2007年VOA标准英语-Katrina Foreign Aid Handling Generates Criticis

By Bill Rodgers
Washington
14 May 2007
 

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A woman and her child wait with hundreds of other flood survivors at the Convention Center in New Orleans (file photo)

Another controversy² is brewing³ over how the Bush administration handled recovery efforts following Hurricane Katrina -- this time over foreign assistance in the wake of the disaster.  Recently released government documents show that while countries offered nearly one billion dollars in aid following the 2005 storm, relatively⁴ little has reached the disaster victims, because the government had no plan to handle the assistance. VOA's Bill Rodgers reports.

Hurricane Katrina was one of the deadliest and costliest⁵ storms in U.S. history.   And the scenes of devastation⁶ moved many foreign governments and organizations to immediately offer money and other assistance to help with the recovery efforts.

But most of this aid never reached the victims, and a Washington advocacy group says government documents reveal it was because of negligence⁷ or bureaucratic⁸ red tape.

Melanie Sloan, the executive director of Citizens For Responsibility and Ethics⁹, provided one example. "One of the most disturbing e-mails we saw was one about some Italian medical supplies which actually were not used properly and they went bad and could no longer be used."

At a Senate appropriations¹⁰ hearing Thursday, featuring U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu raised the issue.

"Of the 854 million, 454 million was cash, 400 million was oil which has yet to be sold for cash,” said the senator. ”To date, only 126.4 million has been received, numerous materials in kind were turned away and, as I say, 400 million in oil was never accepted or sold, we don't know where those barrels of oil are."

In addition to the $400 million in oil donated by Kuwait, Greece offered to provide two cruise ships for displaced residents.  But the offer was refused even though the federal government spent millions leasing from Carnival¹¹ Cruise Lines ships. And there were other instances of aid offers not used for recovery efforts.

Secretary Rice said in response to the criticism, "It is important for our partners to know that a lot of their donations were used, and used well for the people. Sixty-six million dollars to finance social service management for Katrina, 60 million for the Department of Education, and yes, we had to turn down some donations, medical equipment, a lot of it was in kind -- for instance, medical personnel who would not have been licensed¹² in our country to practice."

But this did not satisfy Senator Landrieu, who represents Louisiana -- where flooding from Katrina inundated¹³ much of New Orleans.

"One billion approximately was offered -- we've received 126 million.  There was a lot of money left on the table and the people of the Gulf¹⁴ Coast deserve to have a better system.  But more than just the people of the Gulf Coast, this country deserves to have a better system in the event this happens again," said Landrieu.

The Democratically-controlled Congress plans to hold hearings specifically on this issue later this year. 

1 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

2 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

3 brewing   

n. 酿造, 一次酿造的量 动词brew的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• It was obvious that a big storm was brewing up. 很显然，一场暴风雨正在酝酿中。
• She set about brewing some herb tea. 她动手泡一些药茶。

4 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

5 costliest   

adj.昂贵的( costly的最高级 )；代价高的；引起困难的；造成损失的

参考例句：

• At 81 billion dollars, Katrina is the costliest natural disaster in American history. “卡特里娜”飓风造成了近810亿美圆的损失，是美国历史上最严重的自然灾难之一。 来自互联网
• Senator John Kerry has proposed a tax on the costliest health plans sold by insurance companies. 参议员约翰？克里(JohnKerry)已经提议对保险公司销售的高价值的保险计划征税。 来自互联网

6 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 negligence   

n.疏忽，玩忽，粗心大意

参考例句：

• They charged him with negligence of duty.他们指责他玩忽职守。
• The traffic accident was allegedly due to negligence.这次车祸据说是由于疏忽造成的。

8 bureaucratic   

adj.官僚的，繁文缛节的

参考例句：

• The sweat of labour washed away his bureaucratic airs.劳动的汗水冲掉了他身上的官气。
• In this company you have to go through complex bureaucratic procedures just to get a new pencil.在这个公司里即使是领一支新铅笔，也必须通过繁琐的手续。

9 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

10 appropriations   

n.挪用（appropriation的复数形式）

参考例句：

• More commonly, funding controls are imposed in the annual appropriations process. 更普遍的作法是，拨款控制被规定在年度拨款手续中。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Should the president veto the appropriations bill, it goes back to Congress. 假如总统否决了这项拨款提案，就把它退还给国会。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

11 carnival   

n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演

参考例句：

• I got some good shots of the carnival.我有几个狂欢节的精彩镜头。
• Our street puts on a carnival every year.我们街的居民每年举行一次嘉年华会。

12 licensed   

adj.得到许可的v.许可，颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The new drug has not yet been licensed in the US. 这种新药尚未在美国获得许可。
• Is that gun licensed? 那支枪有持枪执照吗？

13 inundated   

v.淹没( inundate的过去式和过去分词 )；（洪水般地）涌来；充满；给予或交予（太多事物）使难以应付

参考例句：

• We have been inundated with offers of help. 主动援助多得使我们应接不暇。
• We have been inundated with every bit of information imaginable. 凡是想得到的各种各样的信息潮水般地向我们涌来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。