节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-10-09
难易度:Low
关键字:kit, elderly, permit, prevent, emergency shelter, update
Welcome back, everybody.
Now let's get back to the survival kits for a moment.
It's important to keep your disaster kits fresh.
Specialists suggest refreshing the water, the food, the special medication and
the batteries about every six months,
because you don't want to reach for a flashlight during a disaster and find
yourself stuck in the dark.
Hmm.
OK. Let's get back to caring for a pet during a disaster on line 3.
(Music).
Preparing for Disasters.
Remember, pets are often not permitted in emergency shelters.
You may need to find someone to care for your pet if you have to evacuate.
You may also want to create a special pet disaster kit.
Once you have prepared your family for the worst, it is important to maintain
your plan.
Practice your emergency plan, and update it as necessary.
You may not be able to prevent disasters, but with a little planning you can be
prepared.
All right.
So we are now talking about ways to not only protect yourself and your family
but also your family's pet.
That's right.
Pets can be a very important part of your family.
I know my dog... his name was Snooky.
He was a very important part of my childhood.
So I wanted to make sure he was taken care of.
Now we're talking about ways to keep your pet safe.
But remember, your life comes before your pets.
Be prepared to help your pet.
But in an emergency, if you can't get to them, make sure you take care of
yourself.
Yes. If trying to rescue your pet puts your own life or someone else's life in
danger, choose your own life first.
You are more important.
That's right.
You definitely are.
But pets are important too.
So if you do have the chance to rescue your pet as well, be prepared.
Now remember, a lot... most very often pets are not permitted in emergency
shelters.
OK. So if something is "permitted," that means it is allowed to do something.
So you could be permitted to go into maybe a special area.
That means you're allowed to be there.
But sometimes pets are not permitted.
That means they are not allowed to go in to an emergency shelter.
Now I know that might sound a bit harsh, but I can fully understand.
Emergency... "emergency shelters" are places where people go where they need to
be temporarily during an emergency.
If you are evacuated, quite often, I know in United States in my home state,
they evacuate you to a school, and everyone lives in the gym.
So I understand why they don't let pets into these emergency shelters.
Yeah. Now Kaylah, I remember in Japan in 2011, they had that earthquake and
tsunami.
And many people their homes were gone, or they were not allowed to go back to
their homes.
And so they had to go to these emergency shelters.
But of course, you cannot bring cats, you cannot bring dogs or birds to these
places.
So what can you do?
Well, you need to... you may need to find someone who can care for your pet if
you have to evacuate.
Maybe someone from outside the area who can't let you stay with them because
there's too many in your family,
but is willing to take care of your animal if you need to evacuate, if you have
to leave.
OK. So this is a place where you can go.
Your pet will be taken care of, and you don't have to worry about them.
Just take care of your family first.
But just like when you go out of town and leave your pet with someone else, your
pet needs certain items.
So you may also want to create a special pet disaster kit.
So have your human disaster kit for your family ready to grab but a smaller one
for your pet that has their food,
probably any medicines that they're taking, any sort of blankets or things that
will help them relax and stay calm.
It might be good to have in that bag.
Yes, and the water.
You never forget the water.
Absolutely.
Even though you might think: Oh, he's a dog. He can drink whatever water.
It's important that he doesn't drink polluted water.
You don't want a sick pet in the middle of a disaster.
Yes, especially a flood.
Floodwaters are not OK for anyone to drink.
That's right.
OK. Now once you have prepared your family for the worst, then it is important
to maintain your plan.
That's right.
Maintain your plan, which means keep it up.
Keep updating it.
Make sure everyone understands it.
Maintain, it means it's in a good shape and everyone is fully understanding.
OK. And Kaylah, we just used this phrase "prepared for the worst." That means
you expect the unexpected.
You are ready in case something happens.
So how do you maintain this plan?
First, practice your emergency plan and update it as necessary.
OK. If you "update" something, that means you make sure it is the most recent,
it is the newest.
Or maybe if you update information, it's the newest information.
And if you update a plan, that means your plan is ready now, not for something
in the history or in the past.
That's right.
Maybe you still live in the same neighborhood or home, but your contact person
has changed phone numbers.
Update it!
Make sure that number is the right number, the correct number and that everyone
is still understanding where to go and who to call in case of an emergency.
But there's even more to that sentence.
That's right.
This is our Grammar on the Go sentence, so let's visit Liz.
Hi there, friends.
How are you doing today?
My name is Liz.
And it's time for Grammar on the Go.
So how prepared are you when it comes to dealing with disasters and emergencies?
Well, that's what our article is about today.
And our writer gives a several tips on how we can prepare ourselves and what we
can prepare.
The writer also tells us:
Practice your emergency plan and update it as necessary.
That's our Grammar Tip sentence for today.
It just means we should practice our emergency plan and update it whenever it is
necessary.
But rather than using the phrase "whenever it is necessary," the writer just
shortens it with the phrase, as necessary.
This use of "as necessary" is most often in formal situations when you want to
tell people how something should be done whenever it is needed.
For example, let's say you are explaining how a guessing game is played,
and that the leader of the game can repeat certain questions as many times
whenever it is needed, so you can say:
When you play this guessing game, leaders can repeat certain questions as
necessary.
Or, many people wear knee braces when they exercise.
And certain kinds of knee braces can be readjusted whenever the users feel the
need to.
So we can say:
Certain kinds of knee braces can be readjusted as necessary.
And that's it for today.
Be sure to check out today's Grammar Tip section for more example sentences.
This is Liz with Grammar on the Go signing off.
Bye-bye.
So friends, none of us want to experience a disaster, but you need to be ready.
You may not be able to prevent a disaster, but with a little planning you can be
prepared.
OK. Let's look at this word "prevent." You cannot prevent disasters.
The word "prevent" means to stop something from happening or to stop someone
from doing something.
That's right.
And this case, we know we cannot prevent or stop a disaster from happening.
If we can, there wouldn't even be a need for the word "disaster." We wouldn't
let them happen.
We can't stop it.
But you can be prepared, you can be ready.
So get your family together, be communicating.
Have your contact person.
Get your kit prepared and be ready.
OK. This way, you and your family, and maybe even your pet can stay safe.
Friends, now it's time to go join Ken and Bryan in the Chat Room.
Hey, Bryan.
Hi, Ken.
Wow, you seem really busy today.
You can say that again.
One of my colleagues just quit work the other day.
And now they haven't found anyone to fill the opening, so we're still really
shorthanded.
Well, who would've thought your co-worker would quit his job?
I know! It was so sudden without any warning.
You know, Ken, sometimes I feel the life is just full of unforeseen
circumstances.
Unforeseen circumstances?
So you're talking about unpredictable events, right?
Right, or contingencies.
What is a contingency?
A contingency is an event that could happen in the future.
And it often refers to accidents or emergencies.
We should always have a contingency plan, which is a plan or procedure that we
can rely on if an emergency occurs.
So a contingency plan is an emergency plan?
Exactly.
It's something that we might use as a backup should a worst-case scenario occur.
A worst-case scenario?
I know a scenario is like a story, right?
Right. But it can also refer to an outline of a sequence of events.
And a worst-case scenario is a situation where everything that can go wrong does
go wrong.
What about things that are beyond our control?
Is there a term for that?
Yes. We often call those things "acts of God," which are unpredictable natural
events such as storms, earthquakes, floods and other events.
Well, I hope the library find someone soon so you can get out of this
contingency.
Yeah, I hope so too.
(Chinese).
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.
(Chinese).
And we're running out of time.
I'll see you next time.
Bye-bye.
Thank you, Michelle.
We appreciate that.
Certain disasters, like typhoons, give us some warning.
Others, like earthquakes, give us no warning.
That's why it's important to be prepared.
Preparation will give you and your loved ones a better chance of survival.
Make a plan to help your family know where to go and how to find each other in
an emergency.
Also, create a family disaster kit that includes everything your family will
need to survive for a minimum of three days.
Well, you can't prevent a disaster from happening, but you can be prepared.
OK, friends. Have a great Tuesday.
And we'll see you all tomorrow.
Take care.