(单词翻译:单击)
Recording 1
录音一
The negative impacts of natural disasters can be seen everywhere.
自然灾害造成的负面影响随处可见。
In just the past few weeks, the world has witnessed the destructive powers of earthquakes in Indonesia, typhoons in the Philippines, and the destructive sea waves that struck Samoa and neighboring islands.
在刚刚过去的几周内，世界目睹了发生在印度尼西亚的强地震，菲律宾的台风以及袭击萨摩亚和邻近岛屿的毁灭性海浪。
A study by the Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters finds that, between 1980 and 2007, nearly 8,400 natural disasters killed more than two million people.
灾害流行病学研究中心发现在1980年到2007年间，将近8400场自然灾害导致了200万人死亡。
These catastrophic events caused more than $1.5 trillion in economic losses.
这些灾难造成的经济损失超过1万5千亿美元。
U.N. weather expert Geoffrey Love says that is the bad news. "Over the last 50 years, economic losses have increased by a factor of 50.
联合国气象专家杰弗里·洛夫称这是一个坏消息。“在过去的50年里，经济损失增加了50倍”
That sounds pretty terrible, but the loss of life has decreased by a factor of 10 simply because we are getting better at warning people.
这听起来很糟糕，但是死亡人数减少了10倍，只是因为我们的预防工作做得越来越好。
We are making a difference. Extreme events, however, will continue to occur.
我们所做的努力起到了很好的作用。然而，极端事件还会继续发生。
But, the message is that they need not be disasters."
但是，这些极端事件不一定是灾难。”
Love, who is director of Weather and Disaster Risk Reduction at the World Meteorological Organization,
洛夫是世界气象组织气象和减灾中心的主任。
says most of the deaths and economic losses were caused by weather, climate, or water-related extremes.
他说大部分的死亡和经济损失都是由天气、气候或者与水相关的灾害导致的。
These include droughts, floods, windstorms, strong tropical winds and wildfires.
其中包括干旱、洪灾、暴风、强劲的热带季风和大火灾。
He says extreme events will continue.
他说极端事件还会继续发生。
But, he says extreme events become disasters only when people fail to prepare for them.
但是他说只有当人们未能做好应对极端事件的准备工作，极端事件才会演变成灾难。
"Many of the remedies are well-known. From a planning perspective, it is pretty simple.
“很多预防措施是众所周知的。从规划的角度来讲，这其实很简单。
Build better buildings. Don't build where the hazards will destroy them.
建造稳固的建筑物。不要建在容易让灾害毁坏的地方。
From an early-warning perspective, make sure the warnings go right down to the community level. Build community action plans. "
从安全预警的角度来讲，要确保预警能够直接到达社区层面。构建社区行动计划。”
The World Meteorological Organization points to Cuba and Bangladesh as examples of countries that have successfully reduced the loss of life caused by natural disasters by taking preventive action.
世界气象组织以古巴和孟加拉国为例指出这两个国家通过采取预防措施，成功地减少了自然灾害带来的大量人员死亡。
It says tropical storms formerly claimed dozens, if not hundreds of lives, each year, in Cuba.
古巴每年都遭受很多次热带风暴的袭击，导致很多人死亡。
But, the development of an early-warning system has reversed that trend.
但是安全预警系统的发展改变了这一趋势。
In 2008, Cuba was hit by five successive hurricanes, but only seven people were killed.
2008年，古巴遭遇了5次飓风的连续袭击，仅有7人遇难。
Bangladesh also has achieved substantial results.
孟加拉国采取的措施也取得了成效。
Major storm surges in 1970 and 1991 caused the deaths of about 440,000 people.
1970年到1991年间发生的巨大风暴潮导致44万人死亡。
Through careful preparation, the death toll from a super tropical storm in November 2007 was less than 3,500.
经过精心的准备，2007年11月发生的超级热带风暴导致不超过3500人死亡。
Question 16 to 18 are based on the recording you have just heard.
问题16到18是基于刚刚所听到的那段录音。
Question 16. What is the talk mainly about?
问题16：这段录音主要谈论了什么？
Question 17. How can we stop extreme events from turning into disasters?
问题17：我们如何阻止极端事件演变成灾难？
Question 18. What does the example of Cuba serve to show?
问题18：录音列举了古巴的例子是为了说明什么？
译文属可可原创，仅供学习和交流使用，未经允许不得转载
