VOA慢速英语20060918a

DEVELOPMENT REPORT - Concerns Raised About Future Progress in Mine-ClearingBy Jill Moss¹

Broadcast: Monday, September 18, 2006

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.




The International Campaign to Ban Landmines³ says mine-clearing efforts made more progress last year than ever before. But the group says it is concerned about future progress because international support decreased for the first time.

It says the European Commission, the United States and eight other major donors⁴ decreased their financing of mine action. This is defined as clearing mines and destroying supplies of them. It also includes mine risk education and survivor⁵ assistance.

The Geneva-based campaign released its Landmine² Monitor Report Two Thousand Six at the United Nations last week.

The report says that seven hundred forty square kilometers, an area about the size of New York City, was cleared of mines last year. It says that is the most land cleared in one year since modern de-mining efforts started in nineteen eighty.

Yet the number of reported casualties from landmine explosions was eleven percent higher than in two thousand four. Landmines killed at least two thousand people and wounded more than five thousand others last year. About eighty percent of the victims were civilians⁶.

The campaign blames the increase largely on increased conflict in nations including Burma, India, Nepal and Pakistan. Colombia reported the highest number of casualties -- more than one thousand.

Numbers of reported casualties are often less than half of the real number.

Two countries, Guatemala and Surinam, were declared mine-free. But armed groups in at least ten countries used mines or similar devices in the past year.

The report says three governments used them as well: Burma, Nepal and Russia. These nations have not signed the nineteen ninety-seven Mine Ban Treaty.

Forty countries remain outside the treaty. Others include China, India, Pakistan and the United States.

The treaty bans the use, production and trade of landmines. It also requires countries to clear all territory of antipersonnel mines within ten years of when they joined the treaty.

More than one hundred fifty governments have joined the Mine Ban Treaty. Twenty-nine still have to finish mine-clearing within the next few years. But the campaign says thirteen might not meet that goal, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Mozambique and Thailand.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss. You can read transcripts⁷ of our reports and download audio at www.unsv.com. This is Shep O'Neal.

1 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

2 landmine   

n.地雷

参考例句：

• A landmine is a kind of weapon used in war.地雷是一种运用于战争的武器。
• The treaty bans the use,production and trade of landmine.那条约禁止使用生产和交易雷。

3 landmines   

潜在的冲突； 地雷，投伞水雷( landmine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The treaty bans the use production and trade of landmines. 该条约规定，禁止使用地雷相关产品及贸易。
• One of the weapon's of special concern was landmines. 在引起人们特别关注的武器中就有地雷。

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》

5 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

6 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

7 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句