VOA常速英语2013--援助叙利亚的组织面对艰巨挑战

 

Aid Groups Face Daunting¹ Task Helping² Syrians 援助叙利亚的组织面对艰巨挑战

Aid organizations are facing increasing challenges as the humanitarian³ crisis in Syria worsens and millions of Syrians face hunger, disease and winter weather.

叙利亚人道主义危机恶化，数以百万计的叙利亚人遭受饥饿、疾病和冬天恶劣气候的威胁，援助组织面临与日俱增的挑战。请看美国之音记者比尔在华盛顿的报道。

Many Syrians continue to flee their country and the fierce fighting of its civil war.

大量叙利亚人继续逃离他们的国家和激烈的内战。

Many hold their children. Others bring only the belongings⁴ they can carry on their backs.

有许多人抱着自己的孩子。其他人只带了他们能背在身上的东西。

Refugees like Muteea Talaa are desperate.

穆提亚·塔拉和其他难民们感到绝望。

"God helped me to reach this point. We were crying because of hunger, my grandsons were crying because there was no food, we suffered a lot and my disabled son has suffered a lot," said Talaa.

她说：“神助我走到这一步。我们哭，因为肚子饿，我的孙子哭，因为他们没有东西吃，我们受了很多苦，我的残疾儿子受了很多痛苦。”

Now, rebels say the government is dropping barrel bombs on heavily populated cities like Aleppo.

现在，反政府武装说，政府在阿勒颇等人口密集的城市投掷桶装炸弹。

The indiscriminate bombing is forcing more and more civilians⁵ to flee their homes, many ending up in makeshift camps in need of assistance.

这种狂轰滥炸迫使越来越多的平民逃离家园，许多人最后住进临时搭建的帐篷，急需外界援助。

Adnan Abdulrahman is one of them.

阿德南·阿卜杜拉曼是其中之一。

"I hope that we receive help to get toilet facilities, bathrooms, water. We don't have electricity either," said Abdulrahman.

他说：“我希望能有一些卫生设备、洗澡间和水。我们也没有电。”

One third of Syria’s pre-war population of 23 million has been displaced, with 2.3 million now refugees in other countries.

叙利亚战前的2千3百万人口已有3分之一流离失所，230万难民逃到其他国家。

Nancy Lindborg is in charge of humanitarian assistance at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

南希·林德伯格是美国国际开发署人道主义援助项目负责人。

“The Syria crisis is probably one of the most complicated and most difficult and certainly the largest that we are facing globally," said Lindborg.

她说：“叙利亚危机可能是我们在全球所面对的危机中，最复杂、最困难和最大的一个。”

The United Nations estimates that more than nine million people in Syria need humanitarian aid.

联合国估计，叙利亚有超过900万人需要人道主义援助。

The U.S. is the largest aid donor⁶. But because of intense fighting in and around some key cities, supplies cannot be delivered.

美国是最大的援助国。不过由于一些主要城市和周围的战斗激烈，物资无法送达那些地方。

Again, Nancy Lindborg: “There are about 250,000 people who are in cities that are under siege by the Syrian regime, and we cannot reach them with food, with winter supplies or with medical help," she said.

南希·林德伯格说：“大约有25万人住在遭叙利亚政权围困的城市里，我们没有办法将粮食、越冬物资或医疗协助送到他们那里。”

And now the weather has become an enemy. The first winter storm in the region pushed temperatures below zero.

现在，天气已成为一个敌人。这个地区的第一场冬季风暴使气温降到冰点以下。

Thousands of Syrians will spend the winter in tents, often with only a plastic sheet covering the ground.

成千上万叙利亚人将在帐篷里度过冬天，他们经常只有一张塑料片铺在地上。

Um Abdullha Najia and her family have been living in a small tent for months.

厄姆·那贾和她的家人已经在这个小帐篷里住了几个月。

"As you can see, seven people are living in this small tent. It is our kitchen, our bathroom, our showers, our living room, everything is inside this tent. But the situation is worse outside," said Najia.

她说：“你可以看到，有7个人住在这个小帐篷里。它是我们的厨房、厕所，洗澡间和客厅，所有东西都在这个帐篷里面。不过外面的情况更糟。”

And now, health officials are concerned about an outbreak of polio in Syria. They say a vaccination⁷ campaign is being hampered⁸ by the war.

现在卫生官员担心，叙利亚可能爆发小儿麻痹症。他们说，一个接种疫苗的运动正受到战争的妨碍。

Officials say the paralyzing disease underscores the type of humanitarian threats that emerge in conflict zones and there is fear it could become an epidemic⁹.

官员说，这个使人瘫痪的疾病凸显了冲突地区出现的人道主义威胁，人们担心小儿麻痹症可能蔓延开来。

“We are seeing development gains inside Syria being rolled back by 35 years, including the reemergence of these kinds of diseases," said Lindborg.

美国国际开发署的林德伯格说：“我们现在看到的是叙利亚国内的进步发展被倒退35年，包括这种疾病的再度出现。”

Lindborg says the humanitarian crisis in Syria and neighboring countries is getting worse with the onset¹⁰ of winter.

她说，随着冬天的来临，叙利亚和邻近国家的人道主义危机正在不断恶化。

1 daunting   

adj.使人畏缩的

参考例句：

• They were faced with the daunting task of restoring the house.他们面临着修复房子的艰巨任务。
• Starting a new job can be a daunting prospect.开始一项新工作有时会让人望而却步。

2 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

3 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。

4 belongings   

n.私人物品，私人财物

参考例句：

• I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
• Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。

5 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

6 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

7 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

8 hampered   

妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions. 恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• So thought every harassed, hampered, respectable boy in St. Petersburg. 圣彼德堡镇的那些受折磨、受拘束的体面孩子们个个都是这么想的。

9 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。

10 onset   

n.进攻，袭击，开始，突然开始

参考例句：

• The drug must be taken from the onset of the infection.这种药必须在感染的最初期就开始服用。
• Our troops withstood the onset of the enemy.我们的部队抵挡住了敌人的进攻。