VOA标准英语2008年-Aid Groups, Governments Appeal for More Access

By Kent Klein
Washington
09 May 2008

Days after a deadly cyclone¹ swept through Burma, governments and aid organizations around the world are ready to help, but Burma's military government has allowed very few aid workers to enter the country.  As VOA's Kent Klein reports from Washington, these groups want the international community to put more pressure on Burma to let them in.

Burma has agreed to accept some foreign aid, but insists that its own nationals distribute the supplies.  Humanitarian² groups are growing increasingly frustrated³ at the military government's refusal to let the aid workers in.

Tony Banbury is the United Nations World Food Program's Asia Director in Bangkok.  In a video teleconference with a forum⁴ in Washington, Banbury said hours of negotiations⁵ with Burmese officials to admit food deliveries went nowhere.

"We prepared a letter, had it hand-delivered.  The response back was, 'No, you cannot have any supplies,'" he said.

The World Food Program (WFP) flew in 38 tons of food, enough to feed 95,000 people a day, as well as health supplies.  The Burmese government impounded the materials.  WFP officials say they will resume aid flights to Burma on Saturday.

U.S. officials are also appealing for access to Burma.  Military authorities are banning a U.S. disaster response team from visiting devastated⁶ areas.  Ky Luu, the director of the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, says humanitarian aid is not a threat, even to countries that do not have friendly relations with Washington.

"Our message is clear to the authorities as we provide assistance globally elsewhere," he said.  "This is humanitarian assistance.  This is needspace.  If you allow our teams to be able to come in and allow us to be able to work with the international community as a whole, we will be able to make a difference."

Meanwhile, public health officials are warning that unsanitary conditions and malnutrition⁷ will lead to disease epidemics⁸.  Dr. Chris Beyrer, with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, says tens of thousands of more deaths are likely to result in Burma from cholera⁹, e-coli and childhood measles¹⁰.

"It is a recurring¹¹ problem when this happens in disasters, that you have outbreaks of childhood measles," he said.  "Immunization coverage¹² rates are relatively¹³ low in some of these areas.  We do not have great date on coverage, but there is an expectation that measles will be an outbreak."

Burma's government-in-exile is also calling on the military leaders to allow humanitarian aid workers to enter the country.  Sein Win is the prime minister of the government, which was democratically elected in 1990, but not allowed to take office.  At a press conference in Washington, he said he wants international pressure on China to put pressure on Burma's junta¹⁴ to let the workers in.

"We want China to tell the military this is not time for delaying tactics, no time for that," he said.  "Let the relief mission come in and start their work."

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other officials have also appealed to Burma's military leaders to postpone¹⁵ Saturday's constitutional referendum.  The government has said it will go ahead with the vote.

1 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。

2 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。

3 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

5 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

6 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。

7 malnutrition   

n.营养不良

参考例句：

• In Africa, there are a lot of children suffering from severe malnutrition.在非洲有大批严重营养不良的孩子。
• It is a classic case of malnutrition. 这是营养不良的典型病例。

8 epidemics   

n．流行病

参考例句：

• Reliance upon natural epidemics may be both time-consuming and misleading. 依靠天然的流行既浪费时间，又会引入歧途。
• The antibiotic epidemics usually start stop when the summer rainy season begins. 传染病通常会在夏天的雨季停止传播。

9 cholera   

n.霍乱

参考例句：

• The cholera outbreak has been contained.霍乱的发生已被控制住了。
• Cholera spread like wildfire through the camps.霍乱在营地里迅速传播。

10 measles   

n.麻疹，风疹，包虫病，痧子

参考例句：

• The doctor is quite definite about Tom having measles.医生十分肯定汤姆得了麻疹。
• The doctor told her to watch out for symptoms of measles.医生叫她注意麻疹出现的症状。

11 recurring   

adj.往复的，再次发生的

参考例句：

• This kind of problem is recurring often. 这类问题经常发生。
• For our own country, it has been a time for recurring trial. 就我们国家而言，它经过了一个反复考验的时期。

12 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

13 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。

14 junta   

n.团体；政务审议会

参考例句：

• The junta reacted violently to the perceived threat to its authority.军政府感到自身权力受威胁而进行了激烈反击。
• A military junta took control of the country.一个军政权控制了国家。

15 postpone   

v.延期，推迟

参考例句：

• I shall postpone making a decision till I learn full particulars.在未获悉详情之前我得从缓作出决定。
• She decided to postpone the converastion for that evening.她决定当天晚上把谈话搁一搁。