日本人如何为核战争做准备？

朝鲜一次又一次的核试验不断挑动着各国的神经，与朝鲜隔海相望的日本自然无法放松警惕。一些谨慎的日本民众已经开始为可能降临的核爆做了准备。日本官方也给出了具体的建议。日本人是如何为核战争做准备的？他们能给我们什么启发？

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

secretive['siːkrətɪv] adj.秘密的

cupboard['kʌbəd] n.碗橱

fallout ['fɔːlaʊt] n.辐射性微尘，原子尘

duly['djuːli] adv.当然地，适当地

ricochet['rɪkəʃeɪ] vi. 跳

fuss [fʌs] n. 大惊小怪，小题大作

peculiar[pɪ'kjuːliə(r)] adj. 奇怪的，古怪的

How Japan is preparing for a nuclear attack(670 words)

By Gillian Tett

Earlier this month, I travelled to Tokyo, where I caught up with some Japanese friends. As we chatted about global affairs, one of them, Michiyo, revealed that her doctor husband had recently given her anti-radiation pills to carry in her handbag.

The reason? Not the leak of radioactive material that occurred at the Fukushima nuclear plant after it was hit by a tsunami six years ago. Instead, what worries Michiyo’s husband is North Korea.

In recent months, the secretive country has conducted an escalating series of missile tests, including one just last week. This has sparked fears among western intelligence services that Pyongyang could be close to acquiring an inter-continental ballistic missile with the ability to deliver nuclear warheads to places such as Japan, Guam, Hawaii or even California.

There are reports that North Korea has mastered several of the crucial stages for creating an ICBM: the ability to launch and guide a missile, create a nuclear warhead and then miniaturise it. Meanwhile tensions have risen between the unpredictable regime of Kim Jong-un and the (sometimes equally unpredictable) US president Donald Trump, prompting speculation that North Korea might try to direct a missile at a US base in Japan.

The Japanese government has responded by issuing guidelines for what to do in the event of a missile strike. Suggestions include sheltering in an underground shopping arcade, basement, concrete building or, if all else fails, under a table or in a cupboard in the centre of the house, for at least two days, presumably to let any fallout from an attack settle down.

Many Japanese households have duly been stocking up on food, water, batteries, nappies (which might be needed to stand in for toilets, my friends solemnly told me) and those anti-radiation tablets. Company executives have prepared backup offices, financial institutions have spread money in different locations and utility services and schools have conducted drills. Indeed, while I was in Tokyo the trains briefly shut down following one of North Korea’s missile tests.

Nobody has a clue whether Pyongyang could or would ever dare fire a missile, or whether the Americans possess the ability to intercept it. Foreign policy observers still think an attack is very unlikely. But what is striking about all these preparations in Japan is not that they are occurring but that so few people in the US or Europe know about them.

One of the US’s biggest business groups, for example, polls its members each quarter about how company executives perceive geopolitical risks. Until very recently, a minute proportion of companies considered North Korea to be the most serious threat; instead, the dominant focus for concern was so-called Islamic State.

Yet the pattern is changing. In the most recent survey, compiled this month, North Korea is ranked as the number one threat, above Isis. But most voters still know little about the country, and few realise that American troops in Japan or California might be a target.

A second reason why the preparations are not better known is that the Japanese public are themselves notably stoic. If the White House had told voters to buy supplies for a possible missile attack, the news would have ricocheted around the world. But most Japanese have simply acquired supplies as suggested and got on with their lives with a minimum of fuss.

That might seem peculiar to Americans. But Japanese people have lived with the knowledge that North Korea could fire a missile towards them for many years. And, of course, they have also weathered earthquakes. Confronting a possible missile threat looks scary but it’s not necessarily any more frightening than the knowledge that more than 33,000 people are killed by gunfire each year in the US. Cultural perceptions of danger vary.

But the next time I see Trump talk or tweet about North Korea, I will think about my friend’s anti-radiation pills. The fact that she is now carrying them in her wallet is a tragic sign of how peculiar the world has become. I just hope that she will never even have to think about using them.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Why does the author's friend Michiyo carrying anti-radiation pills in her handbag?

A. To protect her from radioactive material that occurred at the Fukushima nuclear plant.

B. To protect her from radioactive material that occurred during North Korean missile tests.

C. To protect her from radioactive material that could possibly occur in a missile strike.

D. To protect her from radioactive material that could possibly occur in a deadly earthquake.

答案(1)

2.What is the attitude of the Americans towards North Korean threat?

A. Optimistic.

B. Worried.

C. Unconcerned.

D. Ignorant.

答案(2)

3.Japanese are utterly stoic under the threat of missile strike because ____.

A. they have rich experience in grappling with missile strikes and nuclear disasters.

B. they have already acquired supplies as suggested and got ready for a nuclear explosion.

C. they have got accustomed to North Korea's threat and had experience in tackling disaster.

D. they are well informed about what to do in the event of a missile strike.

答案(3)

4.Which of the following statements about North Korea is true?

A. Pyongyang could be close to possess the ability to direct a missile at California.

B. Japan's missile defences are not able to intercept missile from North Korea.

C. It is predicted that North Korea will conduct its first ICBN test in a few months.

D. US military bases in Japan is believed to be the main target of North Korea.

答案(4)

* * *

(1) 答案：C.To protect her from radioactive material that could possibly occur in a missile strike.

解释：我的一位日本朋友Michiyo从她的医生丈夫那里防辐射药片并随身携带在包里。准备这些药片是出于对朝鲜的担忧。

(2) 答案：B.Worried.

解释：不久前，只有一小部分美国公司将朝鲜视作头等威胁，但本月的调查显示，朝鲜超过了ISIS成为最令人担忧的威胁。

(3) 答案：C.they have got accustomed to North Korea's threat and had experience in tackling disaster.

解释：日本人在很多年前就已经知道朝鲜可能会向他们发射核弹，另外，他们也已经经历过了多次大地震。

(4) 答案：A.Pyongyang could be close to possess the ability to direct a missile at California.

解释：朝鲜的一些列核试验引起了西方情报部门的担忧，他们担心平壤方面已经接近具备通过洲际弹道导弹对日本、关岛、夏威夷甚至加利福尼亚等地进行核打击的能力。