2019年经济学人 印尼灾难新闻发言人苏托波(2)

 

Indonesia was a country of 17,000 islands, perched on the "Ring of Fire" at the edge of the Pacific, with 127 active volcanoes. They could erupt at any time, and the same sliding plates unleashed¹ earthquakes, landslides² and tsunamis³, adding up to more than 2,300 emergencies a year. As his job went on, the tally⁴ got worse: 2018 was the deadliest for natural disasters in over a decade, with more than 4,600 people killed.

印度尼西亚是一个拥有17000个岛屿的国家，坐落在太平洋边缘的“火环”上，拥有127座活火山。这些活火山随时都可以爆发，同样的滑动板块会引发地震、滑坡和海啸，每年总共有超过2300次紧急事件。随着他的工作进行，情况变得更糟：2018年是十多年来自然灾害最严重的一年，有4600多人丧生。

Yet Indonesians barely knew what they faced. A poll of his many Twitter followers⁵ revealed that 86% had never had disaster training. So first of all he provided clarity, turning data from monitors on the ground into clear statements to the press. There were plenty of those, and 500 press releases in 2018 alone. Then he did some educating. He filled the BNPB building with dioramas, mud-crusted relics⁶ from landslides, notices tipped sideways and backdrops of devastation⁷ into which visitors could insert themselves, as rescuers, for selfies.

但是印度尼西亚人几乎不知道他们面临的是什么。一项针对他的推特粉丝的调查显示，86%的人从未接受过灾难训练。因此，首先，他提供了清晰的信息，将地面监视器的数据转化为对媒体的清晰陈述。有很多这样的发言，只在2018年就有500次媒体发言。然后他做了一些有教育意义的事情。他在印尼国家减灾署大楼里放满了立体模型，这些模型是山体滑坡留下的泥质外壳、倾斜的告示和废墟背景，游客可以作为救援人员进入其中自拍。

(That might seem silly, but he liked to pose in them himself, smiling a bit self-consciously; it all helped to show school children, in particular, what being caught up in a disaster was like.) He shrugged⁸ off the occasional government grumble⁹ about being "too naughty". After all, before he took the job he had already publicised the fact that cracks in a dam were caused by official negligence¹⁰. They knew he would be a handful. Social media, though, was his trump¹¹ card. Almost all Indonesians now had mobile phones. He ran seven WhatsApp groups to exchange data with monitors and journalists, who could always get "Pak Topo" when they needed him, and he used Twitter to keep the public up to speed.

（这似乎有点傻，但他喜欢自己在照片里摆姿势，有点难为情地微笑着；这些模型尤其是为了向学校儿童展示困在灾难中是什么感觉。）政府偶尔抱怨他“太淘气”，他对此不屑一顾。毕竟，在他担任该职位之前，他已经公布了一个事实，即大坝的裂缝是由于官方疏忽造成的。他们知道苏托坡很难对付。但是，社交媒体是他的王牌。几乎所有的印度尼西亚人现在都有手机。他运营了7个WhatsApp群组，与监控人员和记者交换数据，他们需要他的时候总能联系到“巴基·托坡”，他使用推特来让公众了解最新情况。

1 unleashed   

v.把（感情、力量等）释放出来，发泄( unleash的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The government's proposals unleashed a storm of protest in the press. 政府的提案引发了新闻界的抗议浪潮。
• The full force of his rage was unleashed against me. 他把所有的怒气都发泄在我身上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 landslides   

山崩( landslide的名词复数 )； （山坡、悬崖等的）崩塌； 滑坡； （竞选中）一方选票占压倒性多数

参考例句：

• Landslides have cut off many villages in remote areas. 滑坡使边远地区的许多村庄与外界隔绝。
• The storm caused landslides and flooding in Savona. 风暴致使萨沃纳发生塌方和洪灾。

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 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。

5 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

6 relics   

[pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸

参考例句：

• The area is a treasure house of archaeological relics. 这个地区是古文物遗迹的宝库。
• Xi'an is an ancient city full of treasures and saintly relics. 西安是一个有很多宝藏和神圣的遗物的古老城市。

7 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 grumble   

vi.抱怨；咕哝；n.抱怨，牢骚；咕哝，隆隆声

参考例句：

• I don't want to hear another grumble from you.我不愿再听到你的抱怨。
• He could do nothing but grumble over the situation.他除了埋怨局势之外别无他法。

10 negligence   

n.疏忽，玩忽，粗心大意

参考例句：

• They charged him with negligence of duty.他们指责他玩忽职守。
• The traffic accident was allegedly due to negligence.这次车祸据说是由于疏忽造成的。

11 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。