voa标准英语2008-US Boosts Aid to Fight Zimbabwe Cholera Epidemic

The Bush administration says it is more than doubling emergency U.S. aid to Zimbabwe to combat a cholera¹ epidemic² it blames on the government of President Robert Mugabe. U.S. officials are trying to increase international pressure on Mr. Mugabe to step aside.
　

A woman suspected to be suffering from cholera, is transported in a wheelbarrow to a clinic for treatment, in Harare, 11 Dec 2008

The Bush administration is coupling its announcement of more aid to Zimbabwe with an escalation³ of its criticism of Mr. Mugabe, who it accuses of transforming Zimbabwe into a failed state.

At a State Department news conference, the administrator⁴ of the U.S. Agency for International Development, Henrietta Fore⁵, said the United States is committing another $6.2 million in emergency aid to battle the cholera outbreak, on top of $4.6 million already provided.

Fore said the cholera epidemic cannot be separated from the economic crisis in Zimbabwe stemming from years of misrule by Mr. Mugabe and the political stalemate stemming from this year's disputed elections.

"Over the years, Zimbabwe's health system has deteriorated⁶, and infrastructure⁸ has collapsed⁹. Poor water and sanitation¹⁰ systems, coupled with increasingly-inaccessible health and other services have caused the cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe. This outbreak is a breakdown¹¹ of Zimbabwe's government services, pure and simple," she said.

The aid official said the new aid will focus on water, sanitation and hygiene¹² programs and supplies, and that a team of U.S. disaster relief experts has been sent to Zimbabwe to coordinate¹³ the delivery of the assistance and assess further needs.

Fore was joined at the press event by U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe James McGee, who is in Washington to receive a State Department Human Rights Week award for rights advocacy in Zimbabwe.

McGee said the Zimbabwean president and cronies, who have rebuffed international calls for power-sharing with the opposition¹⁴, are holding Zimbabwe hostage and said the once-prosperous country is rapidly deteriorating¹⁵ into what he termed failed state status.
　

U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe James McGee (file)

The outspoken¹⁶ U.S. envoy¹⁷ said he believes calls by President Bush, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, French President Nikolas Sarkozy and other world leaders for Mr. Mugabe to step down are beginning to have tangible¹⁸ effects, despite his defiant¹⁹ stance.

"They have all said in the last week that it is time for Mugabe to go, and I think that what we are seeing right now with this continued man-made humanitarian²⁰ crisis is that they are absolutely correct. It is time for Mugabe to go. He has outlived his usefulness in Zimbabwe," Mr. McGee said.

Ambassador McGee said human rights in Zimbabwe continue to deteriorate⁷ in tandem²¹ with health conditions, and listed the cases of more than 20 opposition activists²² who have disappeared - apparently²³ abducted²⁴ by government agents - in recent weeks.

But the Mugabe government was not accused of trying to impede²⁵ the work of U.S. and other relief workers dealing²⁶ with the cholera outbreak. USAID administrator Fore says beleaguered²⁷ Zimbabwean health officials are working as partners.

Despite its sharp political differences with the Mugabe government, the Bush administration has continued humanitarian aid to Zimbabwe, which during the past year exceeds $250 million.

1 cholera   

n.霍乱

参考例句：

• The cholera outbreak has been contained.霍乱的发生已被控制住了。
• Cholera spread like wildfire through the camps.霍乱在营地里迅速传播。

2 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

3 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句

4 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

5 fore   

adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部

参考例句：

• Your seat is in the fore part of the aircraft.你的座位在飞机的前部。
• I have the gift of fore knowledge.我能够未卜先知。

6 deteriorated   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her health deteriorated rapidly, and she died shortly afterwards. 她的健康状况急剧恶化，不久便去世了。
• His condition steadily deteriorated. 他的病情恶化，日甚一日。

7 deteriorate   

v.变坏；恶化；退化

参考例句：

• Do you think relations between China and Japan will continue to deteriorate?你认为中日关系会继续恶化吗？
• He held that this would only cause the situation to deteriorate further.他认为，这只会使局势更加恶化。

8 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

9 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

10 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。

11 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

12 hygiene   

n.健康法，卫生学 （a.hygienic）

参考例句：

• Their course of study includes elementary hygiene and medical theory.他们的课程包括基础卫生学和医疗知识。
• He's going to give us a lecture on public hygiene.他要给我们作关于公共卫生方面的报告。

13 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

14 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

15 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。

16 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

17 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

18 tangible   

adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的

参考例句：

• The policy has not yet brought any tangible benefits.这项政策还没有带来任何实质性的好处。
• There is no tangible proof.没有确凿的证据。

19 defiant   

adj.无礼的，挑战的

参考例句：

• With a last defiant gesture,they sang a revolutionary song as they were led away to prison.他们被带走投入监狱时，仍以最后的反抗姿态唱起了一支革命歌曲。
• He assumed a defiant attitude toward his employer.他对雇主采取挑衅的态度。

20 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

21 tandem   

n.同时发生；配合；adv.一个跟着一个地；纵排地；adj.（两匹马）前后纵列的

参考例句：

• Malcolm's contract will run in tandem with his existing one.马尔科姆的合同将与他手头的合同同时生效。
• He is working in tandem with officials of the Serious Fraud Office.他正配合欺诈重案办公室的官员工作。

22 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

24 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

25 impede   

v.妨碍，阻碍，阻止

参考例句：

• One shouldn't impede other's progress.一个人不应该妨碍他人进步。
• The muddy roads impede our journey.我们的旅游被泥泞的道路阻挠了。

26 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

27 beleaguered   

adj.受到围困[围攻]的；包围的v.围攻( beleaguer的过去式和过去分词)；困扰；骚扰

参考例句：

• The beleaguered party leader was forced to resign. 那位饱受指责的政党领导人被迫辞职。
• We are beleaguered by problems. 我们被许多困难所困扰。 来自《简明英汉词典》