荷兰应对鞭炮危机

　　Rescue squads and hospital emergency rooms are gearing up1 for the customary New Year's Eve carnage2 caused by the Dutch fascination with fireworks.

　　救援小组与医院的急诊室都严阵以待，准备应付传统除夕当天因为荷兰人大玩爆竹所发生的死伤事件。

　　About 400 victims, mostly teenagers, require treatment each year for eye and hand injuries caused by the approximately 30 million guilders3 (US$18.4 million) worth of fireworks sold between Christmas and New Year's, when the nationwide fireworks sales ban is lifted.

　　每年大约有四百名受害者，大部份是青少年，需要接受眼与手的治疗。他们是被约三干五百万基尔德(一千八百四十万美元)的爆竹所灼伤。这些爆竹是在圣诞节与新年之间卖出，这段时间全国解除爆竹贩卖的禁令。

　　In recent weeks, the Netherlands, with one of Europe's most restrictive fireworks laws, has launched an unusually macabre4 ad campaign warning of fireworks' dangers in the nation's densely populated cities.

　　最近几个月以来，荷兰这个拥有全欧最严格的爆竹法之一的国家，在各个媒体刊登恐布广告，警告大众在人口密集的城市里玩爆竹的危险。

　　"Blew up your hand? Get a new one," proclaims5 one poster with a picture of an artificial limb. Another features a glass eye.

　　一张海报上登了一只人工胳膊，上面写着，‘炸坏了手?再找一只新的。’另外一张则是一个玻璃眼。

　　Dutch inner cities sound like war zones as the stroke of midnight approaches on Dec. 31, the only night on which setting off fireworks is legal, except for specially licensed events.

　　当十二月三十一日午夜的钟响起时，荷兰城内像是战场。平常除了一些经过特准的活动之外，只有这一晚放鞭炮是合法的。

　　Most accidents occur among kids trying to set off home-made fireworks or reignite misfired6 rockets and firecrackers, according to Cees Meyer of the Consumer Safety Association.

　　根据消费者安全协会的西梅尔说，大部份的意外事件都是因为孩子玩自制的鞭炮，或是点燃熄了火的冲天炮与鞭炮所引起的。

　　In recent years, the government has banned many kinds of fireworks, including those detonated7 by friction, high explosives and low trajectory8 rockets known as "screaming maids."

　　最近几年，政府禁止了多项鞭炮的贩卖，包括那些由摩擦，炸药，与低弹道冲天炮所引爆的鞭炮。低弹道冲天炮俗称为‘尖叫的少女。’

　　Because of the high injury rate, Amsterdam police have set up a special team to combat illegal fireworks.

　　因为受伤率居高不下，阿姆斯特丹的警察成立了一个特别小组取缔非法爆竹。

　　Fireworks' popularity here originated with the rural Dutch custom of hailing the new year with exploding milk canisters.

　　烟火在此地之所以风行源自荷兰乡村的习俗。他们以炸牛奶罐庆祝新年。

　　Dealer Broekhoff said the government safety campaigns have brought a shift from noisy fireworks with a high blast force to the more expensive rocket- type pyrotechnics?

　　业者柏克郝夫说由于政府大力宣导安全的观念，市面上较具爆炸力，且较吵杂的爆竹渐为较贵，属冲天炮的烟火所取代。(美联社十二月十三日阿姆斯特丹)

　　VOCABULARY

　　1. gear up 武装准备

　　2. carnage n. 大屠杀

　　3. guilder n. 荷兰币基尔德

　　4. macabre a. 可怕的

　　5. proclaim v. 宣布；公告

　　6. misfire v. 不着火

　　7. detonate v. 使…爆炸

　　8. trajectory n. 弹道

　　9. pyrotechnics n. 放烟火