VOA慢速英语2019 台风"海贝思"重创日本（在线收听）

Flooded Trains Show Disaster Risks in Japan

Typhoon Hagibis struck Japan with unusual force and wind speeds last week.

台风海贝思上周以异乎寻常的力量和风速袭击了日本。

The storm produced heavy rainfall and flooding in many areas. The water caused landslides as well as floods that left people trapped on building tops.

这场风暴给很多地区带来了强降雨和洪水。降水导致山体滑坡以及洪灾，将人们困在了房顶。

Newspapers and other media published images of bullet trains, known to Japanese as Shinkansen, that were flooded in Nagano, a mountainous area northwest of Tokyo. The pictures show the ability of natural disasters to slow down modern life.

报纸等媒体刊发了日本子弹头列车，也就是日本人说的新干线列车在东京西北山区长野县被洪水浸泡的图片。这些图片展示了自然灾害减缓现代生活的能力。

Experts say periods of calm can cause a false sense of security in a country inured to danger by the threat of earthquakes, tsunami and volcanos.

专家表示，一段时间的平静给这个习惯于受到地震、海啸和火山威胁的国家造成了一种错误的安全感。

“Weather conditions in Japan up to now have been relatively moderate,” noted Toshitaka Katada, an expert on disasters and a professor at the University of Tokyo.

东京大学教授及灾难专家片田敏孝指出：“到目前为止，日本的天气状况一直相对温和。”

Katada said Japan’s readiness for disasters is still based on information collected many years ago.

片田敏孝表示，日本的防灾准备仍然是基于许多年前收集的信息。

“Damage gets multiplied when people are overly confident about their safety,” he added.

他还说：“当人们对自己的安全过分自信时，伤害就会成倍增长。”

Rescue efforts have continued in the days since the typhoon first struck land near Tokyo. Then the storm turned northward before moving over the Pacific Ocean and weakening.

自台风最先登陆东京附近地区以来，救援工作一直在持续。风暴随后转向北部，然后越过太平洋并逐渐减弱。

The number of dead and missing continues to increase. At least 100 people have been injured in Nagano, Fukushima, Miyagi and other central and northern prefectures.

死亡和失踪人数仍在继续增长。长野、福岛、宫城以及其它中部和北部地区至少有100人受伤。

Floodwaters caused damage to at least 10 Shinkansen trains, each with 12 cars, in Nagano, said an East Japan Railway Company official. Electronic equipment under the cars was likely totally wrecked, he added.

东日本旅客铁路公司官员表示，洪水给长野县至少10辆新干线列车造成了破坏，这些列车每辆有12节车厢。他还说，车厢下方的电子设备可能完全被毁了。

Extreme weather more common

极端天气更为常见

For years, scientists have warned about the move toward extreme weather, including intensifying ocean storms.

多年来，科学家们一直警告我们正走向极端天气，包括更剧烈的海洋风暴。

Some say the damage from landslides and flooding is a sign of the vulnerability of some Japanese communities. They say engineers never really thought about conditions like heavy rains when homes and public infrastructure were built.

有人称，山体滑坡和洪水造成的破坏是一些日本社区非常薄弱的标志。他们说，工程师在建造房屋和公共设施时从未真正考虑过强降雨等状况。

Although scientists are doing better at predicting weather conditions, it is still difficult to find out the paths of storms and the damage they may bring. So says Chris Field, director of the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford University in California.

加州斯坦福大学伍兹环境研究所所长克里斯·菲尔德表示，尽管科学家在预测天气方面做得更好，但是仍然很难弄清风暴的路径以及它可能带来的破坏。

“The message for typhoon-prone areas is that all should prepare for a future of stronger storms,” Field said.

菲尔德表示：“给台风多发地区的警示就是，大家都要对未来的强风暴做好准备。”

“It is important to understand and respond to the evidence that storms are getting stronger as a result of climate change and that investments in disaster prevention need to rise,” he said.

他说：“重要的是对气候变化导致风暴越来越强烈的迹象要理解并作出应对，灾害预防投资也要加大。”

Japan already is in crisis over its aging infrastructure. Governments lack the money and workers to repair and replace tunnels, bridges and other structures to meet new rules for resistance to earthquakes and other disasters.

日本已经陷入了基础设施老化的危机当中。政府缺乏资金和工人来维修和更新隧道、桥梁等建筑物，以便满足抗击地震及其它灾害的新规定。

Observers say there also is an urgent need to improve early warning systems and to help people move out of vulnerable areas, Field and other experts said.

菲尔德和其他专家表示，观察人士称日本迫切需要改善预警系统，帮助人们搬出薄弱地区。

Top officials gave clear and early warnings about the dangers of Typhoon Hagibis. They held an emergency press conference several days before the expected landfall.

高层官员就海贝思台风的危险发出了明确预警。他们在台风预期登陆前几天举行了紧急新闻发布会。

“Please take measures to save your own life,” Japan’s public broadcaster NHK announced.

日本公共广播公司NHK宣布：“请采取措施挽救自己的性命。”

But while warnings targeted areas with as many as several million people, far fewer – tens of thousands – acted on those warnings.

但是尽管警告针对的人群多达数百万人，但是对这些警告采取行动的人数却很少，只有几万人。

Japanese need to be more aware of disaster risks and to do more to prepare on their own instead of counting on the government to take care of them, experts said.

专家表示，日本人需要更深刻地认识到灾难风险，自己做更多的准备，而不是依赖政府来照顾他们。

Hiroaki Maruya, a disaster expert and professor at Tohoku University in Sendai, said Japan built many dams and flood control structures after World War II to limit disasters.

仙台东北大学的灾难专家及教授丸谷弘明表示，日本在二战后修建了很多大坝和防洪设施来减少灾害。

But strengthening such infrastructure is costly and will take time.

但是强化这类基础设施的费用很高，并且需要时间。

I’m Mario Ritter Jr.

Words in This Story

inured – adj. to cause someone to be less affected by something difficult

confident – adj. being sure of one’s self or abilities

prefecture – n. a kind of local government division

vulnerability – n. something that leaved a person or group open to harm or an attack

infrastructure – n. things like roads, ports or bridges that are needed for a society to operate

prone – adj. likely to do, have or suffer from something

aware – adj. having a realization or knowledge