2007年VOA标准英语-Relief Agencies Airlift Food to Victims of Cycl

By Scott Bobb
Johannesburg
24 April 2007

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Simone Chivale, 30, walks towards a destroyed home, in the Mozambique coastal town of Vilankulo, 24 Apr 2007

Relief officials in Madagascar have begun airlifting emergency food supplies to northern Madagascar, which has been devastated² by a series of deadly storms. Correspondent Scott Bobb reports from our Southern Africa Bureau in Johannesburg.

 

The U.N. World Food Program says the first shipment of a planned 100 tons of food has been flown to several towns in northwestern Madagascar.

WFP Spokesman Michael Huggins says people there desperately³ need food and other supplies.

"The situation for many thousands of people in northern Madagascar is quite grave at the moment," said Huggins. "They have exhausted⁴ a lot of their food supplies during the past couple of weeks."

Northern Madagascar in the past two months was hit by two major cyclones⁶ that killed 150 people and left nearly 200,000 in need of help. During the same period, three other cyclones and several severe storms also hit the island.

The storms caused extensive damage to roads and bridges and cut off communities in the region from the rest of the country.

Huggins says the WFP plans to deliver enough food by helicopter to last these people several months.

"In that time we hope that the government and local communities are going to be able to rebuild the bridges and the roads that were destroyed during the cyclone⁵ season so that road convoys⁷ can get through again," added Huggins.

The region is an important producer of rice and vanilla⁸, and these crops have also been hard hit by the storms. The humanitarian⁹ supplies will allow victims to work in their fields until the next harvest later this year.

Meanwhile, relief agencies in Madagascar are struggling to provide humanitarian assistance to an estimated 500,000 people in the southern part of the island. They lost much of their crops this year due to drought and officials are concerned over declining nutrition levels among the most vulnerable members of this group.

1 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

2 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

3 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

4 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

5 cyclone   

n.旋风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• An exceptionally violent cyclone hit the town last night.昨晚异常猛烈的旋风吹袭了那个小镇。
• The cyclone brought misery to thousands of people.旋风给成千上万的人带来苦难。

6 cyclones   

n.气旋( cyclone的名词复数 )；旋风；飓风；暴风

参考例句：

• The pricipal objective in designing cyclones is to create a vortex. 设计旋风除尘器的主要目的在于造成涡旋运动。 来自辞典例句
• Middle-latitude cyclones originate at the popar front. 中纬度地区的气旋发源于极锋。 来自辞典例句

7 convoys   

n.（有护航的）船队( convoy的名词复数 )；车队；护航（队）；护送队

参考例句：

• Truck convoys often stop over for lunch here. 车队经常在这里停下来吃午饭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A UN official said aid programs will be suspended until there's adequate protection for relief convoys. 一名联合国官员说将会暂停援助项目，直到援助车队能够得到充分的保护为止。 来自辞典例句

8 vanilla   

n.香子兰，香草

参考例句：

• He used to love milk flavoured with vanilla.他过去常爱喝带香草味的牛奶。
• I added a dollop of vanilla ice-cream to the pie.我在馅饼里加了一块香草冰激凌。

9 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。