双语：面对天灾有备无患 揭秘海啸逃生技巧

 　　日本3月11日发生特大地震引发海啸。电视画面显示，海啸迅速吞没了农田和房屋，汽车和船只被海啸席卷着撞上建筑物，造成了极大的人员伤亡和财产损失。让我们在哀悼灾难的同时，也来看一些海啸的求生技巧吧！

　　The Japanese coined the word tsunami¹ to mean "harbor wave." ("tsu" means harbor, and the character "nami" means wave). In the wake of the Japanese tragedy, remember these tsunami survival tips:

　　1. A good warning sign of an approaching tsunami is "drawback,"when the ocean recedes² drastically or the water level falls unusually along the shoreline.

　　退潮是海啸的一个预警信号

　　During the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, a 10-year-old girl on vacation with her family in Thailand, Tilly Smith, saved the lives of dozens of tourists when she recognized the receding³ water and frothing bubbles on the surface of the water as a sign that a tsunami was on it's way. Experts believe that a receding ocean may give people as much as five minutes' warning to evacuate⁴ the area.

　　2. You're not out of danger after the first wave of a tsunami.

　　第一波海啸结束并不意味着脱险

　　A tsunami occurs as a series of waves known as a "wave train," and the series of surges can be five minutes or up to an hour apart. The tsunami does not usually appear on the shoreline as a gigantic breaking wave, but rather as a rapid tide or a wall of water. The worst mistake you can make is staying near the beach out of curiosity. Find higher ground and go as far inland as you can. If you can see the waves, you're still too close.

　　3. A tsunami surge may be small at one point of the shore and large at another point.

　　趁海啸势头小的时候向高处转移

　　Move to higher ground as soon as you can and don't assume that because there's minimal⁵ activity in the coastal⁶ area where you are, it will be like that everywhere else.

　　4. Keep your ears peeled.

　　捂紧耳朵

　　Many witnesses have said that a tsunami sounds thunderous, like a freight train

1 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。

2 recedes   

v.逐渐远离( recede的第三人称单数 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题

参考例句：

• For this reason the near point gradually recedes as one grows older. 由于这个原因，随着人渐渐变老，近点便逐渐后退。 来自辞典例句
• Silent, mournful, abandoned, broken, Czechoslovakia recedes into the darkness. 缄默的、悲哀的、被抛弃的、支离破碎的捷克斯洛伐克，已在黑暗之中。 来自辞典例句

3 receding   

v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题

参考例句：

• Desperately he struck out after the receding lights of the yacht. 游艇的灯光渐去渐远，他拼命划水追赶。 来自辞典例句
• Sounds produced by vehicles receding from us seem lower-pitched than usual. 渐渐远离我们的运载工具发出的声似乎比平常的音调低。 来自辞典例句

4 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

5 minimal   

adj.尽可能少的，最小的

参考例句：

• They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
• I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家，所以我的花费很小。

6 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。