2007年VOA标准英语-Flash Floods Leave Thousands Homeless in Sudan

By Arjun Kohli
Nairobi
11 July 2007

In Sudan, unusually heavy rainfall in recent days has left tens of thousands homeless in several regions.  As Arjun Kohli reports from our East Africa Bureau in Nairobi, the rains have created another humanitarian¹ crisis in a country already overwhelmed by conflict-driven disasters.

remains2 of his home following floods in Kassala, near Khartoum, Sudan Tuesday, 10 July 2007" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070713/0851430.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

A Sudanese sits amongst the remains of his home following floods in Kassala, near Khartoum, 10 July 2007

Government officials in Sudan's capital Khartoum say 15,000 houses have been destroyed, leaving tens of thousands homeless. Twenty people have been killed in flash floods that have ravaged³ parts of eastern and southern Sudan.

The floods caused poorly built houses to collapse⁴, and many people escaping the floods are stranded⁵ on the roads.

The rains are expected to continue in areas along the Blue and White Niles, south of the capital, as well as in Kassala, in eastern Sudan. 

International agencies say the floods have caused a humanitarian emergency.

An official of the U.N.'s Office for Humanitarian Affairs, Christian⁶ Smets, says the biggest problem areas are south of Khartoum.  He says torrential rainfall in the Sudanese capital has not caused extensive damage.  But he says people living in villages outside the city are desperate.

"This year, [there] have been exceptional floods," Smets said. "Livelihoods⁷ are being destroyed. They make their livelihoods by small-scale farming.  Livestock⁸, villages, houses being washed away things like that. The international organizations, the humanitarian organizations are gearing up their efforts to help the people affected⁹."

The rains have continued for weeks.  As well as destroying houses, the water collects in stagnant¹⁰ pools that serve as breeding grounds for malaria-carrying mosquitos.  Aid workers say the stagnant water could spurn¹¹ other water-borne diseases.  

There are also reports that the floods have washed away houses in the war torn area of Darfur, in western Sudan, where over two million people have been displaced since a civil war began there in 2003.

A civil war between north and southern Sudan ended in 2005. 

In other parts of Africa, heavy rains have caused dormant¹² larvae¹³ to hatch and swarms¹⁴ of locusts¹⁵ have infested¹⁶ farmland the Horn of Africa region. 

1 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。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 ravaged   

毁坏( ravage的过去式和过去分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫

参考例句：

• a country ravaged by civil war 遭受内战重创的国家
• The whole area was ravaged by forest fires. 森林火灾使整个地区荒废了。

4 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。

5 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

6 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

7 livelihoods   

生计，谋生之道( livelihood的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• First came the earliest individualistic pioneers who depended on hunting and fishing for their livelihoods. 走在最前面的是早期的个人主义先驱者，他们靠狩猎捕鱼为生。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• With little influence over policies, their traditional livelihoods are threatened. 因为马赛族人对政策的影响力太小，他们的传统生计受到了威胁。

8 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

9 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

10 stagnant   

adj.不流动的，停滞的，不景气的

参考例句：

• Due to low investment,industrial output has remained stagnant.由于投资少，工业生产一直停滞不前。
• Their national economy is stagnant.他们的国家经济停滞不前。

11 spurn   

v.拒绝，摈弃；n.轻视的拒绝；踢开

参考例句：

• They spurn all our offers of help.他们拒绝接受我们提出的一切援助。
• As an armyman,I spurn fearlessly at all danger and the enemy.作为一个军人，一切危险和敌人丝毫不在我的眼。

12 dormant   

adj.暂停活动的；休眠的；潜伏的

参考例句：

• Many animals are in a dormant state during winter.在冬天许多动物都处于睡眠状态。
• This dormant volcano suddenly fired up.这座休眠火山突然爆发了。

13 larvae   

n.幼虫

参考例句：

• Larvae are parasitic on sheep.幼虫寄生在绵羊的身上。
• The larvae prey upon small aphids.这种幼虫以小蚜虫为食。

14 swarms   

蜂群，一大群( swarm的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They came to town in swarms. 他们蜂拥来到城里。
• On June the first there were swarms of children playing in the park. 6月1日那一天，这个公园里有一群群的孩子玩耍。

15 locusts   

n.蝗虫( locust的名词复数 )；贪吃的人；破坏者；槐树

参考例句：

• a swarm of locusts 一大群蝗虫
• In no time the locusts came down and started eating everything. 很快蝗虫就飞落下来开始吃东西，什么都吃。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 infested   

adj.为患的，大批滋生的（常与with搭配）v.害虫、野兽大批出没于( infest的过去式和过去分词 )；遍布于

参考例句：

• The kitchen was infested with ants. 厨房里到处是蚂蚁。
• The apartments were infested with rats and roaches. 公寓里面到处都是老鼠和蟑螂。