VOA慢速英语2010年-IN THE NEWS - A Race Against Time to G

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

Food. Water. Medicine. Hope. All that and more is urgently needed after a powerful earthquake wrecked¹ much of Haiti's capital on Tuesday.

A Spanish rescuer carries 2-year-old Redjeson Hausteen Claude from a wrecked home in Port-au-Prince Thursday

Bodies lay in the streets of Port-au-Prince. Some estimates are as high as one hundred thousand dead. Each passing hour cuts the chances of survival for the trapped and untreated.

Other countries moved quickly to send rescuers and supplies. But the airport is damaged and crowded with planes. The main seaport² was also damaged. Blocked roads and limited communications have only further slowed aid efforts. Anger is a growing concern.

President Obama announced an immediate³ one hundred million dollars for relief efforts. Thousands of American troops should be in the area by Monday. An aircraft carrier and more helicopters arrived Friday, and a hospital ship is expected by the end of next week.

People have donated millions of dollars through text messages to the Red Cross and other aid groups. But the public was warned to be careful of false appeals.

Haiti is the poorest nation in the western half of the world. The former French colony in the Caribbean has a history of political violence and natural disasters. Yet before this week, there were signs of promise of better times ahead for its nine million people.

American and French rescue workers search the ruins of a hotel in Haiti's capital Friday

On Friday, the United Nations made an emergency appeal for more than half a billion dollars. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said many of the three million people in the Port-au-Prince area lack food, water, shelter and electricity.

BAN KI-MOON: "A major humanitarian⁴ effort is now well underway. Although it is inevitably⁵ slower and more difficult than any of us would wish, we are mobilizing all resources as fast as we possibly can."

Ban Ki-moon also said he will visit Haiti "very soon."

President Obama spoke⁶ Friday by phone with Haiti's President Rene Preval, who himself lost his home in the quake.

BARACK OBAMA: "I pledged America's continued commitment to the government and the people of Haiti in the immediate effort to save lives and deliver relief and in the long-term effort to rebuild. President Préval and I agreed that it is absolutely essential that these efforts are well coordinated⁷ among the United States and the government of Haiti; with the United Nations, which continues to play a central role; and with the many international partners and aid organizations that are now on the ground."

Rajiv Shah

The new head of the United States Agency for International Development is supervising the American disaster relief. Rajiv Shah became administrator⁸ of USAID earlier this month.

He is a trained medical doctor and an agricultural expert. He held top jobs at the Department of Agriculture and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Doctor Shah is the thirty-six year old son of Indian immigrants.

USAID had been without a leader for almost a year, raising concerns about its future. The agency has changed over the years -- it now does its work largely through private contractors⁹.

The Obama administration wants to raise development to the same level of importance as defense¹⁰ and diplomacy¹¹. Rajiv Shah says he plans to hire more experts. USAID now provides twenty billion dollars a year to development projects around the world. The plan is to increase that to fifty billion a year by two thousand twelve.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.

1 wrecked   

adj.失事的，遇难的

参考例句：

• the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
• the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞

2 seaport   

n.海港，港口，港市

参考例句：

• Ostend is the most important seaport in Belgium.奥斯坦德是比利时最重要的海港。
• A seaport where ships can take on supplies of coal.轮船能够补充煤炭的海港。

3 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。

4 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。

5 inevitably   

adv.不可避免地；必然发生地

参考例句：

• In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
• Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。

6 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。

7 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

8 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

9 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

11 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。