VOA标准英语2008年-UN Chief Heads to Cyclone-Stricken Burma

By Margaret Besheer
United Nations
19 May 2008

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon goes to Burma Thursday, where he plans to visit some of the hardest hit areas of the cyclone¹-devastated country and meet with the reclusive regime's top leaders. The U.N. chief will also attend a joint² U.N.-ASEAN donors³ conference for the cyclone victims. From U.N. headquarters in New York, VOA's Margaret Besheer reports the secretary-general's mission is purely⁴ humanitarian⁵.

Mr. Ban's spokeswoman, Michele Montas, said Monday that the secretary-general would go directly to the areas hardest hit by Cyclone Nargis when he arrives in Burma - also known as Myanmar - on Thursday.

"His objective is to reinforce the ongoing⁶ aid operation, see how the international relief and rehabilitation⁷ effort can be scaled up and work with Myanmar authorities to significantly increase the amount of aid flowing through Yangon to the areas most affected⁸ by the disaster," she said.

One of the issues hampering⁹ the aid operation has been the Burmese regime's resistance to granting visas to international aid workers. Asked if the secretary-general had to apply for a visa, Montas said he has received one and is traveling at the invitation of Burma's U.N. ambassador. Despite that invitation, Montas said the secretary-general has still been unable to reach the country's top leader by telephone.

Mr. Ban will remain in Burma until Friday, when he will travel to neighboring Thailand for bi-lateral meetings ahead of Sunday's joint U.N.-ASEAN International Pledging Conference.

His brief trip to Bangkok means he will not be in Burma on Saturday, when the constitutional referendum is scheduled to take place in areas affected by the cyclone. The regime went ahead with plans to hold the referendum on May 10th in areas not affected by the storm.

His spokesperson said his trip is a purely humanitarian one, and Mr. Ban would not press the military government for more democracy or seek meetings with the country's opposition¹⁰ leaders.

"He is going to go and visit with the victims of the cyclone, it is going to be strictly¹¹ a humanitarian visit," she said.

On Sunday, Mr. Ban will return to Rangon for the day, where the international donors conference will take place.

Mr. Ban's top humanitarian official, John Holmes, arrived in Burma on Sunday, and Monday visited three badly hit areas, including Labutta in the Irrawaddy Delta¹². He is scheduled to meet with Burmese government officials on Tuesday.

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 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

3 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

5 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。

6 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

7 rehabilitation   

n.康复，悔过自新，修复，复兴，复职，复位

参考例句：

• He's booked himself into a rehabilitation clinic.他自己联系了一家康复诊所。
• No one can really make me rehabilitation of injuries.已经没有人可以真正令我的伤康复了。

8 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。

9 hampering   

妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• So fraud on cows and development aid is seriously hampering growth. 因此在牛问题上和发展补助上的诈骗严重阻碍了发展。
• Short-termism, carbon-trading, disputing the science-are hampering the implementation of direct economically-led objectives. 短效主义，出售二氧化碳，进行科学辩论，这些都不利于实现以经济为主导的直接目标。

10 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

11 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

12 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。