VOA慢速英语2015 世界应该怎样保护自己免受自然灾害?

AS IT IS 2015-03-19 How Should the World Protect Itself from Natural Disasters? 世界应该怎样保护自己免受自然灾害?

How should the world protect itself from natural disasters and climate change? And who should be paying for this kind of protection? These and other questions are being asked at the United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction. The conference is taking place this week in Sendai, Japan. A powerful earthquake and tsunami¹ struck the area four years ago.

A cold wind blows sand along the coast of Sendai. Japanese police officers are searching for evidence in the area. They are examining material washed up on the sand for signs of the March 2011 tsunami. Huge waves struck northern Japan and killed close to 16,000 people. More than 2,500 others are missing and thought to be dead.

Officer Hidenori Kashahara is taking part in the search effort. He says Japan owes it to the families of the missing to keep looking.

“We have not found anyone for a while in this area,” he says. “We sometimes find bones, but they are usually the remains² of animals.”

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited Sendai earlier this week. He praised the recovery effort as a model for others.

“Sustainability starts in Sendai. The disaster risk reduction can be a frontline against the climate change.”

Last week, Cyclone³ Pam struck the island nation of Vanuatu. The powerful storm changed its expected path at the last minute. The president of Vanuatu told the UN conference that development in his country had been stopped -- “wiped out” were his exact words.

Michel Jarraud is the head of the World Meteorological Organization. He told VOA that early warning systems had saved lives in the South Pacific. He spoke⁴ about Cyclone Pam.

“This kind of cyclone is very unusual. We are not even sure at this stage because we still need to wait to see what was the exact strength of this cyclone, but it’s very unusual. And it’s even more challenging for a country to deal with hazards⁵ which don’t happen regularly.”

In late 2004, an earthquake hit the northwestern coast of Indonesia, causing a tsunami across the Indian Ocean. More than 200,000 people were killed. The tsunami led the United Nations to approve a 10-year program for reducing disaster risk. It is called the Hyogo Framework for Action. That 10-year period is ending this week. Delegates⁶ to the conference are trying to reach a new agreement.

Tom Mitchell works at the Overseas Development Institute, an environmental and humanitarian⁷ policy group. He says the cost of natural disasters should force agreement.

“Three hundred billion dollars of losses from disasters every year -- so it’s very much at stake that you’ve got this big financial toll⁸, but in some ways, you know, this isn’t causing the galvanizing effect that we want to see in terms of investment in resilience.”

Mr. Mitchell says a few issues have slowed progress toward an agreement.

“Finance, who’s gonna pay for the scale of the problem, particularly given that climate change is ramping⁹ this up and there’s an expectation on the richer, polluting countries to pay a bit more. That’s a sticking point. Issues of whether we are talking about conflict risk and disaster risk together and the link between those (are) really problematic for some countries, particularly in the Middle East.”

Delegates mostly agree that natural disasters are causing bigger problems. But they are having a difficult time deciding how to reduce the risks. The severe damage caused by Cyclone Pam in Vanuatu is pressuring them to reach an agreement on how the world should deal with natural disasters.    

Words in This Story

protect – v. to guard; to defend; to prevent from being harmed or damaged

disaster(s) – n. an event causing widespread destruction or loss of life, such as an earthquake or plane crash

sand – n. extremely small pieces of crushed rock found in large amounts in deserts and on coasts

evidence – n. material or facts that prove something; a reason for believing

1 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。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 cyclone   

n.旋风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• An exceptionally violent cyclone hit the town last night.昨晚异常猛烈的旋风吹袭了那个小镇。
• The cyclone brought misery to thousands of people.旋风给成千上万的人带来苦难。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 hazards   

危险( hazard的名词复数 )； 冒险的事； 危害物； 危险的根源

参考例句：

• The racer meant to win the 500-mile race at all hazards. 这位竞赛者决心不顾一切危险，赢得这场500英里的车赛。
• Are you aware of the hazards of mountaineering? 你知道登山运动的危险吗？

6 delegates   

代表，代表团成员( delegate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The conference was attended by delegates from 56 countries. 此次会议有来自56个国家的代表出席。
• Delegates expressed strong opposition to the plans. 代表强烈反对这些计划。

7 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

8 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

9 ramping   

土堤斜坡( ramp的现在分词 )； 斜道； 斜路； （装车或上下飞机的）活动梯

参考例句：

• The children love ramping about in the garden. 孩子们喜欢在花园里追逐嬉戏，闹着玩。
• Have you ever seen a lion ramping around? 你看到过狮子暴跳吗？