2007年VOA标准英语-US Business, Civic Leaders Plan for Emergencies

By Mike O'Sullivan
Los Angeles
31 January 2007

 
Disasters are a part of life, whether natural catastrophes¹, such as earthquakes and hurricanes, or man-made disasters, including terrorism.   Mike O'Sullivan reports, business and community leaders who met in Los Angeles say the key to survival in either case is preparedness.

People have always contended with tsunamis³, earthquakes and other disasters.  Today they face the threat of terrorism.  Business and civic⁴ leaders recently shared ideas on emergency preparations, at a forum⁵ sponsored by the group Town Hall Los Angeles.

 
Ellis Stanley
Ellis Stanley of the city's office of emergency preparedness says it all starts with individuals.

"We realize that in major disasters, especially something like a catastrophic earthquake in California, if you cannot get to us and we cannot get to you, it is incumbent⁶ on that individual to have supplies to be able to take care of themselves those first critical hours," he said.

He says every school, business and family needs an emergency plan.

Yossi Sheffi of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology says terrorism and natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, take a human toll⁷, but their economic impact is not as serious as many people think.

 
Yossi Sheffi
"Among real terrorism professionals, the most dangerous thing is not a dirty bomb or 9/11 or London subway or Madrid subway," he noted⁸.  "If you look at the economic impact of any of those, they are negligible on the GDP, including 9/11, even Katrina.  The most dangerous thing is an attack when the organization under attack doesn't know that they are under attack until it is too late."

He says a biological attack or an epidemic⁹ can be far more dangerous if the infection takes hold before people realize it. 

Public health authorities monitor the incidence of disease to look for unusual patterns, and Skip Skivington of Kaiser Permanente, a major healthcare provider, says his hospitals are preparing for a widespread epidemic.  He says the H5N1 virus, which has infected both birds and humans, could trigger one.

"We have done a lot of things internally to understand the disease and understand how that would impact our operations, and try to match our operations with the outbreak, should it occur," he said.

Roche Pharmaceuticals¹⁰ makes life-saving cancer and AIDS drugs, and anti-rejection drugs for transplant patients.  Roche also makes Tamiflu, and has expanded its production of that antiviral used to treat influenza¹¹. Mike McGuire, Roche vice¹² president for anti-infectives, says the company has an emergency plan in place.

"All of our sites are equipped with satellite phones, secure video linkups," he said.  "We have plans in place.  We have already stockpiled the parts or equipment for machines.  Should something happen and we couldn't get a part from a vendor¹³, we knew we would have enough to carry us through for another year. "

He says that in an emergency, essential companies in communications, energy and transportation also need to keep operating.

Harbors and ports are vital arteries¹⁴ for commerce, and are possible targets for a terrorist attack.  Shawn James of Lockheed Martin Homeland Security Systems says security is important, but that in any disaster, essential goods must be kept flowing.

"Because if you over-screen or over-scan or over-inspect, the potential is there that you could really impede¹⁵ that velocity¹⁶ of commerce and have an impact on the economy," he explained.

 
Mark Ward¹⁷
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) helps in the recovery and reconstruction¹⁸ of countries struck by disaster.  Mark Ward oversaw¹⁹ the effort in Asia after the major tsunami² of 2004.  He says people can quickly forget the threats that they face.

"What about 10 years from now," he asked.  "Are people going to get complacent²⁰?   Are the lessons that we learn today, are those memories going to fade?  And what if there's a tsunami the year after that?"

He says national governments and community leaders must stay focused on the risk, and not get complacent.

1 catastrophes   

n.灾祸( catastrophe的名词复数 )；灾难；不幸事件；困难

参考例句：

• Two of history's worst natural catastrophes occurred in 1970. 1970年发生了历史上最严重两次自然灾害。 来自辞典例句
• The Swiss deposits contain evidence of such catastrophes. 瑞士的遗址里还有这种灾难的证据。 来自辞典例句

2 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

3 tsunamis   

n.海啸( tsunami的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our oceans are alive with earthquakes, volcanoes, and more recently, tsunamis. 海中充满着地震、火山，包括最近发生的海啸。 来自常春藤生活英语杂志-2006年2月号
• Please tell me something more about tsunamis! 请您给我讲讲海啸吧！ 来自辞典例句

4 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

5 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

6 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

7 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。

8 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

9 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

10 pharmaceuticals   

n.医药品；药物( pharmaceutical的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the development of new pharmaceuticals 新药的开发
• The companies are pouring trillions of yen into biotechnology research,especially for pharmaceuticals and new seeds. 这些公司将大量资金投入生物工艺学研究，尤其是药品和新种子方面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 influenza   

n.流行性感冒，流感

参考例句：

• They took steps to prevent the spread of influenza.他们采取措施
• Influenza is an infectious disease.流感是一种传染病。

12 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。

13 vendor   

n.卖主；小贩

参考例句：

• She looked at the vendor who cheated her the other day with distaste.她厌恶地望着那个前几天曾经欺骗过她的小贩。
• He must inform the vendor immediately.他必须立即通知卖方。

14 arteries   

n.动脉( artery的名词复数 )；干线，要道

参考例句：

• Even grafting new blood vessels in place of the diseased coronary arteries has been tried. 甚至移植新血管代替不健康的冠状动脉的方法都已经试过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This is the place where the three main arteries of West London traffic met. 这就是伦敦西部三条主要交通干线的交汇处。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 impede   

v.妨碍，阻碍，阻止

参考例句：

• One shouldn't impede other's progress.一个人不应该妨碍他人进步。
• The muddy roads impede our journey.我们的旅游被泥泞的道路阻挠了。

16 velocity   

n.速度，速率

参考例句：

• Einstein's theory links energy with mass and velocity of light.爱因斯坦的理论把能量同质量和光速联系起来。
• The velocity of light is about 300000 kilometres per second.光速约为每秒300000公里。

17 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

18 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

19 oversaw   

v.监督，监视( oversee的过去式 )

参考例句：

• He will go down as the president who oversaw two historic transitions. 他将作为见证了巴西两次历史性转变的总统，安然引退。 来自互联网
• Dixon oversaw the project as creative director of Design Research Studio. 狄克逊监督项目的创意总监设计研究工作室。 来自互联网

20 complacent   

adj.自满的；自鸣得意的

参考例句：

• We must not become complacent the moment we have some success.我们决不能一见成绩就自满起来。
• She was complacent about her achievements.她对自己的成绩沾沾自喜。