尼泊尔地震一周年 重建进行缓慢

AS IT IS 2016-04-28 Nepal Quake: Slowly Rebuilding One Year Later 尼泊尔地震一周年 重建进行缓慢

One year after a deadly earthquake struck Nepal, the prime minister announced the country is rebuilding some of the damaged heritage sites. They include temples, monuments and a UNESCO heritage site.

On April 25, 2015, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake killed 9,000 people and damaged hundreds of historic structures. Nepali officials have said fully¹ rebuilding the country’s architectural heritage and the 600,000 homes destroyed by the quake will take years. But this week Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli announced the government will start.

Monday the prime minister offered prayers at an ancient Buddhist² temple, one of the hundreds of structures damaged by the quake.

Memorial services for those who died were held Sunday. Protesters also demonstrated against the slow speed of the recovery efforts in the South Asian country.

In a White House statement, National Security Council spokesperson Ned Prince expressed condolences for the lives lost in the quake. He also acknowledged that "much of the hard work of rebuilding Nepal still lies ahead."

"We are humbled⁴ by those who risked their lives to save others, including the six United States Marines who perished in Nepal while providing relief to Nepalis in need," he said.

Other nations are also sending money to help the rebuilding efforts.

Monday, the New York-based World Monuments Fund announced donations totaling $1 million for five historic sites.

But, while international donors⁵ have promised $4.1 billion towards Nepal's recovery, only $1.3 billion has reached the country. Critics blame the government for taking months to set up the National Reconstruction⁶ Authority.

The slow movement to rebuild has left many people living in sub-standard temporary shelters. The International Federation⁷ of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies estimates that four million people are still in these temporary homes.

The homeless have been promised about $2,000 in aid. However, only several hundred people have received the first $500 installment⁸.

Mike Bruce is a spokesman for the non-governmental group Plan International. He spoke³ to VOA via Skype from Nepal’s capital of Kathmandu. Bruce said the Nepali government has not been slow to rebuild – it has simply faced challenges in the past year.

Bruce added that homes and heritage sites were not the only things destroyed by the powerful quake. He said over 30,000 classrooms were damaged or destroyed.

Plan International aims to rebuild 20 schools and repair 16,000 of those classrooms. Bruce said the classrooms will be both accessible to those injured in the quake, and better able to withstand any future quakes.

According to reports by VOA's Tibetan Service, Tibetan villages along Nepal's border, which were also destroyed by that same quake, have yet to be rebuilt. Many of an estimated 100,000 displaced Tibetans remain without homes to return to.

Last week, Tibet Radio, a Chinese official Tibetan language news service, said a senior official recently visited the displaced Tibetans. He told them that quake reconstruction is a top priority in 2016.

It is not clear whether the construction will focus on rebuilding damaged homes or simply moving displaced Tibetans into new towns, as Beijing has done before.

Words in This Story

heritage – n. traditions, achievements, buildings, beliefs that are part of a group or nation

architectural – adj. to describe method or style of a building, how it is built

condolences –n. expression of sympathy when someone dies

sub-standard – adj. below what is considered good

installment – n. one in a series of payments until something is paid for

1 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

2 Buddhist   

adj./n.佛教的，佛教徒

参考例句：

• The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。
• In the eye of the Buddhist,every worldly affair is vain.在佛教徒的眼里，人世上一切事情都是空的。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 humbled   

adj. 卑下的，谦逊的，粗陋的 vt. 使 ... 卑下，贬低

参考例句：

• The examination results humbled him. 考试成绩挫了他的傲气。
• I am sure millions of viewers were humbled by this story. 我相信数百万观众看了这个故事后都会感到自己的渺小。

5 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

7 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

8 installment   

n.(instalment)分期付款；(连载的)一期

参考例句：

• I shall soon pay the last installment of my debt.不久我将偿付我的最后一期债款。
• He likes to buy things on the installment plan.他喜欢用分期付款法购买货物。