There have been several incidents at some events in recent years where people died because of stampedes (踩踏). 【小题1】 Indeed, it’s a frightening situation to be in and circumstances may make it impossible to escape. But there are several strategies that could help you avoid a potentially deadly outcome.

·Don’t panic and conserve your energy

Panicking will not help you free yourself from a developing stampede. Stay calm and focused. 【小题2】 If a stampede occurs, you’ll need all the physical energy you can muster.

·Keep pace with the crowd

If the crowd is moving in one direction, it’s best to go with the flow. 【小题3】 If the group becomes too tightly packed, you could run out of air for choking.

·【小题4】

One potential way to handle the situation is to shield yourself and allow the crowd to move past you. Look for a solid structure to stand behind such as a pillar or a wall, or other places to hide: behind a car or even a lamppost.

·Guard your head

【小题5】 If you can’t, curl up on one side and protect your head. You do not want to be knocked unconscious in this situation.

Just remember to calm down, guard your head, and go with the flow of the crowd until you are able to safely escape.

Melissa Brunning of Perth, Australia, was on a ship in Dugong Bay on Australia’s coast, when four nurse sharks swan close to the back of the ship. Several of Brunning’s partners dropped fish in the water near the sharks, one of which measured almost 2 meters in length. However, when it was Brunning’s turn, she tried to feed the shark directly by hand. As the shark took hold of the food, its jaws closed on her finger, and it pulled her into the water—a terrifying moment that one of her friends caught on video. We can see from the video that Brunning was bending towards the water, food in hand, as a nurse shark swam by. As it came nearer, she put her hand down into the water next to its head and then screamed as the shark bit at her finger and pulled her in. Her friends immediately dived into the water to save her. But after the shark set Brunning‘s finger free, she found that her finger was still attached to her hand, though severely hurt. Because the location where she was on holiday was so distant, she didn’t look for treatment until nearly two weeks later, by which time her finger was badly infected.

The accident was unquestionably annoying, but labeling it a “shark attack” was misleading, as Brunning put her hand into the shark‘s mouth voluntarily; the animal simply reacted as it normally would in the presence of food. At least Brunning admitted her responsibility for the incident. It was entirely her fault and the shark was blameless.

Brunning said her future interactions with marine wildlife would be better informed thanks to her annoying experience, as she wanted to “respect marine life, but just leave them alone”.