VOA标准英语2013--Locust Plague Swarms Madagascar

 

Locust¹ Plague Swarms² Madagascar

Madagascar is in the midst of a locust plague and it’s threatening the food security of more than half the population. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, the FAO, says it will take three years to bring the locusts³ under control, but it needs emergency funds to do so.

The word “plague” sounds bad enough. But the FAO says this one is “severe.”

“The situation is a very serious one because it is what we call a plague now. That means most of the locust population are present as groups and bands of hoppers or as swarms of flying adults,” said Annie Monard, an FAO senior officer and coordinator⁴ of the locust response.

The locusts have spread far and wide.

“The infestation⁵ [is] extending now over half of the country and probably soon over two-thirds of the country,” she said.

And they have a voracious⁶ appetite. They eat natural vegetation, including pastureland. That could deal a major blow to cattle herders. And the locusts devour⁷ all types of crops.

Monard said, “Of course there will be a major impact on food security.”

Under normal conditions, locusts are present in the southwestern part of Madagascar only. However, despite warnings from the FAO that their numbers were increasing, not enough was done to prevent the current plague.

“We first alerted on the situation in April 2010 and there were two successive locust control campaigns, which were carried out. But unfortunately without all the funding, which was needed, it was not possible to stop the development of that plague at an early stage,” she said.

Conditions for the locusts got better and better and then received a big boost from Cyclone⁸ Haruna in late February. The FAO says the storm not only damaged crops but created ideal conditions for the locusts to breed.

In the southern regions where the plague started about 70 percent of the households are reported to be food insecure.

The FAO says it needs $22 million dollars in emergency funds to begin a three-year control campaign.

“It is not possible to go back to a quiet situation before three years. It’s necessary to do that progressively because of the development of that plague, because of the extension of that plague,” said Monard.

What’s more, Monard said that the $22 million is needed no later than June. She says time is needed to prepare the first stage of the locust control campaign that would begin in September. The effort would coincide with the beginning of Madagascar’s rainy season. 

1 locust   

n.蝗虫；洋槐，刺槐

参考例句：

• A locust is a kind of destructive insect.蝗虫是一种害虫。
• This illustration shows a vertical section through the locust.本图所示为蝗虫的纵剖面。

2 swarms   

蜂群，一大群( swarm的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They came to town in swarms. 他们蜂拥来到城里。
• On June the first there were swarms of children playing in the park. 6月1日那一天，这个公园里有一群群的孩子玩耍。

3 locusts   

n.蝗虫( locust的名词复数 )；贪吃的人；破坏者；槐树

参考例句：

• a swarm of locusts 一大群蝗虫
• In no time the locusts came down and started eating everything. 很快蝗虫就飞落下来开始吃东西，什么都吃。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

5 infestation   

n.侵扰，蔓延

参考例句：

• The premises were treated for cockroach infestation.因蟑螂成灾，这些房屋集中进行了灭蟑活动。
• Parts of California are suffering from an infestation of oriental fruit flies.加利福尼亚的部分地区正遭受东方果蝇的大肆侵袭。

6 voracious   

adj.狼吞虎咽的，贪婪的

参考例句：

• She's a voracious reader of all kinds of love stories.什么样的爱情故事她都百看不厌。
• Joseph Smith was a voracious book collector.约瑟夫·史密斯是个如饥似渴的藏书家。

7 devour   

v.吞没；贪婪地注视或谛听，贪读；使着迷

参考例句：

• Larger fish devour the smaller ones.大鱼吃小鱼。
• Beauty is but a flower which wrinkle will devour.美只不过是一朵，终会被皱纹所吞噬。

8 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。