节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-10-08
难易度:Low
关键字:disaster, emergency, situation, neighborhood, evacuate
Hi, everyone.
Welcome to Studio Classroom Worldwide.
My name is Steve.
Thanks for joining us today.
Well, I've got some bad news, everyone.
I don't know if there's any place in this world that's safe from some form of
natural disaster.
And more bad news - the frequency of natural disasters seems to be on the rise.
So with all the floods, typhoons, earthquakes, landslides, tornadoes, wildfires
and severe winter and summer temperatures,
it would be wise to do like the boy scouts and be prepared.
If you've never thought about what to do during a disaster, then let this
month's DO IT YOURSELF feature help get you started.
Let's kick off the reading on page 20.
Preparing for Disasters.
Are you ready for the worst?
When disaster strikes, you might find yourself without water, gas and
electricity.
You might even need to leave your home with little warning.
But emergencies don't have to surprise you.
Plan ahead for bad situations.
Planning for the worst.
Hold a family meeting.
Discuss the types of disasters that could happen.
Then plan a way to gather your family together if they get separated.
Choose two locations for everyone to go to if it isn't safe to return home.
Hello, everyone.
Thank you for joining us.
My name is Ryan.
And my name is Kaylah.
Now today we're talking about our DO IT YOURSELF article.
Now quite often these articles are more for fun and entertaining reasons.
But today our DO IT YOURSELF might actually save your life.
That's right.
We want you to be prepared for disasters.
That's right.
Today our article is called Preparing for Disasters.
Now if we're going to prepare for them or get ready for them, what... we should
know what a disaster is.
Yes. A "disaster" is an event that ends up in harm or death or anything that is
really bad.
That's right.
It's damaging, can cause death or danger.
It causes series of problems.
And a disaster is often not easy to predict.
They're not things that you see coming.
For example, some disasters you might be familiar with are floods or typhoons,
hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, earthquakes, blizzards,
these natural disaster events that come through.
OK, so. We're going to talk about now how you can actually be prepared for
disasters.
Even though you cannot predict them or know when they will happen, you can still
be ready for the worst.
Now that's right.
Now we're not telling you to be scared or to think about these things that could
be bad.
We're telling you you need to be prepared and ready for the worst, but expect
and hope for the best.
Yeah. And now we're going to let you know some of these disasters that can
happen and how you can be prepared in case they do happen.
OK. So are you ready?
Let's get started in finding out the best ways to prepare yourself.
OK. When disaster strikes, you might find yourself without water, gas and
electricity.
When disaster strikes - now to "strike" means to come very quickly and with a
strong force.
And when a disaster happens, quite often that's how it comes.
It comes quickly, unexpected, but very strong.
Yes. And we use this phrase "disaster strikes" to describe when something really
bad like this happens.
And if it is a big event, you might not have water, you might not have
electricity, which are things you need to survive.
Well, in today's society we... I mean, we do need electricity.
But water is absolutely essential.
It also says "gas." If you have a home that is heated with gas or you use gas to
cook in your kitchen, it would be very bad if you lost that.
So you can imagine these basic things, if you don't have them in your home,
you're going to need to get out and get to safety.
So what are you going to do?
Well, you need to find out how to plan and be prepared.
You might even need to leave your home with little warning.
Now I know this sounds uh, frustrating or difficult.
But sometimes we do need to be evacuated.
And that means you have to leave your home.
And that's not something comfortable, Ryan.
But it happens with flooding or with fires, wildfires that go through areas.
So you need to be prepared to leave in a hurry very quickly.
Now Kaylah, we see this phrase "little warning" here.
At least that's good, you get a little warning, right?
Is that what that means?
No, it's not.
"Little" here means a very short time between.
So "little warning" means you don't really get a warning.
You don't have time, so you need to be ready to go at that instant, not waiting
for a couple of hours.
Right.
If you get "little warning," this phrase means you don't really get any, if any
at all.
And so you need to know how to be prepared even if you don't get a warning.
That's right.
But emergencies, even though they come with little warning, they don't have to
surprise you.
You can be prepared.
So to be prepared for an emergency.
Ryan, what is an emergency?
OK. An "emergency" is something that is dangerous or serious, like an accident.
They usually will surprise you.
And you need to find a way to deal with it and so you will not get further
harmed.
That's right.
An emergency is something that needs to be taken care of right now.
You might recognize the word from "Emergency Room." If you are injured and you
have to go to the emergency room, you need attention right now.
So plan ahead for these bad situations.
OK. And a "situation" is an event, something that happens.
Usually we use this word to describe something that happens that is bad.
OK. So a situation, be prepared for it.
So how are we going to do that?
Well, we have some tips.
We're going to start with: Planning for the worst.
OK. So first, hold a family meeting.
Make sure you communicate with everyone in your family.
I think that is most important.
That's right.
Everyone in your family, from the very oldest to the very youngest, needs to be
there to understand what will happen.
You may think that don't worry, my kids are with me all the time.
I... I will be with them.
You can't gaurantee that.
There's little warning.
So everyone needs to be involved.
Yes. And when you're holding a meeting, that means it is happening, it is taking
place.
OK. What are you going to do in this meeting?
You discuss the types of disasters that could happen.
Now depending on where you live, depends on what kind of disasters could happen,
so you need to be prepared for each one of those.
You have to discuss them or talk about them.
Then you can plan a way to gather your family together in case you get separated
or taken apart.
That's right.
So if you are in different places, maybe at work, at school, in different
activities, you might be away from each other, separated.
So choose a way to connect.
And do that by choosing two locations for everyone where it would be safe to go
if it's not safe to return home.
OK. So these are places where you can go in case there is an emergency at your
home.
Kaylah, do you have a place like this where you would meet with your family?
Uh, we do.
I remember more... more frequently from my childhood, we had a different place
to go for different emergencies.
And Ryan, I'm sure your family did as well.
And we'll share some of our tips from our stories as well as more tips after we
visit the Chat Room.
Hey, Bryan, do you have a band aid?
Sure, I have one right here.
What happened?
Somebody left a tack in a bookshelf.
It gave me a nice cut when I was reaching for a book.
OK. Let me see.
Oh, yes. That is a deep cut, Ken.
Here you go.
Thanks.
And I think you should go to the hospital right away and get a tetanus shot.
I don't need a tetanus shot just because I touched a tack.
I think you should get one, Ken.
It's better to be safe than sorry.
Better to be safe than sorry?
What does that mean?
Well, that's a proverb that means you should be cautious.
If you are not, you may regret it.
Oh, interesting.
So if I go on a road trip, I should fill up my gas tank because it's better to
be safe than sorry?
Yes, good example, Ken.
You can leave out the words "to be" and simply say: Better safe than sorry.
Better safe than sorry.
Hey, what about better late than never?
What does that mean?
Well, that's a difference saying.
Hey, why don't we have Studio Classroom Editor-in-Chief Doris explain this
proverb for us.
OK.
"Better late than never" is a saying that means doing something late is better
than not doing it at all.
If you just realized that your best friend's birthday was last week and you had
forgotten it,
I'd say you should still send her a birthday card because it's better late than
never.
Oh, I see.
That's a pretty useful proverb.
OK, Ken.
I think we've talked long enough.
I think you need to go to the hospital right now to get that shot.
Remember, better to be safe than sorry.
OK, Bryan, I'm going.