2007年VOA标准英语-Rains Devastate Sudanese Relief Efforts

By Alisha Ryu
Nairobi
01 August 2007

In Sudan, torrential rains and overflowing¹ rivers are causing misery² for tens of thousands of people across the country. The unusually heavy downpours began several weeks ago and have especially affected³ the less-developed southern region of the country. Top local officials there have declared six of the region's 10 states a disaster zone. VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu has details from our East Africa Bureau in Nairobi.

remains4 of his home following floods in Kassala, near Khartoum, Sudan Tuesday, 10 July 2007" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070804/0928020.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

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

Government officials in the capital, Khartoum, say raging flood waters killed more than 60 people and injured nearly 150 others last month across Sudan and have swept away homes, roads, and countless⁵ livestock⁶.

The government of South Sudan says it believes more than 12,000 people have been affected by floods, including thousands who have lost their homes in Unity⁷ and Upper Nile States.

The head of the U.N. Resident Coordinator's Office for the Upper Nile State, Meredith Preston McGhie, says the worst-affected areas are in Renk County, where heavy rains caused a nearby river to burst its banks.

Road construction in the area hampered⁸ drainage, causing floodwaters to rise. She says 2,000 people have been displaced and 5,500 people in Renk Country are in desperate need of drinking water and shelter.

McGhie acknowledges that the scope of the disaster in southern Sudan is not on the scale of the last month's flooding in Britain, which has affected nearly half-a-million people.

But she says aid agencies believe the situation in southern Sudan is dire⁹.

"It is an emergency in the sense that the coping capacity of people in a lot of these areas is lower and often access is very, very difficult," she explained. "A lot of the basic subsistence level of people in South Sudan is such that when everything goes, they really have no safety net.

Thousands of people have been returning to the South after a 2005 peace deal ended the country's two-decade long civil war.

The floods are a setback¹⁰ for the regional government and humanitarian¹¹ groups, who have been struggling to build infrastructure¹², such as roads, and provide housing and basic services.

 

South Sudan officials say international aid agencies are distributing food and drugs and the regional government has allocated¹³ $1 million in aid for Unity and Upper Nile States. The central government in Khartoum has contributed blankets and plastic sheeting.

 

In northern Sudan, more than 40,000 families, living in semi-desert areas, are said to have been left homeless after their rain-saturated mud-brick houses collapsed¹⁴. At least 140 public buildings in the north, including schools and hospitals, have reportedly been badly damaged by floods and mudslides.

In Khartoum, worried residents have been stacking sand bags along the banks of Africa's largest river, the Nile. Health officials say they are spraying insecticides in the capital to prevent an epidemic¹⁵ of diseases carried by mosquitos and flies.

1 overflowing   

n. 溢出物,溢流 adj. 充沛的，充满的 动词overflow的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The stands were overflowing with farm and sideline products. 集市上农副产品非常丰富。
• The milk is overflowing. 牛奶溢出来了。

2 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

3 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。

4 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。

5 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

6 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。

7 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

8 hampered   

妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions. 恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• So thought every harassed, hampered, respectable boy in St. Petersburg. 圣彼德堡镇的那些受折磨、受拘束的体面孩子们个个都是这么想的。

9 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

10 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

11 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。

12 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

13 allocated   

adj. 分配的 动词allocate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The Ford Foundation allocated millions of dollars for cancer research. 福特基金会拨款数百万美元用于癌症研究。
• More funds will now be allocated to charitable organizations. 现在会拨更多的资金给慈善组织。

14 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

15 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。