新奇事件簿 干旱侵袭埃塞俄比亚

International charities have issued a stark¹ warning about a looming² humanitarian³ catastrophe⁴ in Ethiopia. The North African country has been hit by its worst drought for 50 years. It is widely expected that emergency food aid for 10 million Ethiopians will run out unless more funds can be found. John Graham, the head of the charity Save the Children in Ethiopia, said: "The international community has just three weeks to provide $245 million in emergency food aid to help prevent a potentially catastrophic escalation⁵ in severe malnutrition⁶ cases." He added that: "If these emergency funds do not arrive in time, there is no question that there will be a critical fracture in the food aid supply pipeline⁷."

埃塞俄比亚“人道主义危机”日益严重，国际各慈善组织发出强烈警告。非洲北部地区遭受50年来最严重干旱。人们普遍认为若无资金援助，一千万埃民的紧急食物资助恐将耗尽。救助儿童组织主任约翰·格雷厄姆认为：“为了防止营养不良事件一发不可收拾，价值2.45亿美元的食物援助时间还有三周。”他还表示：“若救援资金不能及时到位，食物援助链就将断裂，这毫无疑问。”

Ethiopia is Africa’s second most populous⁸ country. It is no stranger to natural disasters of this kind. Famine killed over one million Ethiopians in 1984. The latest drought was brought on by the El Nino weather phenomenon, which has caused drought and flooding across much of Africa. Ethiopia is one of the countries hardest hit. Charities say that over 400,000 Ethiopian children under the age of five will suffer from severe malnutrition this year. In addition, 1.7 million under-fives, pregnant women and breast-feeding mothers will need treatment for malnutrition. Mr Graham warned that, "the window for action is rapidly closing" as it can take four months to buy food aid and transport it into the landlocked country.

埃塞俄比亚是非洲第二大人口大国。像干旱等自然灾害屡见不鲜。1984年，饥荒致一百多万人死亡。近期发生的干旱灾害因厄尔尼诺现象发起，非洲大部分地区遭干旱洪水肆虐。埃塞俄比亚灾情最为严重。据慈善组织表示，因严重营养不良，5岁以下受影响儿童人数今年将达40万人。此外，1700万5岁以下儿童，怀孕妇女以及哺乳期妇女因营养不良需要救治。格雷厄姆警告称，就采购食品物资，向内陆国家转移灾民的时间为4个月，我们的时间不多了。

1 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

2 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望

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 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

5 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

6 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。

7 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

8 populous   

adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的

参考例句：

• London is the most populous area of Britain.伦敦是英国人口最稠密的地区。
• China is the most populous developing country in the world.中国是世界上人口最多的发展中国家。