VOA标准英语2010年-Floating US Navy Hospital Heads to Hai

The U.S. Navy hospital ship Comfort is heading to Haiti to help treat survivors¹ of last week's devastating² earthquake.

The Comfort is, essentially³, a floating hospital.

"All right, bed capacity: In casualty receiving, I have 50 beds," said Lieutenant⁴ Commander Dan D'Aurora, the Division Officer for Casualty Receiving on the USNS Comfort.  "We've got 12 operating rooms; we've got 20 recovery beds.  We have 80 intensive care beds, 400 intermediate care and 500 minimal⁵ care."

"This is essentially a hospital within a ship," he said.  "In other words, they took a supertanker into the drydock, they hollowed it out like a canoe and dropped in the hospital, plain and simple."

A hospital that is now staffed by more than 550 medical professionals, including doctors, nurses, psychiatrists⁶ and a variety of surgeons.  They boarded the ship in the port of Baltimore Friday evening, arriving there on short notice from across the United States.  Now, they are cruising toward Haiti at speeds of up to 24 kilometers per hour.

They try to bring pieces of home with them to this ship that will become both home and workplace for weeks or even months.

"I put all my pictures back up, and you bring special treats like food," said one staff member.  "Like, I am a coffee fanatic⁷, so I had to have my Starbucks."

On board, the Comfort feels almost entirely⁸ like a hospital. It has wide corridors, signs pointing toward  various wards⁹ or calling for people to wear scrubs (hospital attire) in sterile¹⁰ areas.  If it were not for the rolling and listing (of the ship), the glimpses of the sea from certain passageways and a general hum, one could almost forget it is a ship.

But it is a different world on the external decks of this white 10-story vessel¹¹, emblazoned with a red cross. 

That is Deck Officer Joe Krans.  He is one of the men and women responsible for the sea-faring elements of this floating hospital.  Krans has been on Comfort humanitarian¹² missions before, including trips to Haiti, but this is the first time it will be in response to a disaster there.

"This is totally different because, you know, [during] the other ones [missions], I could walk around Haiti in certain places that weren't dangerous, and it was just, you know, vast poverty,  kind of sad.  But, now, will be, you know, unfortunately, it will be the smell of death," said Krans.

On the eve of the ship's Saturday departure from Baltimore, the Surgeon General of the U.S. Navy, Vice¹³ Admiral Adam Robinson, addressed hundreds of camoflauge-clad men and women gathered in the ship's dining hall.  He characterized this situation as "very intense, very critical," and called the Comfort "the best medical facility in the Caribbean."  And in a speech that was equal parts pep-talk and thank you, he prepared them for the scope of the challenge that awaits them in Port-au-Prince.

"I did a humanitarian mission in Haiti.  I've had medical professionals there.  I've  seen the stress of humanitarian missions in Haiti. That was without earthquake," he said.  "You're going to have all that, plus an earthquake."

Doctor Robinson said he expects to have Naval¹⁴ and medical assets in Haiti for a minimum of six months and likely even longer than that. 

 

1 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

2 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。

3 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

4 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

5 minimal   

adj.尽可能少的，最小的

参考例句：

• They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
• I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家，所以我的花费很小。

6 psychiatrists   

n.精神病专家，精神病医生( psychiatrist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They are psychiatrists in good standing. 他们是合格的精神病医生。 来自辞典例句
• Some psychiatrists have patients who grow almost alarmed at how congenial they suddenly feel. 有些精神分析学家发现，他们的某些病人在突然感到惬意的时候几乎会兴奋起来。 来自名作英译部分

7 fanatic   

n.狂热者，入迷者；adj.狂热入迷的

参考例句：

• Alexander is a football fanatic.亚历山大是个足球迷。
• I am not a religious fanatic but I am a Christian.我不是宗教狂热分子，但我是基督徒。

8 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

9 wards   

区( ward的名词复数 )； 病房； 受监护的未成年者； 被人照顾或控制的状态

参考例句：

• This hospital has 20 medical [surgical] wards. 这所医院有 20 个内科[外科]病房。
• It was a big constituency divided into three wards. 这是一个大选区，下设三个分区。

10 sterile   

adj.不毛的，不孕的，无菌的，枯燥的，贫瘠的

参考例句：

• This top fits over the bottle and keeps the teat sterile.这个盖子严实地盖在奶瓶上，保持奶嘴无菌。
• The farmers turned the sterile land into high fields.农民们把不毛之地变成了高产田。

11 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

12 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。

13 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

14 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。