VOA常速英语2007-Cemeteries in Zimbabwe Reflect Gravity of Crisis

By VOA News
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
22 October 2007
 

The cemeteries¹ of Zimbabwe are filled these days with fresh graves, many of the smallest mounds² covering some of what was the southern African nation's future. An opposition³ leader says the acres of freshly dug graves are evidence of the ruin President Robert Mugabe has left Zimbabwe. The World Health Organization blames the rising death rate on a combination of AIDS, food insecurity and poor health care. We again join a foreign journalist for a look inside a nation teetering on the edge of humanitarian⁴ collapse⁵ -- a reporter who must remain anonymous⁶ because independent reporting in Zimbabwe earns beatings and jail time, who files this undercover report from Bulawayo.

It is an hour before sunset in the city of Bulawayo and we are driving through Westpark Cemetery⁷, situated⁸ on the edge of town.

Behind the wheel is a man we shall call William. His true identity, like mine, must be kept a secret for his own safety. William is a local mortician, a lucrative⁹ career in this part of the world, where the business of death is very profitable.

"Some people might say it is a political thing," says William. "The ruling government is not doing anything to help the people. They say they are helping¹⁰, but according to the death rate, there is nothing they are doing."

A brisk winter wind rustles¹¹ through the tall dead grass and dried flowers. Most of the graves, however, have hand-painted signs. They are decorated by rocks and wooden crosses. In this country, this is steady work.

The World Health Organization estimates that the crisis in Zimbabwe claims an average of about 3,500 lives each week. This has led to criticism of the Zimbabwean government and President Robert Mugabe, who will not allow the official figures to be released.

David Coltart is a Member of Parliament representing the opposition party in Zimbabwe. "Zimbabwe has this unique combination, and I say unique -- it's unprecedented¹² in any country ever-- where you have a combination of a very high incidence of AIDS, the fastest declining economy in the world and very high levels of malnutrition," he says, "and its that convergence which has led Zimbabwe to have the world's lowest life expectancy¹³."

Zimbabwe was once a nation that fed itself and the nations around it. Now many rely on western food aid to keep them from starving.

In the cemetery of fresh graves, there is not even enough room to walk between earthen mounds.

Then we turn the corner to the children's section. It is packed full of tiny graves, decorated with dead flowers and handwritten signs. One reads, "Baby of Sarah, June 13th to June 15th, 2007."

Sarah's baby was only two days old.

"The challenge for us in Zimbabwe," Coltart says, "is for the international community to recognize that this is now arguably the world's gravest humanitarian crisis. And it needs an appropriate response from the international community."

1 cemeteries   

n.（非教堂的）墓地，公墓( cemetery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It's morbid to dwell on cemeteries and such like. 不厌其烦地谈论墓地以及诸如此类的事是一种病态。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• In other districts the proximity of cemeteries seemed to aggravate the disease. 在其它地区里，邻近墓地的地方，时疫大概都要严重些。 来自辞典例句

2 mounds   

土堆，土丘( mound的名词复数 )； 一大堆

参考例句：

• We had mounds of tasteless rice. 我们有成堆成堆的淡而无味的米饭。
• Ah! and there's the cemetery' - cemetery, he must have meant. 'You see the mounds? 啊，这就是同墓，”——我想他要说的一定是公墓，“看到那些土墩了吗？

3 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

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 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。

6 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

7 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

8 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

9 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

10 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

11 rustles   

n.发出沙沙的声音( rustle的名词复数 )v.发出沙沙的声音( rustle的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• A slight breeze rustles the tan grass. 微风拂来，黄褐色的草沙沙作响。 来自互联网

12 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

13 expectancy   

n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额

参考例句：

• Japanese people have a very high life expectancy.日本人的平均寿命非常长。
• The atomosphere of tense expectancy sobered everyone.这种期望的紧张气氛使每个人变得严肃起来。