2006年VOA标准英语-South Korea to Discuss Aid for Flood Victims in

By Barry Newhouse
Seoul
17 August 2006

 
North Korean soldiers reinforce a riverbank in Shinuiju, North Korea, Saturday, July 29, 2006
  
After initially¹ turning down offers of emergency aid following devastating² floods, North Korea has told South Korean Red Cross officials it is willing to discuss assistance for the flood victims. A South Korean charity says the death toll³ from the floods might be far higher than reported.

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South Korean Red Cross officials say a meeting with their northern counterparts scheduled for Saturday will cover plans for food assistance and reconstruction⁴ following severe flooding that struck the North in July.

Last week, South Korean officials offered a $10-million aid package. The South Korean Red Cross says it can donate up to 100,000 tons of rice.

Saturday's meeting at North Korea's Mount Kumgang tourist resort will be the first between the two Red Cross societies since Pyongyang test-launched seven missiles on July 5. The tests prompted international condemnation⁵, and South Korea suspended all aid to the North.

On July 10, five days after the launches, a typhoon and heavy monsoon⁶ rains slammed into North Korea. Pyongyang rarely releases bad news, so its announcement that hundreds of people were dead or missing and tens of thousands of buildings had been destroyed was an indication that the flood damage had been severe.

Seoul-based private relief agency, participates in loading ceremony at port of Incheon, west of Seoul   
  
A South Korean Red Cross official who asked not to be named says the group currently has three investigators⁷ in Pyongyang calculating the damage.

The official says investigators estimate there are 151 deaths, 29 people still missing, and nearly 17,000 people left homeless.

This is in stark⁸ contrast to numbers provided by a private South Korean charity. The group, Good Friends, says its sources in the North report that almost 55,000 people are dead or missing.

Red Cross officials say the Good Friends figures are not credible⁹. But North Korea observers do say floods could pose serious long-term risks to the country's already meager¹⁰ food supply.

Government mismanagement in North Korea helped precipitate¹¹ severe flooding and economic collapse¹² in the mid-1990's. This led to long-term famine, in which aid groups say up to one million northerners have perished.

Gang Yeo-gyeong of Good Friends says the damage this time is even worse than it was a decade ago.

"We think it is because of the 10-year-long poverty that has afflicted¹³ the North Koreans, which has resulted in the destruction of forests," said Gang.

Since the famine first hit, the country has existed largely on international donations of food, fertilizer and fuel. There is concern that the North Korean leadership is directing as much food as it can to ruling communist party members and the military that props¹⁴ up the communist regime, leaving the common people with little to eat.

Impoverished¹⁵ North Koreans have uprooted¹⁶ plants and trees in a search for food and fuel. Experts say this makes the landscape more susceptible¹⁷ to flooding.

1 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

2 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。

3 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

4 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。

5 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

6 monsoon   

n.季雨，季风，大雨

参考例句：

• The monsoon rains started early this year.今年季雨降雨开始得早。
• The main climate type in that region is monsoon.那个地区主要以季风气候为主要气候类型。

7 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

9 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

10 meager   

adj.缺乏的，不足的，瘦的

参考例句：

• He could not support his family on his meager salary.他靠微薄的工资无法养家。
• The two men and the woman grouped about the fire and began their meager meal.两个男人同一个女人围着火，开始吃起少得可怜的午饭。

11 precipitate   

adj.突如其来的；vt.使突然发生；n.沉淀物

参考例句：

• I don't think we should make precipitate decisions.我认为我们不应该贸然作出决定。
• The king was too precipitate in declaring war.国王在宣战一事上过于轻率。

12 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

13 afflicted   

使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• About 40% of the country's population is afflicted with the disease. 全国40%左右的人口患有这种疾病。
• A terrible restlessness that was like to hunger afflicted Martin Eden. 一阵可怕的、跟饥饿差不多的不安情绪折磨着马丁·伊登。

14 props   

小道具； 支柱( prop的名词复数 )； 支持者； 道具； （橄榄球中的）支柱前锋

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 government props up the prices of farm products to support farmers' incomes. 政府保持农产品价格不变以保障农民们的收入。

15 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 uprooted   

v.把（某物）连根拔起( uproot的过去式和过去分词 )；根除；赶走；把…赶出家园

参考例句：

• Many people were uprooted from their homes by the flood. 水灾令许多人背井离乡。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The hurricane blew with such force that trees were uprooted. 飓风强烈地刮着，树都被连根拔起了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 susceptible   

adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的

参考例句：

• Children are more susceptible than adults.孩子比成人易受感动。
• We are all susceptible to advertising.我们都易受广告的影响。