VOA标准英语2010年-Sarkozy Promises $400 Million More in

France's President Nicolas Sarkozy greets an unidentified Red Cross nurse with Haitian earthquake survivors¹ during a visit of the makeshift tents on The Champ de Mars in Port au Prince, 17 Feb 2010

The aid promised by French President Nicolas Sarkozy comes in addition to France's decision to cancel the $77 million debt Haiti owes to France. The $400 million in French aid will include reconstruction² and emergency assistance along with money to help the Haitian government's budget. France will also dispatch experts to help the Haitian government in its recovery efforts over the coming months.

In a speech in the Haitian capital Porte-au-Prince, President Sarkozy said France would support the impoverished³ country, still reeling from January's earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people and left a million homeless.

Mr. Sarkozy said he had come to tell Haiti's people and their leaders that France will remain at their side to help them back on their feet and open a happier page in history. He recalled France's colonial history with Haiti and the scars it left.

The French president also held talks with his counterpart Rene Preval, who hosted Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper earlier this week.

A donors⁴ conference for Haiti takes place in New York in March. Experts estimate the cost of rebuilding the nation could reach $14 billion.

 

1 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

2 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。

3 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》

4 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》