VOA标准英语2008年-British Prime Minister Criticizes Burma Over Fa

By Tom Rivers
London
17 May 2008

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has strongly condemned¹ Burma's military government for not allowing international aid to reach its own people. For VOA, Tom Rivers in London has details.

Prime Minister Brown, in an interview with British television, accused the authorities in Rangoon of standing² in the way of international support that could immediately help those still severely³ affected⁴ by the cyclone⁵ that struck just over two weeks ago.

"This is inhuman⁶," he said. "We have an intolerable situation created by a natural disaster that is being made into a man-made catastrophe⁷ by the negligence⁸, the neglect and the inhuman treatment of the Burmese people by a regime that is failing to act and to allow the international community to do what it wants to do."

Both the United States and France have ships in the area and could deliver large aid consignments⁹, but Burma has refused to allow any relief to be moved into the hard-hit delta¹⁰ region directly from the sea.

Mr. Brown told the BBC, the world is watching and the ruling generals in Rangoon are being judged by their actions.

"This is a regime in Burma that is preventing the aid that ought to be getting to the people of Burma, getting there," said the British prime minister. "And we will continue to use every international channel to pressure them to do what is the right thing by the people."

Britain is trying to get its aid to Burma through those regional countries that make up the Association of South East Asian Nations.

Another meeting of that group is to be held on Monday to discuss further donor¹¹ strategies.

Burmese officials put the cyclone death toll¹² at 78,000, but international relief groups say it is probably much higher. The United Nations estimates that some 2.5 million may have been made homeless.

1 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

2 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

3 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

4 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。

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 inhuman   

adj.残忍的，不人道的，无人性的

参考例句：

• We must unite the workers in fighting against inhuman conditions.我们必须使工人们团结起来反对那些难以忍受的工作条件。
• It was inhuman to refuse him permission to see his wife.不容许他去看自己的妻子是太不近人情了。

7 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

8 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。

9 consignments   

n.托付货物( consignment的名词复数 )；托卖货物；寄售；托运

参考例句：

• Police have seized several consignments of pornography. 警方没收了好几批运来的色情物品。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I want you to see for yourself how our consignments are cleared in London. 我要你亲自去看看我们的货物在伦敦是怎样结关的。 来自辞典例句

10 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

11 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

12 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。