Looking after families

As time goes by, memory of the tragic sinking of the Sewol ferry will fade out of the minds of most Koreans. Never so for bereaved family members, whose pain and sorrow could deepen with the passage of time.

The rest of society also should not forget this disaster so soon or easily even after the ongoing search operations come to an end. The whole nation has the responsibility for sharing the surviving families’ sadness and frustration from this tragedy caused by the failure of the entire social system.

Already, however, some “secondary damages” have all but become a reality; a victim’s father attempted suicide by hanging himself, and the mother of another made a similar attempt with an overdose of sleeping pills.

Most, or rather all, of the family members will experience severe cases of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which experts say drive people into failing health, joblessness, divorce _ and suicide.

And this explains why the Park Geun-hye administration, which failed to prevent the worse maritime disaster in decades or

rescue

any after the sinking, must not fail in its efforts to sever a

vicious

circle in which tragedy-caused despair result in yet more tragedies.

The government should waste no more time working out a “manual” for taking care of bereaved families and preventing these secondary damages.

Western experts have pointed to the lack of family support manuals among Asian governments to

cope with

enormous disasters, such as the current maritime catastrophe and the disappearance of a Malaysian airliner. Had the Seoul government acted according to such manuals, it could have sharply reduced the families’ sufferings by providing better services, ranging from more organized briefings to effective counseling services.

So it is good to hear the government will set up a trauma center for the families. The proposed facility will have to serve as a comprehensive agency for looking after bereaved families, providing psychotherapy and helping them financially, because a considerable number of parents may become jobless, whether they want it or not, for quite a long while.

It should also provide psychological support to divers, volunteer workers and government employees who were exposed to the families’ emotional disruptions for weeks.

Most egregious in this regard are some people who add insult to the injury of the bereaved families with cruel, thoughtless words. “These families are flying into tantrums as if they have become something special,” said an adjunct professor of Hongik University. “President Park is not the captain of Sewol, so why do they protest in front of Cheong Wa Dae?”

People are criticizing President Park because she is the captain of a ship called the Republic of Korea, and many behaviors of Park and her government reminds them of the

incompetent

and irresponsible captain and the crew of the ill-fated ferry.

And the unsympathetic, brutal remarks by the professor and others

illustrate

why Korea still remains so “uncivilized” a society, as these self-degrading intellectuals put it.

A society is civilized only as much as it is willing to help and sympathize with its members most in need.

This is The Korea Times editorial for Wednesday, May 14, 2014.

※ 다음에 나오는 문제들은 본 기사에 나오는 중요한 어휘들로 구성된 토익, 토플, 텝스 기출 및 예상 문제입니다.

※ Choose the one word or phrase that best keeps the meaning of the highlighted part or fill in the blank with a suitable one.

1. When Washington, D.C. was burned in 1814, Dolley Madison

rescued

many official papers from the White House.

① stole

② filed

③ hid

④ saved

2. The more pesticides are used, the more resistant the insects become. As a result, more pesticides have to be used. It is a ____________ circle.

① peevish

② ravaged

③ vicious

④ vicarious

3. Marsha found it difficult to

the loss of her job.

① confirm‍

② anticipate

③ think about

④ deal with

4.Many weak and

rulers were overthrown by more powerful forces.

① rotten

② routine

③ incapable

④ greedy

5. In statistics, graphs are used to

interrelationship between variables.

① rate

② list

③ verify

④ represent

[해설 및 정답]

1. [번역] Washington, D.C.가 1814에 불탔을 때, Dolley Madison은 백악관에서 많은 공문서를 구해냈다.

[정답] ④

2. [번역] 더 많은 농약이 사용되면 될수록, 해충들은 더욱 내성이 생기게 된다. 결과적으로, 더 많은 농약이 사용되어야 한다. 이러한 것은 악순환이다.

[어휘] vicious circle 악순환(vicious cycle)

[정답] ③

3. [번역] Marsha는 일자리를 잃어버린 일을 대처하기가 힘들다는 것을 알았다. [

4. [번역] 나약하고 무능한 수많은 통치자들이 보다 강력한 세력에 의해 전복되었다.

5. [번역] 통계학에서, 그래프는 변수들과의 상호관계를 설명하기 위해 사용된다.