VOA常速英语2008年-Failed States Need Outside Aid, Local Leadershi

By Nico Colombant
Monrovia
07 April 2008

Countries overwhelmed by conflict, disaster or poverty pose a serious risk to world stability. Liberia, Afghanistan and Haiti are some of the so-called failed states trying to rebuild after years of conflict. As VOA's Nico Colombant reports from Liberia's capital Monrovia, getting back to normal often involves outside help and strong local leadership.

This market in Monrovia is being renovated¹ so the backbone² of the country's economy, market vendors⁴ in the city, can prosper⁵.

Jenna Sheriff, a vendor³ who sells dried fish, says with a roof over her head and better working conditions, sales are up and she can now feed her family and send her children to school.

Several workers are hard at work renovating⁶ the market, under the supervision⁷ of project manager, Steven Waters.

"Our officials, they traveled to different areas and countries and they saw development," he said. "So they wanted to do the same here. After the reconstruction⁸, people will come from other countries and they will see Liberia has a good market."

Information Minister Laurence Bropleh says he believes good leadership has ended Liberia's status as a failed state.

"Not only is it over. But the sustainability for the long term for our peace process can be assured," he said. "Liberia is quickly becoming a post-conflict success story. I always say to people that Liberians have risen from a valley of despair to a buoyancy of new hope. That hope comes with transformative leadership."

Post-war president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf promised much when she took office in 2006, but it has been slow going.

Government budgets, including salaries for civil servants and expenditures⁹ on schools and infrastructure¹⁰, depend on foreign aid and fundraising on the Internet.

Afghanistan, for example, is also recovering from a difficult period. It is relying on outside aid to restore basic services and schools. Programs backed by the U.S. government helped repair more than 1,500 kilometers of roads.

Democratic U.S. Congressman¹¹ Adam Smith says infrastructure projects make a difference in a country's recovery.

"There are businesses out there that are successful, but a lot of the time, they had to get a road built by the government in order to make sure they had the infrastructure," he said. "They had to get a fiber-optic built. They had to get bridges built. So I think assistance does help these countries become less failed, if you will, and prosperous."

But there are many cases where assistance fails.

In Haiti, another country trying to recover from years of instability, containers of food aid were recently discovered rotting in the nation's ports, held up by bureaucratic¹² delay. There have also been concerns in Haiti that donor¹³ food has undermined the country's food industry, depleting¹⁴ investment over the long-term.

Jane Holl Lute¹⁵, a senior U.N. official involved in peacekeeping activities, says local involvement in allocating¹⁶ aid is crucial.

"We have to remember that it is first and foremost the people again in these communities, in these societies, that should set the pace and the direction and tone of the recovery. It is our job to help," she said. "When we substitute our judgment¹⁷, we tend to go wrong."

Lute says it is important to remember helping¹⁸ a failed state on the road to recovery can be long term, costly¹⁹ and full of obstacles.

1 renovated   

翻新，修复，整修( renovate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He renovated his house. 他翻修了房子。
• The house has been renovated three years earlier. 这所房子三年前就已翻新。

2 backbone   

n.脊骨，脊柱，骨干；刚毅，骨气

参考例句：

• The Chinese people have backbone.中国人民有骨气。
• The backbone is an articulate structure.脊椎骨是一种关节相连的结构。

3 vendor   

n.卖主；小贩

参考例句：

• She looked at the vendor who cheated her the other day with distaste.她厌恶地望着那个前几天曾经欺骗过她的小贩。
• He must inform the vendor immediately.他必须立即通知卖方。

4 vendors   

n.摊贩( vendor的名词复数 )；小贩；（房屋等的）卖主；卖方

参考例句：

• The vendors were gazundered at the last minute. 卖主在最后一刻被要求降低房价。
• At the same time, interface standards also benefIt'software vendors. 同时，界面标准也有利于软件开发商。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

5 prosper   

v.成功，兴隆，昌盛；使成功，使昌隆，繁荣

参考例句：

• With her at the wheel,the company began to prosper.有了她当主管，公司开始兴旺起来。
• It is my earnest wish that this company will continue to prosper.我真诚希望这家公司会继续兴旺发达。

6 renovating   

翻新，修复，整修( renovate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The increased production was largely attained by renovating old orchards and vineyards. 通过更新老果园和葡萄园，使生产大大增加。
• Renovating that house will cost you a pretty penny. 为了整修那所房子，你得花很多钱。

7 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

8 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。

9 expenditures   

n.花费( expenditure的名词复数 )；使用；（尤指金钱的）支出额；（精力、时间、材料等的）耗费

参考例句：

• We have overspent.We'll have to let up our expenditures next month. 我们已经超支了，下个月一定得节约开支。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The pension includes an allowance of fifty pounds for traffic expenditures. 年金中包括50镑交通费补贴。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 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。

11 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

12 bureaucratic   

adj.官僚的，繁文缛节的

参考例句：

• The sweat of labour washed away his bureaucratic airs.劳动的汗水冲掉了他身上的官气。
• In this company you have to go through complex bureaucratic procedures just to get a new pencil.在这个公司里即使是领一支新铅笔，也必须通过繁琐的手续。

13 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。

14 depleting   

使大大的减少，使空虚( deplete的现在分词 )； 耗尽，使枯竭

参考例句：

• Regulations are outlawing certain refrigerants, such as chlorofluorocarbons, which contain ozone-depleting chemicals. 随后出台的政策禁用了部分制冷剂，如破坏臭氧层的氟氯碳化合物。
• Aging, being a series of continual losses, can be keenly depleting. 老龄化，作为一个系列的连续亏损，可以清楚地消耗。

15 lute   

n.琵琶，鲁特琴

参考例句：

• He idly plucked the strings of the lute.他漫不经心地拨弄着鲁特琴的琴弦。
• He knows how to play the Chinese lute.他会弹琵琶。

16 allocating   

分配，分派( allocate的现在分词 )； 把…拨给

参考例句：

• Administrative practice generally follows the judicial model in allocating burdens of proof. 在分配举证责任方面，行政实践通常遵循司法模式。
• A cyclical multiplexing technique, allocating resources in fixed-time slices. 以固定的时间片分配资源的循环复用技术。

17 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

18 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。

19 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。