2007年VOA标准英语-UNICEF: Children Most Affected by Cyclone Favio

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
24 February 2007

The U.N. Children's Fund says children account for half of the estimated 120,000 people made homeless by severe flooding in central Mozambique and a subsequent cyclone¹. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva.

salvage2 goods from a department store in the Mozambique coastal3 town of Vilankulo Saturday Feb. 24, 2007" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070522/1354480.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

Residents salvage goods from a department store in the Mozambique coastal town of Vilankulo, 24 Feb 2007

Cyclone Favio is the second disaster to hit central Mozambique in less than a month, after devastating⁴ flooding.

Initial reports indicate that strong wind seriously damaged crucial public facilities.  The U.N. Children's Fund says the wind blew away the roof of several hospitals and schools in the town of Vilankulos, which was first hit by the cyclone on the mainland.

UNICEF spokesman Damien Personnaz says children are always the most vulnerable in situations of distress⁵.

"When you have these kinds of emergencies and heavy flooding, it means that the food distribution is totally disrupted.  It means that the living conditions are not good at all," he said.  "It means that they are to be gathered in emergency shelters, where it is a pretty crowded situation.  The lack of clean water and the lack of proper sanitation⁶ will, without any doubt, weaken their already weak body." 

Personnaz says children are particularly vulnerable to diseases and malnutrition⁷.  He says illnesses already have broken out in the overcrowded temporary shelters.  The most common are diarrhea, malaria⁸ and conjunctivitis. 

The areas affected⁹ by the floods also are hardest hit by the AIDS pandemic.  UNICEF says people who are weakened by this disease are less able to cope with the blow of a natural disaster.

Personnaz says UNICEF has sent three teams into the area to assess the situation.

"The assessment¹⁰ teams actually are not only assessing the needs, but also providing very much needed relief supplies," he added.  "We know already what kind of supplies we need.  What we do not really know yet is the scale and the scope of the emergency." 

UNICEF is appealing for $5 million to deal with the crisis, which it expects will continue for at least six months.  It says main needs include safe water, health supplies and basic medicines for women and children.  It says it needs to provide good sanitary¹¹ facilities to head off disease epidemics¹².

1 cyclone   

n.旋风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• An exceptionally violent cyclone hit the town last night.昨晚异常猛烈的旋风吹袭了那个小镇。
• The cyclone brought misery to thousands of people.旋风给成千上万的人带来苦难。

2 salvage   

v.救助，营救，援救；n.救助，营救

参考例句：

• All attempts to salvage the wrecked ship failed.抢救失事船只的一切努力都失败了。
• The salvage was piled upon the pier.抢救出的财产被堆放在码头上。

3 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。

4 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

5 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

6 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

7 malnutrition   

n.营养不良

参考例句：

• In Africa, there are a lot of children suffering from severe malnutrition.在非洲有大批严重营养不良的孩子。
• It is a classic case of malnutrition. 这是营养不良的典型病例。

8 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

9 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。

10 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

11 sanitary   

adj.卫生方面的，卫生的，清洁的，卫生的

参考例句：

• It's not sanitary to let flies come near food.让苍蝇接近食物是不卫生的。
• The sanitary conditions in this restaurant are abominable.这家饭馆的卫生状况糟透了。

12 epidemics   

n．流行病

参考例句：

• Reliance upon natural epidemics may be both time-consuming and misleading. 依靠天然的流行既浪费时间，又会引入歧途。
• The antibiotic epidemics usually start stop when the summer rainy season begins. 传染病通常会在夏天的雨季停止传播。