VOA标准英语2011--Thai Animators Mix Entertainment, Flood Information

Thai Animators Mix Entertainment, Flood Information

 

Thailand’s ongoing¹ struggle against record flooding has been complicated by often contradictory² statements from officials. To help calm a panicky public, a group of young Thai animators created a cartoon series to simplify flood information and help people prepare. The animated³ series RooSuFlood has become a hit on television and the web.

Thailand’s devastating⁴ floods caught many people unprepared, leaving hundreds dead and tens of thousands homeless.

As authorities struggle to fend⁵ off waters closing in on the Thai capital, Bangkok, ordinary people are being swamped with mixed messages.

Officials with the national government and the capital city government have often contradicted each other in assessing the threat to Bangkok.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has struggled with a consistent message.

Last week, she said if there is no more water coming in, it might not get seriously flooded in Bangkok.

Several days later, she had starkly⁶ different advice.

She says in Bangkok, people might have to adjust to using boats instead of cars.

As officials alternate between overly optimistic and overly pessimistic scenarios⁷, the public is left wondering what to do.

Thailand's RooSuFlood animated series educates the public on what do to in case of flooding.

To cut through the confusion, and calm down a worried public, a group of young animators got together to create RooSuFlood.

“Know and Fight Flood” is an animated series of public service announcements designed to educate while keeping the audience entertained.

Subtitles⁸ in English also help foreigners wanting to know more about the situation, says Thawatchai Saengthamchai, one of the series’ creators.

He says there is a flood of information with academics saying this, the media saying that, the government saying another thing and people on the street saying something completely different. He says the air is full of confused voices without anything to organize the information.

To illustrate⁹ the magnitude of the crisis, RooSuFlood depicts¹⁰ Bangkok’s encroaching flood waters as 50 million blue whales.

The animated series shows the whales trying to make their way out to sea through Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River and crisscrossing canals only to spill out onto the streets and into people’s homes.

Several students and recent graduates sit in front of their computers in a modern, glass-walled gray building.

Volunteer animator Sipparpad Krongraksa was flooded out of his house and, for now, he not only works at the office but also lives here.

He says normally he would be sitting around in his room watching TV, but he feels that there are a lot of people who are in trouble and Ru Su Flood allows him to be more useful to society.

As floodwaters slowly spread in to central Bangkok, the series turned to dealing¹¹ with getting flooded and evacuating¹² safely.

Among the tips for leaving your home: pack a life jacket, plug your toilets with sandbags, and carry a large stick if you should be unlucky enough to meet a crocodile while evacuating.

1 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

2 contradictory   

adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立

参考例句：

• The argument is internally contradictory.论据本身自相矛盾。
• What he said was self-contradictory.他讲话前后不符。

3 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

4 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

5 fend   

v.照料（自己），（自己）谋生，挡开，避开

参考例句：

• I've had to fend for myself since I was 14.我从十四岁时起就不得不照料自己。
• He raised his arm up to fend branches from his eyes.他举手将树枝从他眼前挡开。

6 starkly   

adj. 变硬了的,完全的 adv. 完全,实在,简直

参考例句：

• The city of Befast remains starkly divided between Catholics and Protestants. 贝尔法斯特市完全被处在天主教徒和新教徒的纷争之中。
• The black rocks stood out starkly against the sky. 那些黑色的岩石在天空衬托下十分显眼。

7 scenarios   

n.[意]情节；剧本；事态；脚本

参考例句：

• Further, graphite cores may be safer than non-graphite cores under some accident scenarios. 再者，根据一些事故解说，石墨堆芯可比非石墨堆芯更安全一些。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Again, scenarios should make it clear which modes are acceptable to users in various contexts. 同样，我们可以运用场景剧本来搞清楚在不同情境下哪些模式可被用户接受。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

8 subtitles   

n.说明字幕，印在外国影片上的对白翻译字幕，译文对白字幕；小标题，副标题( subtitle的名词复数 )；（电影的）字幕

参考例句：

• subtitles for the deaf and the hard of hearing 为耳聋和听力不佳者打出的字幕
• a Polish film with English subtitles 附有英语字幕的波兰影片

9 illustrate   

v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图

参考例句：

• The company's bank statements illustrate its success.这家公司的银行报表说明了它的成功。
• This diagram will illustrate what I mean.这个图表可说明我的意思。

10 depicts   

描绘，描画( depict的第三人称单数 )； 描述

参考例句：

• The book vividly depicts French society of the 1930s. 这本书生动地描绘了20 世纪30 年代的法国社会。
• He depicts the sordid and vulgar sides of life exclusively. 他只描写人生肮脏和庸俗的一面。

11 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

12 evacuating   

撤离，疏散( evacuate的现在分词 )； 排空（胃肠），排泄（粪便）； （从危险的地方）撤出，搬出，撤空

参考例句：

• The solution is degassed by alternately freezing, evacuating and thawing. 通过交替的冻结、抽空和溶化来使溶液除气。
• Are we evacuating these potential targets? 能够在这些目标地域内进行疏散吗？