How to survive a disaster? Most survivors says that nothing felt, sounded or looked the way they would have expected. Reality was in some ways better, in other ways w【小题1】. They say there are things they wish they had known.
On September 28, 1994, a ship called the Estonia sank, which was the worst sea disaster in modern European h【小题2】. Kent was then a 29-year-old passenger. He was hanging out in the bar with some other passengers that night. Suddenly, the ship list to 30º, hurling passengers across its passageways. Kent began to act at once. “I started to react very differently from normal. I started to say, ‘Oh, the boat is sinking.’ ”Like many survivors, Kent experienced a state in which the brain focuses on the individual experience, “I just say my small world.”
But as Kent made his way into the corridor, he noticed something strange. Not just one or two passengers, but entire groups seemed unable to m【小题3】. They were conscious (有意识的), but they were not reacting.
In the case of the Estonia and other diseases, the freezing response may have been a natural and horrible m【小题4】. Under extreme stress, our brains search for a proper survival response and sometimes choose the wrong one. But the more encouraging point is that the brain is plastic. It can be trained to respond more properly. If we can r【小题5】 our own fear even a little bit, we might be able to do better.
Fire drills, particularly if they are unexpected, can dramatically reduce fear. Knowing where the stairs are in a building can give your brain an a【小题6】. Safety drills give our brains blueprints in the unlikely event that we need them. We can also help each other do better. Many flight attendants are now rained to scream at passengers in burning planes, “Get out! Go!” People r【小题7】 well to leadership in a disaster, and then they can do remarkable things.