VOA常速英语2016--撒哈拉以南非洲面临饥荒威胁

撒哈拉以南非洲面临饥荒威胁

Somaliland is one of the poorest African regions. Its rural population is struggling to make a living in the best of times, but drought makes it impossible.

索马里兰是非洲最为贫穷的一个地区。这里的人们正奋力挣扎希望过上最好时期的生活,但干旱却偏偏阻挠着他们。

"I am 80. In the 80 years of my life, I've never seen such severe drought. It has killed so many animals and caused so much famine. Our lives are in danger."

“我已经是80岁的老骨头了。我这辈子还从未见过这么严重的干旱。这场干旱造成很多动物死亡并且引发大规模饥荒。我们的生命也面临威胁。”

The situation is similar in the neighboring Puntland region and parts of Ethiopia. The United Nations last month called for urgent aid to save 1.7 million people in the affected¹ parts of Somalia.

邻近的邦特兰及埃塞俄比亚部分地区也有着相似的情况。而上个月联合国呼吁对受灾最为严重索马里地区的170万人展开紧急援助。

"Communities are losing their means for survival, and we need to stop this loss of lives and forced displacement² as people have no other option than to move in search of food, water and income."

“各个社区正在失去他们生存的基本手段,而随着人们别无选择外出寻找食物，水源及收入，我们需要向他们伸出援手并且停止这种强迫性的流离失所。”

But when there is no food and water for miles and miles around, moving may be futile³. Some Ethiopian farmers have crossed the border to try to escape famine.

但当绵延数公里都是食物及水源短缺的情况,外出可能是徒劳的。一些埃塞俄比亚农民已经成功越过边境,试图逃离饥荒。

"The drought has been raging for three years in Ethiopia. We were told that there were pastures on the other side of the border. But when we got here, we found nothing."

“埃塞俄比亚的干旱已经持续了3年。我们得到消息称边境的另一侧有牧场。但当我们到达这里,却发现空无一物。”

Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous⁴ country, is in the grip of its worst drought in decades. The government is appealing for aid to help 10 million affected people. The food shortage is also grave in Malawi, which has not yet recovered from last year's record flooding.

非洲人口第二大的国家埃塞俄比亚数十年来一直面临最为严重的干旱问题。政府正呼吁援助帮助1000万名灾民。而同样面临着严重粮食短缺问题的马拉维还尚未从去年的历史性洪水中恢复过来。

"Before the floods, my child was doing well. But after we lost our crops, my child got sick and became malnourished. That is what made me come to this hospital for treatment and food."

“洪水之前,我的孩子很好。但我们失去作物后,我的孩子生病后出现营养不良的情况。因此我来到这家医院寻求治疗及食物。”

Malawi's president has declared a state of national disaster. But the food crisis in parts of Africa could get worse yet.

马拉维总统已经宣布国家灾难的紧急状况。但非洲部分地区的粮食危机可能变得更糟。

“The peak of the crisis is still to come. So, I think we will see the situation getting worse before it will get better. We talk about maybe a small improvement around mid-2016 or shortly after this."

“这场危机的高峰尚未到来。因此我认为局势好转前我们会看到情况变得更糟。我们所谈论的是2016年中期或不久后小小的改善。”

 

Experts say people in the affected areas depend on aid to survive and are calling for an urgent step-up of humanitarian⁵ efforts.

专家表示受灾地区的人们只有依赖于援助才能够生存并且呼吁即刻进行紧急人道主义援助。

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 displacement   

n.移置，取代，位移，排水量

参考例句：

• They said that time is the feeling of spatial displacement.他们说时间是空间位移的感觉。
• The displacement of all my energy into caring for the baby.我所有精力都放在了照顾宝宝上。

3 futile   

adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的

参考例句：

• They were killed,to the last man,in a futile attack.因为进攻失败，他们全部被杀，无一幸免。
• Their efforts to revive him were futile.他们对他抢救无效。

4 populous   

adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的

参考例句：

• London is the most populous area of Britain.伦敦是英国人口最稠密的地区。
• China is the most populous developing country in the world.中国是世界上人口最多的发展中国家。

5 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。