China allocates funds to fight drought

    BEIJING, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- China's meteorological authority（权威,权利） announced on Monday that it has received 7.5 million yuan from the country's Ministry¹ of Finance to strengthen its efforts in fighting persistent² drought in some regions.
    The fund would be used to support efforts by meteorological departments in Shanxi, Hebei, Anhui, Shandong, and Henan provinces, all major crop-producing regions, to conduct activities for seeding clouds and making artificial rain, according to a statement posted on the National Meteorological (气象学的)Administration website.
    Government data shows that a prolonged drought since last October had affected³ 108.24 million mu (7.22 million hectares) of wheat crops in those provinces, as well as Jiangsu, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces, as of Sunday.
    The statement added that some of the affected regions experienced two rounds of snowfall last week, which were helpful in alleviating⁴ the drought. However, the major wheat-growing provinces of Shandong and Henan recorded no rainfall.
    The country's meteorological authority also predicted no significant rainfall or heavy snowfall for the dry regions over the next three days. (One U.S. dollar equals roughly 6.6 yuan.)(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 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。

2 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。

3 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

4 alleviating   

减轻，缓解，缓和( alleviate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• If it's alleviating pain,who knows what else it's doing? 如果它减轻了疼痛，天知道还影响什么？
• Measuring poverty is not the same as alleviating it, of course. 当然，衡量贫困和减轻贫困是截然不同的。