瓦努阿图撤离全岛居民

 

The Pacific nation of Vanuatu is preparing to permanently¹ evacuate² the entire population of one of its islands.

Thick ash from a volcano kills crops, dirties water, and pollutes the air for the 10,000 people who live on Ambae Island. Some are eager to leave, but others are resisting losing their land and culture.

Most people on Ambae live by farming and fishing. Hundreds of people have already created temporary homes on parts of the island that are not so affected³ by the ash.

Ambae is one of about 65 inhabited islands in Vanuatu, an island country of 280,000 people. The country is on the Pacific Ocean’s “Ring of Fire” -- an area where earthquakes and volcanoes are common.

The people who lived on Ambae Island were temporarily evacuated⁴ last September when the volcano erupted. This time, authorities are planning a permanent move.

Countries including France, New Zealand and Australia provided aid and financial help for the earlier evacuation. On Thursday, Australia announced it was providing 300,000 Australian dollars (about $226,000 US) to help with the island’s permanent evacuation.

Government spokesman Hilaire Bule told The Associated Press that he expects the move to be approved by next week. He said officials still had to organize many details, including providing schools for students and homes for people.

Bule said the population will be offered places on two neighboring islands, Maewo and Pentecost. Many people from Ambae have close family and spiritual ties to the two islands.

Traditional religion says that the three islands are part of a family - Pentecost the mother, Maewo the father and Ambae the son.

When asked if the islanders might be able to move back some day, Bule said that was not a question for him.

He added, “You’ll have to ask the volcano.”

I'm Jonathan Evans.

Words in This Story

evacuate - v. to remove (someone) from a dangerous place

inhabit - v. to live in a place

erupt - v. to send out rock, ash, lava⁵, etc.. from a volcano

1 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

2 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

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 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

5 lava   

n.熔岩，火山岩

参考例句：

• The lava flowed down the sides of the volcano.熔岩沿火山坡面涌流而下。
• His anger spilled out like lava.他的愤怒像火山爆发似的迸发出来。