CNN 2010-02-19

And nearly half a million homeless people are still living in those makeshift settlements in Haiti today. Only a tinny tiny percentage have made it to organize tent cities. The rest are making do with whatever building materials they can find hidden in that rubble¹.

CNN's John Vause has their story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With a hammer and machete, Charles Jonas is building a new home.

"The corrugated² iron came from my old house," he says. "The wood I got from around here."

He doesn't know how long he'll live like this with his wife, but with a shortage of tents he says he had to do something.

Across Port-au-Prince, it seems, there are hundreds of thousands of people just like Charles.

Sprawling³ shanty⁴ towns seem to grow larger and more permanent every day. This one is just across from the presidential palace. Street vendors⁵ have set up shop, and the women with the buckets, are walking pharmacies⁶.

(On camera): So the people here are building these homes with whatever they can find. Sheets of corrugated iron, pieces of wood, this is actually what's left over from an outdoor billboard⁷.

We asked this lady if we could go inside, have a look at the house, she said yes, so come on in. So inside here, this is all she has left. There's a bed, another bed, a mirror, some pots and pans. And inside this dark, hot, cramped⁸ house, she lives with her husband, her sister, and her four children.

(Voice-over): On the streets garbage is piling up and a pungent⁹ smell is a sharp reminder¹⁰ there's no sanitation¹¹. Ideal conditions for the spread of disease, say health workers.

(On camera): You got to get these people out of these conditions? And soon?

ISAAC BOYD, CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICES: As quickly as possible.

VAUSE (voice-over): Isaac Boyd from Catholic Relief services is planning to move up to 200,000 Haitians into semi-permanent camps over the next two months. That will be home for up to five years.

BOYD: I haven't seen anything like this, really, before. And that's saying a lot. I work in the different -- a lot of different context.

VAUSE: Thousands of tents are being given out, but that's just a fraction of what's needed. Médecins sans Frontières or Doctors without Borders say these are strong enough to weather a hurricane. Welcome news for Frank (INAUDIBLE).

(On camera): He's been sleeping out in the open for almost a month now.

(Voice-over): So when he walked inside for the first time, he took off his shoes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

VAUSE: John Vause, CNN, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
 

1 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。

2 corrugated   

adj.波纹的；缩成皱纹的；波纹面的；波纹状的v.（使某物）起皱褶(corrugate的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• a corrugated iron roof 波纹铁屋顶
• His brow corrugated with the effort of thinking. 他皱着眉头用心地思考。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

4 shanty   

n.小屋，棚屋；船工号子

参考例句：

• His childhood was spent in a shanty.他的童年是在一个简陋小屋里度过的。
• I want to quit this shanty.我想离开这烂房子。

5 vendors   

n.摊贩( vendor的名词复数 )；小贩；（房屋等的）卖主；卖方

参考例句：

• The vendors were gazundered at the last minute. 卖主在最后一刻被要求降低房价。
• At the same time, interface standards also benefIt'software vendors. 同时，界面标准也有利于软件开发商。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

6 pharmacies   

药店

参考例句：

• Still, 32 percent of the pharmacies filled the prescriptions. 但仍然有32%的药剂师配发了这两张药方。 来自互联网
• Chinese herbal pharmacies, and traditional massage therapists in the Vancouver telephone book. 中药店，和传统的按摩师在温哥华的电话簿里。 来自互联网

7 billboard   

n.布告板，揭示栏，广告牌

参考例句：

• He ploughed his energies into his father's billboard business.他把精力投入到父亲的广告牌业务中。
• Billboard spreads will be simpler and more eye-catching.广告牌广告会比较简单且更引人注目。

8 cramped   

a.狭窄的

参考例句：

• The house was terribly small and cramped, but the agent described it as a bijou residence. 房子十分狭小拥挤，但经纪人却把它说成是小巧别致的住宅。
• working in cramped conditions 在拥挤的环境里工作

9 pungent   

adj.（气味、味道）刺激性的，辛辣的；尖锐的

参考例句：

• The article is written in a pungent style.文章写得泼辣。
• Its pungent smell can choke terrorists and force them out of their hideouts.它的刺激性气味会令恐怖分子窒息，迫使他们从藏身地点逃脱出来。

10 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

11 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。