VOA标准英语2010年-US Aid to Haiti Tops $450 Million

A US Army soldier gives a hand as women leave an aid distribution site carrying sacks of rice on their heads in Port-au-Prince, 01 Feb 2010

U.S. government agencies have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on rescue and relief efforts in Haiti, which is marking the one month anniversary of the powerful earthquake that shattered the country and killed more than 200,000 people. 

USAID Administrator¹ Raj Shah is the head of the U.S. humanitarian² relief effort for Haiti and he says so far Washington has provided more than $450 million in emergency support since the earthquake devastated³ the county on January 12th.

Despite the effort Shah told reporters in Washington a large number of Haitians are still in critical need of assistance.

"This remains⁴ an urgent humanitarian emergency," he said.

At least one million people were left homeless after the earthquake that leveled the capital Port-au-Prince.

Hundreds of thousands continue to live in tent communities that are the only refuge for people whose homes were destroyed.

Shah says more needs to be done.

"There are areas in shelter, in health, in child protection where our efforts are strong but will continue to get stronger day by day and we are very focused on making sure that every day we are seeing more people and serving more people in critical need," he added.

Shah says significant progress has been made and nearly all people in need have access to food and water at 16 neighborhood distribution points in Port-au-Prince.

Shah says humanitarian and government groups are reaching nearly 200,000 people with two week rations⁵ every day.

The USAID administrator says the U.S. hospital ship Comfort and other disaster medical assistance teams have seen more than 30,000 patients and performed hundreds of surgeries.

In a separate briefing at the State Department, U.S. Ambassador to Haiti Kenneth Merten says the next focus is on the issues of shelter and sanitation⁶.

"We are coming up in the coming weeks onto the rainy season," said Merten.  "We want to do the best we can to make sure we have reached and touched as many people as possible, as many families as possible, with plastic sheeting, which is what we are distributing," he said.

Humanitarian officials say it will take years to rebuild the country.

They say the rebuilding will offer an opportunity to create a working infrastructure⁷ for Haiti that the poorest nation in the Western hemisphere has never had.

 

1 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。

2 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。

3 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 rations   

定量( ration的名词复数 )； 配给量； 正常量； 合理的量

参考例句：

• They are provisioned with seven days' rations. 他们得到了7天的给养。
• The soldiers complained that they were getting short rations. 士兵们抱怨他们得到的配给不够数。

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 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。