There are some Britons who are taking the doomsday prophecy more seriously than most. |
The Mayan calendar predicts that the end of the world is less than a month away - but there are some Britons who are taking the doomsday prophecy more seriously than most. They have built emergency store cupboards filled with food with a long shelf life, are stock piling petrol, weapons, and even condoms, have secret remote hideaways, getaway trailers ready to escape in 15 minutes, nuclear and chemical weapon suits and even an inflatable canoe. One 'prepper', Edward O'Toole, has already abandoned ship and is living 'off grid' in Slovakia. Retired soldier Michael Sanderson lives with his wife and two young daughters in Hertfordshire but has a trailer ready for them to escape to a secret Welsh hideaway at 15 minutes' notice. Mr Sanderson, who served in the Falklands and Northern Ireland, said: 'I’m preparing for a natural disaster. 'Bad things do happen, people’s homes do get burned down, there are floods, there are catastrophic events that affect people completely. 'If you go too late, you’re dead. People say to me "why are you a prepper?" And I’m always baffled by it, because what I say to people is, I don’t understand why you’re not. Mr Sanderson was prompted into action watching Hurricane Katrina unfolding on the news - one of the deadliest storms to hit the States which devastated New Orleans. Mr Sanderson said: 'My mum’s 85 years old, you know, I’ve got young children, how do I get the family out? So they didn’t leave, the stayed. And – they expected, they expected somebody to come and save them. And nobody did. American ex-pat, Annie Durbin, who lives in east London, is a new recruit and believes she is one of the only woman preppers. She has put together a 'survival kit' including her favourite 'commando knife' which makes her 'feel tough' and can be made into a spear. 'I’ve got lots of condoms, and various lubes and things, because even in times of hardship, people have sex. (Read by Emily Cheng. Emily Cheng is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
距離瑪雅立法預(yù)言的“世界末日”的到來已不足一個(gè)月,一些英國人在各方面做著“避難”的準(zhǔn)備,比大部分人對末日預(yù)言的態(tài)度都更嚴(yán)肅認(rèn)真。 他們添置了緊急儲物柜,里面裝滿能長期保存的食物,并儲存汽油、武器、甚至避孕套。有的人已找到秘密而偏僻的隱匿處,準(zhǔn)備好在15分鐘內(nèi)可以逃走的拖車、核武器和化學(xué)武器防護(hù)衣、甚至還有可充氣使用的獨(dú)木舟。 “末日準(zhǔn)備者”愛德華-奧圖爾已經(jīng)放棄了用船逃生的想法,在斯洛伐克居住,不使用電力。 退伍兵米歇爾-桑德森和妻子以及兩個(gè)女兒居住在赫特福德郡,但準(zhǔn)備了一輛拖車,用它可以在15分鐘內(nèi)逃到威爾士一處秘密的隱匿處。 桑德森在??颂m和北愛爾蘭服役,他說:“我已經(jīng)準(zhǔn)備好了應(yīng)對自然災(zāi)難?!?/p> “會發(fā)生糟糕的事情,人們的房子會被燒毀,會有洪水來襲,會發(fā)生影響人類的災(zāi)難性事件。 “如果你跑的太晚,就會死亡。人們對我說,為什么你要為世界末日做準(zhǔn)備呢?我也經(jīng)常感到困惑,因?yàn)槲視θ藗冋f,我不明白為什么你們不做準(zhǔn)備?!?/p> 桑德森在電視上看到卡特里娜颶風(fēng)帶來的災(zāi)難之后,開始采取行動??ㄌ乩锬蕊Z風(fēng)席卷了新奧爾良州,是美國遇到的最致命的颶風(fēng)之一。 桑德森說:“我的媽媽已經(jīng)85歲了。我還有年幼的孩子,我怎么能把全家都帶走呢?因此他們沒有離開,留了下來。而且,他們希望有人來救他們,事實(shí)上沒人這樣做?!?/p> 來自美國的外籍人士安妮-德賓居住在倫敦東部,是一名新兵,她相信自己是唯一一個(gè)為世界末日做準(zhǔn)備的女性。 她已經(jīng)收拾好了一個(gè)“生存包”,里面有她最愛的“突擊隊(duì)匕首”,可以讓她“感到強(qiáng)壯”,而且可以拼成一把刺刀。 “我還準(zhǔn)備了一些避孕套,以及各種潤滑油等等,因?yàn)榫退阍诶щy時(shí)期,人們也需要性愛?!?/p> 相關(guān)閱讀 瑪雅考古新發(fā)現(xiàn)推翻“2012世界末日說” (中國日報(bào)網(wǎng)英語點(diǎn)津 Julie 編輯:陳丹妮) |
Vocabulary: shelf life: 保存期限 new recruit: 新兵,新招聘人員 |