VOA标准英语10月-UN Says N. Korea Food Shortage Dire

Pyongyang-based senior U.N. officials are visiting the South Korean capital, to report on North Korea's ongoing¹ food shortage. They say international food donations are up, and Pyongyang officials are being cooperative. But, as VOA Seoul Correspondent Kurt Achin reports, millions of North Koreans still risk serious malnutrition² as they await a questionable³ harvest.

Pyongyang-based program directors of major U.N. relief agencies painted a mixed picture of North Korea's ongoing food shortage but maintained the situation remains⁴ very serious.
　

Jean-Pierre de Margerie delivers a speech during a conference in Seoul, South Korea, 23 Oct 2008

World Food Program country director in the North Korean capital, Jean-Pierre de Margerie, says rising world prices for rice and basic grains, compounded with flooding last year, put many at risk in North Korea - or, as it is known, the DPRK.

"Most of the regions in the DPRK have been sliding downwards⁵ towards acute food and livelihood⁶ crisis," he said. "And some areas - those most affected⁷ by the crisis - are sliding to level four, which is a level of humanitarian⁸ emergency."

About a million North Koreans are believed to have died from hunger-related causes in the mid⁹ 1990s during a famine brought about by North Korea's self-imposed isolation¹⁰ and economic mismanagement. Periodic flooding takes a much worse toll¹¹ on farmland in the North than in South Korea, because rainwater flows faster down mountains stripped bare by impoverished¹² North Koreans.

De Margerie says unusually heavy floods last year, and the severe shortages that followed, appear to have made North Korea more cooperative with the United Nations.

He says the WFP has expanded its North Korea operations fivefold. North Korea has allowed 59 WFP staff members into the country this year, including, for the first time, native Korean speakers. He says the organization has a much easier time monitoring food distribution than in previous years.

"We are reaching conditions, which allow us to say that we have random¹³ access in the field, allowing us to increase tremendously our level of confidence in terms of confirming that the food is reaching the intended beneficiary," said de Margerie.

De Margerie says unlike previous years, food shortages are affecting what he calls the North's "cereal belt", farming areas in the country's Southeast.
　

North Korean farmers work the fields near Pyongyang, 22 Oct 2008

U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization North Korea program coordinator¹⁴ John O'Dae says North Korean agriculture is not working near capacity because its equipment and infrastructure¹⁵ are too dilapidated.

"A lot of equipment - tractors, trailers - is quite old," he said. "It is in a state of poor repair. There is a lack of spare parts and tires."

More crucially, O'Dae says North Korea lacks the fuel to run its equipment, and chemical fertilizer to use in its fields. The shortages are adding to worries the North will have a poor harvest this Fall.

South Korea has not provided any direct food or fertilizer aid to the North this year due to a chill in inter-Korean relations. The U.N. aid directors are scheduled to meet with South Korean officials this week.

1 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

2 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。

3 questionable   

adj.可疑的，有问题的

参考例句：

• There are still a few questionable points in the case.这个案件还有几个疑点。
• Your argument is based on a set of questionable assumptions.你的论证建立在一套有问题的假设上。

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 downwards   

adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地）

参考例句：

• He lay face downwards on his bed.他脸向下伏在床上。
• As the river flows downwards,it widens.这条河愈到下游愈宽。

6 livelihood   

n.生计，谋生之道

参考例句：

• Appropriate arrangements will be made for their work and livelihood.他们的工作和生活会得到妥善安排。
• My father gained a bare livelihood of family by his own hands.父亲靠自己的双手勉强维持家计。

7 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

8 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。

9 mid   

adj.中央的，中间的

参考例句：

• Our mid-term exam is pending.我们就要期中考试了。
• He switched over to teaching in mid-career.他在而立之年转入教学工作。

10 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

11 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

12 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

14 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？

15 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。