【英语时差8，16】夏日又传溺水事件

 A report from the Jing Chuan Child Safety Foundation reveals that Taiwanese children are three times more likely to drown than Australian children. The director of the foundation called on schools and parents to make swimming and water education a priority.

Unfortunately, over the past year the foundation's message has not been heeded¹. In fact, this year cases of death by drowning have actually increased. Preliminary reports from the National Fire Agency reveal 140 people — including many children — have died of drowning so far this year, compared with 119 in the same period last year.

Many explanations for the unusually high number of local drowning victims have been offered. A Chinese cultural attitude of fear towards water could be a factor in stymieing² early childhood swimming classes. And perhaps even deadlier is the appalling³ lack of water-related education. When visiting river and beach areas, one can see children bobbing around in waist-high water as parents pay no mind. Young people frequently swim with jeans and clothing on, unaware⁴ that heavy wet clothes can pull a person to a watery⁵ doom⁶.

Therefore, we must both shock and educate the public into taking water more seriously. With the combined educational efforts of schools, parents, and a massive government campaign, deaths from drowning can be significantly reduced. Hopefully, next summer we will be able to report some positive progress.

to drown  (v.)   溺死If you try to swim against a rip tide, you'll get tired and could drown.

preliminary  (adj.)   初步的The school's preliminary decision is to put Sheila on academic probation⁷.

victim  (n.)   受害者；遇难者The victims of excessive noise pollution are each and every one of us.

attitude  (n.)   态度A positive attitude is important for success.

appalling  (adj.)   骇人的；低劣糟糕的The most appalling thing about that company are the working hours.

to bob  (v.)   上下（来回）快速摆动；轻敲Dolphins bob up and down in the water for people's entertainment.

doom  (n.)   厄运；毁灭Paul's career will end in hopeless doom if he doesn't succeed on this project.

to have not (been) heeded/to have (been) heeded   不（被）注意∕（被）注意The signs near rivers have been heeded, resulting in no fatalities⁸ this year.

unusually high number (of) （…）   数量出乎异常的高An unusually high number of dead birds have been discovered lately.

to pay no mind   不予理会Pay no mind to him－he's spoiled and won't change his attitude anytime soon.

1 heeded   

v.听某人的劝告，听从( heed的过去式和过去分词 )；变平，使（某物）变平( flatten的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She countered that her advice had not been heeded. 她反驳说她的建议未被重视。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I heeded my doctor's advice and stopped smoking. 我听从医生的劝告，把烟戒了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 stymieing   

v.妨碍，阻挠( stymie的现在分词 )

参考例句：

3 appalling   

adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions.恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• Nothing can extenuate such appalling behaviour.这种骇人听闻的行径罪无可恕。

4 unaware   

a.不知道的，未意识到的

参考例句：

• They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
• I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。

5 watery   

adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的

参考例句：

• In his watery eyes there is an expression of distrust.他那含泪的眼睛流露出惊惶失措的神情。
• Her eyes became watery because of the smoke.因为烟熏，她的双眼变得泪汪汪的。

6 doom   

n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定

参考例句：

• The report on our economic situation is full of doom and gloom.这份关于我们经济状况的报告充满了令人绝望和沮丧的调子。
• The dictator met his doom after ten years of rule.独裁者统治了十年终于完蛋了。

7 probation   

n.缓刑(期)，(以观后效的)察看；试用(期)

参考例句：

• The judge did not jail the young man,but put him on probation for a year.法官没有把那个年轻人关进监狱，而且将他缓刑察看一年。
• His salary was raised by 800 yuan after his probation.试用期满以后，他的工资增加了800元。

8 fatalities   

n.恶性事故( fatality的名词复数 )；死亡；致命性；命运

参考例句：

• Several people were injured, but there were no fatalities. 有几个人受伤，但没有人死亡。
• The accident resulted in fatalities. 那宗意外道致多人死亡。 来自《简明英汉词典》