VOA标准英语2009年-Caterpillar Plague Spreading to Guinea

At least 500,000 Liberians are affected¹ by a plague of caterpillars² that is destroying crops, polluting drinking water and spreading to neighboring Guinea.
　
Aryworm

At least 100 villages are affected in Liberia's richest agricultural region near the borders with Guinea and Sierra Leone.

The black, hairy caterpillars - also know as "army worms" - are overrunning homes and polluting wells and streams with feces.

"The caterpillars are enormous. They are uncontrollable," says resident Sando Kollie, who fled the infestation³ with his family. He says the caterpillars drove his children and their teachers from their classroom.

"The caterpillars took over the schools in the community. There is no way for the children to go to school. All the community is surrounded by caterpillars. And even the water, the well we go to drink to draw our drinking water, the caterpillars have taken over the well. The whole place is surrounded by caterpillars," says Kollie.

The caterpillars began breeding high in the canopies⁴ of forest trees where hand-sprayed pesticides⁵ could not reach. They have descended⁶ to devour⁷ crops including banana, plantain, cocoa, and coffee.

"My little crops that I have at the back of the yard, everything has been eaten up," says farmer Joe Morris.

Morris says he lost not only the small crops in his own yard he used to feed his family, but everything he planted in the field as well.

"All the caterpillars have eaten all of my crops on the farm. And now we are displaced. Right now where we are living, no food to eat, no one to help us," he said.

Like many of those displaced by the infestation, Morris and his family are living in a school building farther south. Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has declared a national emergency and says water and food are being supplied to those displaced.

The swarms⁸ are spreading quickly as one female can lay as many as 1,000 eggs a week. Many of the army worms have now dug protective cocoons⁹ underground, beyond the reach of pesticides.

United Nations Food and Agriculture entomologist Winfred Hammond told VOA that they will re-emerge in about ten days as adult moths¹⁰ capable of traveling long distances at night.

"They move in different directions depending on the wind direction and also on the speed of wind. They could go as far as a thousand kilometers from the spot where they were breeding," says Hammond.

The caterpillars have already moved more than 25 kilometers into Guinea, eating crops and displacing farmers in several villages. Sierra Leone has pre-positioned pesticides in areas along the Liberian border. A public education campaign of posters and radio broadcasts is urging civilians¹¹ to notify authorities at the first sighting of the caterpillars, which can grow as long as five centimeters.

1 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。

2 caterpillars   

n.毛虫( caterpillar的名词复数 )；履带

参考例句：

• Caterpillars eat the young leaves of this plant. 毛毛虫吃这种植物的嫩叶。
• Caterpillars change into butterflies or moths. 毛虫能变成蝴蝶或蛾子。 来自辞典例句

3 infestation   

n.侵扰，蔓延

参考例句：

• The premises were treated for cockroach infestation.因蟑螂成灾，这些房屋集中进行了灭蟑活动。
• Parts of California are suffering from an infestation of oriental fruit flies.加利福尼亚的部分地区正遭受东方果蝇的大肆侵袭。

4 canopies   

（宝座或床等上面的）华盖( canopy的名词复数 )； （飞行器上的）座舱罩； 任何悬于上空的覆盖物； 森林中天棚似的树荫

参考例句：

• Golf carts with bright canvas canopies wandered the raingreen fairways. 一场雨后显得愈加葱绿的高尔夫球场草地上，散放着一些带有色彩缤纷的帆布华盖的高尔夫小车。
• Rock permitted seven canopies, cornices floors, decorative glass, Ambilight, momentum magnificent, magnificent. 七檐佛殿背倚山岩，楼层飞檐翘角，殿顶琉璃装饰，流光溢彩，气势恢宏，蔚为壮观。

5 pesticides   

n.杀虫剂( pesticide的名词复数 )；除害药物

参考例句：

• vegetables grown without the use of pesticides 未用杀虫剂种植的蔬菜
• There is a lot of concern over the amount of herbicides and pesticides used in farming. 人们对农业上灭草剂和杀虫剂的用量非常担忧。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

7 devour   

v.吞没；贪婪地注视或谛听，贪读；使着迷

参考例句：

• Larger fish devour the smaller ones.大鱼吃小鱼。
• Beauty is but a flower which wrinkle will devour.美只不过是一朵，终会被皱纹所吞噬。

8 swarms   

蜂群，一大群( swarm的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They came to town in swarms. 他们蜂拥来到城里。
• On June the first there were swarms of children playing in the park. 6月1日那一天，这个公园里有一群群的孩子玩耍。

9 cocoons   

n.茧，蚕茧( cocoon的名词复数 )v.茧，蚕茧( cocoon的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The silkworms have gone into the bushes to spin their cocoons. 蚕上山了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• In two more days the " little darlings" would spin their cocoons. 再得两天，“宝宝”可以上山。 来自汉英文学 - 春蚕

10 moths   

n.蛾( moth的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The moths have eaten holes in my wool coat. 蛀虫将我的羊毛衫蛀蚀了几个小洞。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The moths tapped and blurred at the window screen. 飞蛾在窗帘上跳来跳去，弄上了许多污点。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

11 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。