VOA常速英语2014--韩国船难后学生们学习游泳救生技能

 

South Korean Children Learn Water Safety Following Ferry Disaster 韩国船难后学生们学习游泳救生技能

GOYANG, SOUTH KOREA—

South Koreans are paying more attention to water safety since the deadly sinking of the Sewol ferry earlier this year. About 300 passengers, mostly high school children, died when the boat capsized. Some advocates now want kids to know how to swim more safely and save lives.

Kim Ji-hoon said he already knows how to swim pretty well. But the 9-year-old elementary school student recently learned some new skills in the water.

金基洪说他已经掌握了游泳的诀窍。但是这名9岁的小学生最近又学了些水中的新技能。

“I learned how to save a friend if he is drowning. I would throw him a rescue tube and then pull him back in with a rope,” he said.

“我学会了怎样救溺水的朋友。我会扔给他一个救生圈，然后用绳子把他拉上岸。”

Kim was among 160 students from Goyang city who participated on the first day of a safety program called Swim 2 Survive. In addition to saving stranded¹ swimmers, they learned how to put on life jackets and perform CPR.

金是参加高阳市这个名为游泳救生安全项目160名学生中的一人。除了学习如何救援陷入危险的游泳者外，他们还学习如何穿救生衣以及如何进行人工呼吸。

Goyang’s mayor, Choi Sung, said children need to know these skills. “Since the sinking of the Sewol ferry safety has become more important.”

Safety standards

Following the Sewol ferry disaster, there has been a reevaluation of water safety standards in South Korea. Investigators² blamed the accident and its high death toll³ on numerous safety lapses⁴ by the ship’s crew, its operator and the coast guard.

世越号船难后韩国重新对水上安全标准进行了审核。调查人员将此事故和极高的死亡率归咎于船员、驾驶员及海岸警卫队的安全疏失。

The government says it now wants more children to know how to swim. Some advocates say that lessons need to go beyond the basics, though, in order to save lives in the water.  

韩国政府表示希望更多的孩子学会游泳。但是一些活动人士表示他们学习的不应当仅仅是基本技能，还要学习如何在水中救人。

Shin Eun-ho, one of the organizers of the Swim 2 Survive program in Goyang, said, “If more of the students on the Sewol knew how to safely jump into the water, float and keep their bodies warm, I think there could have been more survivors⁵.”

高阳市游泳救生项目组织者之一的真恩和说道:“如果世越号上有更多学生知晓如何安全跳入水中，如何漂浮并保持温度，我想幸存者可能会更多。”

Swim 2 Survive student Kim said he is not afraid of the water. “If I was on a sinking ship, I know how to escape it now,” he said.

金表示他不怕水。“如果我在下沉船上，我现在已经知道怎么逃出生天。”

Hopefully that is a skill that none of these children will ever have to use.

当然希望这些孩子永远都不要将这些技能派上用场。

1 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

2 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 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。

4 lapses   

n.失误，过失( lapse的名词复数 )；小毛病；行为失检；偏离正道v.退步( lapse的第三人称单数 )；陷入；倒退；丧失

参考例句：

• He sometimes lapses from good behavior. 他有时行为失检。 来自辞典例句
• He could forgive attacks of nerves, panic, bad unexplainable actions, all sorts of lapses. 他可以宽恕突然发作的歇斯底里，惊慌失措，恶劣的莫名其妙的动作，各种各样的失误。 来自辞典例句

5 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