VOA标准英语2008年-Start Of School Delayed In Burma

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
01 June 2008

School begins in Burma on Monday. But, few children from the cyclone¹ struck Irrawaddy Delta² will be going. The government has delayed the opening for at least one month in the hardest hit places. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva the United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, is helping³ the government reopen damaged schools by distributing repair materials, and providing school supplies and learning material.
　

Children play on the wreckage4 of their school in the village of Chaung Lin in the isolated5 area of Kanzeik in the Irrawaddy Delta region, 23 May 2008

Burma's schools were due to reopen on June 2, one month after Cyclone Nargis struck, killing⁶ tens of thousands of people and rendering⁷ more than one million homeless.

The United Nations Children's Fund reports 80 to 90 percent of schools were destroyed in the hardest hit areas. Given the extent of the damage, the Ministry⁸ of Education has delayed the opening of schools in seven townships in the Irrawaddy Delta and one township in Rangoon.

UNICEF Spokesman, Michael Klaus, says he does not know how many children actually will be going to school. But, he says regrettably it will not be very many.

"One-point-one million is the overall school age population in the affected⁹ areas. So, that was the whole number and ideally all of them would have gone back to school next Monday. Due to the damages this is not possible. Only some of the schools which are lesser¹⁰ affected can go back to school."
　

Cyclone-affected children lined up in the rain waiting for food in the Shwepoukkan area of Burma, 25 May 2008

UNICEF believes it is important that children affected by disaster go back to school as soon as possible. It says school helps them recover from the trauma¹¹ of loss, from the trauma of having been uprooted¹². It says school helps to give children whose lives have been completely disrupted a sense of normalcy and security.

Klaus says UNICEF is working with Burma's Ministry of Education to help reopen damaged schools by distributing repair materials as well as essential school supplies and learning matter.

He says over the next six months, UNICEF plans to support the repair and renovation¹³ of around 1,000 primary schools and 400 pre-school facilities.

"It is estimated that more than 4,000 basic education schools have been damaged or completely destroyed, which affects a school population of around 1.1 million children. So, what is planned over the next six months is to provide tents, tarpaulins¹⁴ and support the establishment of at least 1,000 temporary safe learning spaces, very simple spaces made of bamboo and tarpaulins to make sure that education can restart there."

UNICEF estimates a third of all those killed by Cyclone Nargis are children. More than 130,000 people are either dead or missing from the storm.

Klaus says many of the children who survived have lost or been separated from their parents. He says they will need special care. He says they will need to be protected from exploitation and abuse.

Klaus says UNICEF is planning to create at least 100 so-called child friendly spaces, which will offer a secure environment for orphaned¹⁵ or unaccompanied children.

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 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。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

5 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

6 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

7 rendering   

n.表现，描写

参考例句：

• She gave a splendid rendering of Beethoven's piano sonata.她精彩地演奏了贝多芬的钢琴奏鸣曲。
• His narrative is a super rendering of dialect speech and idiom.他的叙述是方言和土语最成功的运用。

8 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

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 lesser   

adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地

参考例句：

• Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
• She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。

11 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

12 uprooted   

v.把（某物）连根拔起( uproot的过去式和过去分词 )；根除；赶走；把…赶出家园

参考例句：

• Many people were uprooted from their homes by the flood. 水灾令许多人背井离乡。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The hurricane blew with such force that trees were uprooted. 飓风强烈地刮着，树都被连根拔起了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 renovation   

n.革新，整修

参考例句：

• The cinema will reopen next week after the renovation.电影院修缮后，将于下星期开业。
• The building has undergone major renovation.这座大楼已进行大整修。

14 tarpaulins   

n.防水帆布，防水帆布罩( tarpaulin的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Main wood to aluminum and plexiglass, PC, tarpaulins, toughened glass. 主材以铝型材与进口有机玻璃、PC、防水布、钢化玻璃。 来自互联网
• That means providing tents or other materials, including plastic sheeting, tarpaulins and wood. 这意味着需要帐篷和其他物资，包括塑料布、放水油布和木材。 来自互联网

15 orphaned   

[计][修]孤立

参考例句：

• Orphaned children were consigned to institutions. 孤儿都打发到了福利院。
• He was orphaned at an early age. 他幼年时便成了孤儿。