美国国家公共电台 NPR--The longer fighting goes on in Sudan, the greater the humanitarian catastrophe

The longer fighting goes on in Sudan, the greater the humanitarian¹ catastrophe²

Transcript³

A seven-day cease-fire is in place in Sudan, but will it hold and allow safe passage for desperately⁴ needed aid?

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

Another cease-fire in Sudan is off to a rocky start in the capital.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

The Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces agreed to a mediated⁵ seven-day cease-fire starting today, but the fighting is still going on. And that's been the pattern. Other attempts at cease-fires have provided brief lulls⁶ in the fighting, but all of them eventually fell apart. And the longer the fighting goes on, the greater the humanitarian catastrophe. Although some aid has reached the country, the worst affected⁷ areas - like the capital, Khartoum, or the remote region of Darfur in west Sudan - are struggling to get relief.

MART?NEZ: Emmanuel Akinwotu is in the region in the neighboring country of Chad. Emmanuel, the United Nations is trying to negotiate safe passage for aid with the two opposing sides. So how critical is the situation in Sudan right now?

EMMANUEL AKINWOTU, BYLINE⁸: Good morning. It's very critical. You know, more than a hundred thousand people have fled, and there are expected to be far more. In the last few days, I've been speaking to doctors, and they've been describing how the health system is collapsing⁹ under this conflict. You know, most hospitals in Khartoum have shut. Some have been attacked or are even occupied by fighters. Thousands are injured but can't get treatment. And, you know, they're struggling for the most basic supplies, like blood bags.

I spoke¹⁰ to doctors who said they didn't have anesthetic¹¹. So when they were forced to operate on patients who were shot or wounded, they were dying from shock and trauma¹². And the U.N., at the moment, are urgently trying to get assurances from both sides, the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, that this latest cease-fire will hold, at least enough to create safe routes so that help can reach where it's most needed. But that hasn't been the case so far.

MART?NEZ: You mentioned how you're in Chad. The - it shares a border with the Darfur region in western Sudan. That's a region that's seen a lot of the worst violence in the past couple of weeks. What's happening there?

AKINWOTU: Yes, of course. You know, Khartoum has clearly been the epicenter of this horrible fighting. But across Darfur, in Sudan, the fighting has been incredibly intense and sadly with less visibility than in other areas like Khartoum. You know, this region has seen immense suffering. There was a horrific war in Darfur about 20 years ago, and now there's this conflict that has been devastating¹³ there. I spoke to Mohamed Gibreel Adam, who is MSF coordinator¹⁴ in the city of El Fasher in Darfur, and he said that there was actually only one functioning hospital in a city of nearly a million people and that they were on their own.

MOHAMED GIBREEL ADAM: There is no water, and there is also no electricity and also no market. And all the humanitarian actors, especially the international community, have left, evacuated¹⁵ the town. So they felt like there is a fear, lack of protection, like hopeless, the feeling that they were left alone in this kind of dire¹⁶ and very critical situation.

AKINWOTU: And this is why there are about 30,000 people so far who've fled to Chad, and that number could grow to over a hundred thousand. And even before this conflict started, there were about half a million refugees - Sudanese refugees - in Chad. And so that's really heaping immense strain on an already tense humanitarian situation here.

MART?NEZ: And how are neighboring countries, such as Chad, feeling the impact of this conflict?

AKINWOTU: Well, you know, Chad is one of seven countries which borders Sudan. And sadly, many of these countries are unstable¹⁷, like Chad - you know, shaken by conflicts, there are armed groups, coups¹⁸. For the moment, the real strain is humanitarian because of so many refugees already crossing these borders. But, you know, Chad is really sensitive to this conflict also because of ethnic¹⁹ groups which share these borders and militias²⁰. So, you know, this is a really tense situation.

MART?NEZ: That's Emmanuel Akinwotu. Emmanuel, thanks a lot.

AKINWOTU: Thank you.

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 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

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 mediated   

调停，调解，斡旋( mediate的过去式和过去分词 )； 居间促成； 影响…的发生； 使…可能发生

参考例句：

• He mediated in the quarrel between the two boys. 他调解两个孩子之间的争吵。
• The government mediated between the workers and the employers. 政府在工人与雇主间搞调和。

6 lulls   

n.间歇期（lull的复数形式）vt.使镇静，使安静（lull的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• It puts our children to sleep and lulls us into a calm, dreamlike state. 摇晃能让孩子进入梦乡，也能将我们引人一种平静的、梦幻般的心境。 来自互联网
• There were also comedy acts, impromptu skits, and DJ music to fill the lulls between acts. 也有充满在行为之间的间歇的喜剧行为，即兴之作若干，和DJ音乐。 来自互联网

7 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。

8 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

9 collapsing   

压扁[平]，毁坏，断裂

参考例句：

• Rescuers used props to stop the roof of the tunnel collapsing. 救援人员用支柱防止隧道顶塌陷。
• The rocks were folded by collapsing into the center of the trough. 岩石由于坍陷进入凹槽的中心而发生褶皱。

10 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

11 anesthetic   

n.麻醉剂，麻药；adj.麻醉的，失去知觉的

参考例句：

• He was given a general anesthetic.他被全身麻醉。
• He was still under the influence of the anesthetic.他仍处在麻醉状态。

12 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

13 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

14 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

15 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

16 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

17 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。

18 coups   

n.意外而成功的行动( coup的名词复数 )；政变；努力办到难办的事

参考例句：

• China has seen many political coups within the ruling class. 中国统治阶级内部发生过很多政变。 来自互联网
• Thailand has had eighteen coups or coup attendance since nineteen thirty-two. 泰国1932年以来有18次政变或参加政变。 来自互联网

19 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

20 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网