is allowed in designated areas.允许在指定区域内吸烟。

6 raid   

v.劫掠，攫取，袭击，突击搜捕；n.突然袭击

参考例句：

• Our house was blown up in an air raid.在一次空袭中我们的房子被炸掉了。
• During their raid on the house,the police found a lot of drugs.在对这所房子的搜查中，警方发现了大量的毒品。

7 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

8 rattled   

慌乱的，恼火的

参考例句：

• The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
• Every time a bus went past, the windows rattled. 每逢公共汽车经过这里，窗户都格格作响。

9 alerts   

n.警戒( alert的名词复数 )；警报期间；警戒状态；报警信号v.使（某人）保持警觉( alert的第三人称单数 )；使意识到；提醒（某人）注意（某事）；使（部队）处于待命状态

参考例句：

• Folder level alerts are not available on this server. 此服务器上不支持文件夹级的通知。 来自互联网
• Monitor daily customer FTP site for Compatibility Matrix & Quality Alerts. 实时注意客户FTP上的兼容性列表和质量警报。 来自互联网