Chapter 95

Mr. Tomohiro Okamoto, of the Maritime¹ Department inthe Japanese Ministry² of Transport, now retired³, told methat he and his junior colleague at the time, Mr. AtsuroChiba, were in Long Beach, California – the Americanwestern seaboard's main container port, near L.A. – onunrelated business when they were advised that a lonesurvivor of the Japanese ship Tsimtsum, which had vanishedwithout a trace in Pacific international waters severalmonths before, was reported to have landed near the smalltown of Tomatlán, on the coast of Mexico. They wereinstructed by their department to go down to contact thesurvivor and see if any light could be shed on the fate ofthe ship. They bought a map of Mexico and looked to seewhere Tomatlán was. Unfortunately for them, a fold of themap crossed Baja California over a small coastal⁴ townnamed Tomatlán, printed in small letters. Mr. Okamoto wasconvinced he read Tomaflan. Since it was less thanhalfway down Baja California, he decided⁵ the fastest way toget there would be to drive.
They set off in their rented car. When they got toTomatlán, eight hundred kilometres south of Long Beach,and saw that it was not Tomatlán, Mr. Okamoto decidedthat they would continue to Santa Rosalia, two hundredkilometres further south, and catch the ferry across the Gulfof California to Guaymas. The ferry was late and slow. Andfrom Guaymas it was another thirteen hundred kilometresto Tomatlán. The roads were bad. They had a flat tire.
Their car broke down and the mechanic who fixed⁶ itsurreptitiously cannibalized the motor of parts, putting inused parts instead, for the replacement⁷ of which they hadto pay the rental⁸ company and which resulted in the carbreaking down a second time, on their way back. Thesecond mechanic overcharged them. Mr. Okamoto admittedto me that they were very tired when they arrived at theBenito Juarez Infirmary in Tomatlán, which is not at all inBaja California but a hundred kilometres south of PuertoVallarta, in the state of Jalisco, nearly level with MexicoCity. They had been travelling non-stop for forty-one hours.
"We work hard," Mr. Okamoto wrote.
He and Mr. Chiba spoke⁹ with Piscine Molitor Pate/, inEnglish, for close to three hours, taping the conversation.
What follows are excerpts¹⁰ from the verbatim transcript¹¹. Iam grateful to Mr. Okamoto for having made available tome a copy of the tape and of his final report. For the sakeof clarity I have indicated who is speaking when it is notimmediately apparent. Portions printed in a different fontwere spoken in Japanese, which I had translated.

1 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

2 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

3 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

4 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

7 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

8 rental   

n.租赁，出租，出租业

参考例句：

• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。
• We can organise car rental from Chicago O'Hare Airport.我们可以安排提供从芝加哥奥黑尔机场出发的租车服务。

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 excerpts   

n.摘录，摘要( excerpt的名词复数 )；节选（音乐，电影）片段

参考例句：

• Some excerpts from a Renaissance mass are spatchcocked into Gluck's pallid Don Juan music. 一些文艺复光时期的弥撒的选节被不适当地加入到了格鲁克平淡无味的唐璜音乐中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is editing together excerpts of some of his films. 他正在将自己制作的一些电影的片断进行剪辑合成。 来自辞典例句

11 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。