“末日”预言逼近 英国人储食备避孕套

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.)

双语资讯

(Agencies)

距离玛雅立法预言的“世界末日”的到来已不足一个月，一些英国人在各方面做着“避难”的准备，比大部分人对末日预言的态度都更严肃认真。

他们添置了紧急储物柜，里面装满能长期保存的食物，并储存汽油、武器、甚至避孕套。有的人已找到秘密而偏僻的隐匿处，准备好在15分钟内可以逃走的拖车、核武器和化学武器防护衣、甚至还有可充气使用的独木舟。

“末日准备者”爱德华-奥图尔已经放弃了用船逃生的想法，在斯洛伐克居住，不使用电力。

退伍兵米歇尔-桑德森和妻子以及两个女儿居住在赫特福德郡，但准备了一辆拖车，用它可以在15分钟内逃到威尔士一处秘密的隐匿处。

桑德森在福克兰和北爱尔兰服役，他说：“我已经准备好了应对自然灾难。”

“会发生糟糕的事情，人们的房子会被烧毁，会有洪水来袭，会发生影响人类的灾难性事件。

“如果你跑的太晚，就会死亡。人们对我说，为什么你要为世界末日做准备呢？我也经常感到困惑，因为我会对人们说，我不明白为什么你们不做准备。”

桑德森在电视上看到卡特里娜飓风带来的灾难之后，开始采取行动。卡特里娜飓风席卷了新奥尔良州，是美国遇到的最致命的飓风之一。

桑德森说：“我的妈妈已经85岁了。我还有年幼的孩子，我怎么能把全家都带走呢？因此他们没有离开，留了下来。而且，他们希望有人来救他们，事实上没人这样做。”

来自美国的外籍人士安妮-德宾居住在伦敦东部，是一名新兵，她相信自己是唯一一个为世界末日做准备的女性。

她已经收拾好了一个“生存包”，里面有她最爱的“突击队匕首”，可以让她“感到强壮”，而且可以拼成一把刺刀。

“我还准备了一些避孕套，以及各种润滑油等等，因为就算在困难时期，人们也需要性爱。”

Vocabulary:

shelf life: 保存期限

new recruit: 新兵，新招聘人员