2006年VOA标准英语-Afghan Capital Faces Energy Crunch

By Benjamin Sand
Kabul
04 August 2006

Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, faces a crippling energy shortage with basic electricity only available six hours a day. Officials say demand is soaring, but international support for the city's energy needs is being cut and widespread power outages are expected throughout the coming winter.

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A general view of a neighborhood during the night in Kabul, Afghanistan where progress has been slow with almost all power lines and power stations destroyed during the previous quarter century of war  
  
Abdur Rahim, 23, uses a metal crank to help kick start the old Russian generator¹ he keeps behind his leather shop in downtown Kabul.

He says the city only provides electricity from six in the evening to midnight. During business hours, he says, the only way to run his shop is to generate the power himself.

The Afghan energy ministry² predicts the situation will get worse in the months ahead.

Mohammed Amin Munsif, Afghanistan's deputy minister for energy says Kabul does not have the budget to purchase fuel for its massive diesel³ generators⁴. 

Without that additional support, he says, the entire city faces energy cuts during the bitterly cold winter.

"We will be faced with a lot of problems," he said.  "The people will be too cold and the people are too poor. All the children and the eldest⁵ men and women they [could] die from this weather."

International aid to purchase fuel has fallen this year, aid workers say, as other priorities are being addressed. However, several countries, including the United States are donating millions of dollars to modernize⁶ and expand Kabul's electricity infrastructure⁷.

But Munsif says that so far no one is stepping forward to fill the breach⁸ in providing fuel.

Electric outages are already becoming more frequent throughout the ancient city. 

Kabul's international airport is now running almost entirely⁹ on backup generators. Even the Ministry of Energy is in the dark most of the day.

The city's business leaders warn the problem is spiraling out of control. 

Akam Khan Hamdard works with Afghanistan's International Chamber¹⁰ of Commerce. He says nearly 80 percent of all local businesses have to generate their own power using expensive diesel generators. 

"So this is increasing the production cost, the per unit cost in Afghanistan, which is destroying the economy. And on the other side we are in tough competition with China, Pakistan and Iran," he noted¹¹.

Hamdard says attracting foreign investors¹² to Kabul is hard enough given the ongoing¹³ violence.  Without electricity, he says, it is almost impossible.

The Afghan government says it is working on long-term plans to increase energy supplies for the city.

An international project is under way to import electricity from neighboring central Asian states but critics say it could be years before any electricity actually reaches Kabul.

International donors¹⁴ have pledged more than $10 billion for Afghanistan's reconstruction¹⁵.  But local residents say that so far they have not seen many improvements and frustrations¹⁶ are mounting. 

Back inside his shop, Abdur Rahim says he spends at least five dollars a day on fuel for his generator.  In a country where the average income is less than $1 a day, he says, something has to change.

1 generator   

n.发电机，发生器

参考例句：

• All the while the giant generator poured out its power.巨大的发电机一刻不停地发出电力。
• This is an alternating current generator.这是一台交流发电机。

2 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

3 diesel   

n.柴油发动机，内燃机

参考例句：

• We experimented with diesel engines to drive the pumps.我们试着用柴油机来带动水泵。
• My tractor operates on diesel oil.我的那台拖拉机用柴油开动。

4 generators   

n.发电机，发生器( generator的名词复数 )；电力公司

参考例句：

• The factory's emergency generators were used during the power cut. 工厂应急发电机在停电期间用上了。
• Power can be fed from wind generators into the electricity grid system. 电力可以从风力发电机流入输电网。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 eldest   

adj.最年长的，最年老的

参考例句：

• The King's eldest son is the heir to the throne.国王的长子是王位的继承人。
• The castle and the land are entailed on the eldest son.城堡和土地限定由长子继承。

6 modernize   

vt.使现代化，使适应现代的需要

参考例句：

• It was their manifest failure to modernize the country's industries.他们使国家进行工业现代化，明显失败了。
• There is a pressing need to modernise our electoral system.我们的选举制度迫切需要现代化。

7 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

8 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

9 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

10 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

11 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

12 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

13 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

14 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》

15 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

16 frustrations   

挫折( frustration的名词复数 )； 失败； 挫败； 失意

参考例句：

• The temptation would grow to take out our frustrations on Saigon. 由于我们遭到挫折而要同西贡算帐的引诱力会增加。
• Aspirations will be raised, but so will frustrations. 人们会产生种种憧憬，但是种种挫折也会随之而来。