VOA标准英语2010年-UN: Significant Progress in Providing

The United Nations reports significant progress has been made in providing assistance to hundreds of thousands of quake victims in Haiti.  A senior U.N. official says the relief operation is being scaled up on all levels, with shelter topping the list of priorities.  

The United Nations says things may be improving, but the crisis in earthquake-devastated Haiti is far from over.  U.N. officials report nearly one-half million people have left the capital Port-au-Prince for outlying areas.  They say 90 percent of these people are staying with host families who are in need of assistance.

U.N. Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian¹ Affairs John Holmes calls Haiti a particularly difficult and complicated operation.  He says he understands the frustration² of aid workers who are not able to quickly reach the survivors³ with desperately⁴ needed assistance.

"What I think we can see now is that we are beginning to make really significant progress in doing that, particularly on the food side, but, in some other areas as well," Holmes said. "So, the scaling up is happening significantly now ...  But, we still have a significant way to go before we reach everybody with the aid that they need."  

Holmes says health care for the injured and sick is getting better, although it still is not good.  He notes most life-saving operations have taken place.  But vital drugs are still lacking, and there need to be more surveillance systems to monitor the outbreak of epidemics⁵.

He says most people are receiving water, but sanitation⁶ must be improved and 7,000 latrines must be built in Port-au-Prince.  He says more people are receiving food and the World Food Program aims to reach two million people in the next 10 days.

"The number of people being reached with the basic food they need, rice and ready-to-eat meals where appropriate is scaling up in the way we all want to see," Holmes said. "That is an operation that is being conducted on the basis of coupons⁷ and so it can be more easily targeted than the very quick and dirty distributions, if I call it that way, which were being used in the first couple of weeks.  So, I think there is good progress being made there."  

Holmes says tens of thousands of people will need tents, plastic sheets and tarpaulins⁸ before the rainy and hurricane seasons start in a few months.  He says there are not many tents in Haiti, but 50,000 tents are in the pipeline⁹ and are expected to arrive shortly. 

"I think there was a desire to avoid creating large camps, which have a tendency to become permanent over time rather than temporary," Holmes said. "There is a problem of space for large camps, certainly in the immediate¹⁰ vicinity of Port-au-Prince.  Therefore, it was also clear to people looking at this that people did not want to go away from Port-au-Prince into large camps.  They wanted to stay close to their homes."  

U.N. humanitarian chief Holmes says many of the quake survivors are still in the rubble¹¹ of their own homes because they want to be close to where they used to live and work.

 

1 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。

2 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

3 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

4 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

5 epidemics   

n．流行病

参考例句：

• Reliance upon natural epidemics may be both time-consuming and misleading. 依靠天然的流行既浪费时间，又会引入歧途。
• The antibiotic epidemics usually start stop when the summer rainy season begins. 传染病通常会在夏天的雨季停止传播。

6 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

7 coupons   

n.礼券( coupon的名词复数 )；优惠券；订货单；参赛表

参考例句：

• The company gives away free coupons for drinks or other items. 公司为饮料或其它项目发放免费赠券。 来自辞典例句
• Do you have any coupons? 你们有优惠卡吗？ 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 口语

8 tarpaulins   

n.防水帆布，防水帆布罩( tarpaulin的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Main wood to aluminum and plexiglass, PC, tarpaulins, toughened glass. 主材以铝型材与进口有机玻璃、PC、防水布、钢化玻璃。 来自互联网
• That means providing tents or other materials, including plastic sheeting, tarpaulins and wood. 这意味着需要帐篷和其他物资，包括塑料布、放水油布和木材。 来自互联网

9 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

10 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

11 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。