VOA标准英语2008年-Lebanon Mine Clearing Program Wins Nansen Refug

The British head of the U.N. Mine Action Program in southern Lebanon, Christopher Clark, and his 990-member team of mine clearers will receive the 2008 Nansen Refugee Award. The U.N. refugee agency says the prize recipients¹ are being honored for their courageous² work in clearing tons of deadly munitions³ leftover⁴ from Israel's war with the Lebanese militant⁵ group Hezbollah in the summer of 2006. Lisa Schlein reports from UNHCR headquarters in Geneva.
　
An unexploded cluster bomb in Lebanon (2006 photo)

The war only lasted five weeks, but it caused incalculable damage. During that period, more than two million explosive bomblets from Israeli cluster munitions were scattered⁶ over southern Lebanon, according to the United Nations.

More than 750,000 Lebanese fled their homes in the south to safer places in the country and another quarter of a million people fled to Syria or further afield.

U.N. refugee spokeswoman Astrid Van Genderen Stort says it is thanks to Christopher Clark and his team of de-miners that these refugees and internally displaced people have been able to return to their land.

"It was very important for UNHCR because we could bring our refugees and internally displaced back in safety and dignity," said Astrid Van Genderen Stort. "Of course it is still something that is going on because clearing a big piece of land, the whole of southern Lebanon of so many bomblets is an incredible job and they are still ongoing⁷ with it. But in the meantime, hundreds of thousands of refugees and internally displaced have been able to return back."

In 2003, the U.N. Mine Action Program in southern Lebanon, headed by Christopher Clark, began clearing landmines⁸, unexploded ordnance⁹ and other remnants of war left over from previous conflicts.

Genderen Stort tells VOA by July 2006, they had cleared most of southern Lebanon.

"And, then suddenly the war broke out and in a period of five weeks all the work that they had done, but, suddenly there were between 2.6 and four million new cluster bomblets, which is a totally different thing from landmines and unexploded ordnance," she said. "They look different. They are very small. They can hang in the trees. They can be hidden in the garden. In Lebanon, I saw a lot of the bomblets in the agricultural fields and tobacco fields and that is, of course. If people can return home, but they cannot work, they are basically blocked."

The Nansen Prize is named after Norwegian explorer, author and Nobel Laureate Fridtjof Nansen, who was the first High Commissioner¹⁰ for Refugees.

 

1 recipients   

adj.接受的；受领的；容纳的；愿意接受的n.收件人；接受者；受领者；接受器

参考例句：

• The recipients of the prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者的姓名登在报上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The recipients of prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者名单登在报上。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

2 courageous   

adj.勇敢的，有胆量的

参考例句：

• We all honour courageous people.我们都尊重勇敢的人。
• He was roused to action by courageous words.豪言壮语促使他奋起行动。

3 munitions   

n.军火，弹药；v.供应…军需品

参考例句：

• The army used precision-guided munitions to blow up enemy targets.军队用精确瞄准的枪炮炸掉敌方目标。
• He rose [made a career for himself] by dealing in munitions.他是靠贩卖军火发迹的。

4 leftover   

n.剩货，残留物，剩饭；adj.残余的

参考例句：

• These narrow roads are a leftover from the days of horse-drawn carriages.这些小道是从马车时代沿用下来的。
• Wonder if that bakery lets us take leftover home.不知道那家糕饼店会不会让我们把卖剩的带回家。

5 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

6 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

7 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。

8 landmines   

潜在的冲突； 地雷，投伞水雷( landmine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The treaty bans the use production and trade of landmines. 该条约规定，禁止使用地雷相关产品及贸易。
• One of the weapon's of special concern was landmines. 在引起人们特别关注的武器中就有地雷。

9 ordnance   

n.大炮，军械

参考例句：

• She worked in an ordnance factory during the war.战争期间她在一家兵工厂工作。
• Shoes and clothing for the army were scarce,ordnance supplies and drugs were scarcer.军队很缺鞋和衣服，武器供应和药品就更少了。

10 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。