One afternoon, your computer shut off all of a sudden. It was caused by a blackout. Without electricity, people couldn’t work, cook or watch TV. The traffic lights on the streets also stopped working.
一天下午，你的电脑突然关机了，原因是停电。没有电，人们无法工作、做饭或看电视。街道上的交通灯也无法工作。
Blackouts can happen at any time . It’s important to be prepared for a blackout. Here are a few tips for you.
停电随时都可能发生。为停电做好准备很重要。这里有一些提示给你。
Keep a flashlight in every room of your home. Sure, your mobile phone has a flashlight. However, if a blackout lasts for several hours, you might want to save that phone charge for other tasks.
在家里的每个房间都放一个手电筒。当然，你的手机有手电筒。但是，如果停电持续几个小时，你可能希望将这笔节省手机电量用于其他任务。
Keep some candles and matches. But please be careful while using them. You can never be too careful with fire.
保留一些蜡烛和火柴，但使用时请小心，对火再小心也不为过。
Keep some food that doesn’t require cooking. Canned food would work well here. Also, remember to keep some bottled water at home.
保留一些不需要烹饪的食物，罐头食品在这种情况下很有用。另外，记得在家里放一些瓶装水。
If your family has medicine that needs to be kept cold, make sure you have some ice packs ready. Put them along with the medicine in your fridge. When a blackout hits, only open your fridge when you need the medicine – the cold air inside runs away each time it’s opened.
如果你的家人有需要冷藏的药物，一定要准备一些冰袋。把它们和药放在冰箱里。当停电时，只在需要药物时打开冰箱——每次打开冰箱时，里面的冷空气都会流失。
