VOA标准英语2009年-Scorned by Western Donors, Tsvangirai Seeks S.

Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has asked South Africa for short-term financial assistance to get his government and the public service working again. Mr. Tsvangirai first unsuccessfully sought assistance from Western donor² nations.
　
Morgan Tsvangirai talks during a press conference in Cape³ Town, S. Africa, 20 Feb 2009

Speaking at a media briefing in Cape Town following his meeting with South African president Kgalema Motlanthe, Mr. Tsvangirai said he was seeking emergency assistance to kick-start essential public services.

"At the moment our real focus is to look at those short term interventions⁴, in the reopening of schools, in the reopening of the health situation and the food situation in the country," he said.

Central to these plans, is to get teachers back in school, health workers back in the clinics and hospitals, and farmers back in the fields.

And so, earlier this week, new Finance Minister Tendai Biti promised to pay public servants a $100 allowance in foreign currency. However, he was unable to tell reporters the source of the funds - saying he would "kukiyakiya," or scrape the money together here and there.

But clearly, much more than "kukiyakiya" is needed if the new unity⁵ government is to pay public servants their full salaries in foreign currency.

"But let me say that the issue of paying them in [foreign] currency was the first step to intervene to help them with an allowance in the first place, and as we move forward create the necessary facility for payment in foreign currency; for a while until the real value of the Zimbabwean dollar is reestablished," said Tsvangirai.

Sources told VOA, Mr. Tsvangirai first sought emergency assistance from Western donors⁶ to pay the salaries of the country's public servants and for other government programs, but was turned down.

Diplomats⁷ confirm that existing policies toward providing funding to Zimbabwe have not changed. Countries like the United States will continue to fund humanitarian⁸ programs but will not bail⁹ out the unity government or offer development assistance until abductees are released; progress is made toward restoring the rule of law; and, a comprehensive macro-economic policy framework is worked out.

The assistance to Zimbabwe will be billed as a Southern Africa Development Community initiative, but it seems clear most, if not all, the funding will come from South Africa. To this end, the Zimbabwean and South African finance ministers will meet next week with the director of the African Development bank, to work out the details.
　
S. African Pres. Kgalema Motlanthe, listens during a press conference in Cape Town, South Africa, 20 Feb 2009

It is understood that Mr. Tsvangirai is seeking about $600 million but neither he nor President Motlanthe was willing to say how much is being asked, or indeed given.

"No, there are no figures to speak of, those are going to be crunched¹⁰ by the technical people and [they will] emerge by end of next weekend, with a clearer picture of what the needs and requirements are," Motlanthe said.

Already some South Africans - feeling the effects of the world economic crisis and of some 3 million displaced Zimbabweans in their country - are grumbling¹¹ about funding such a large bailout.

Mr. Motlanthe said there is no need to worry.

"There are no implications for the budget that [the South African finance minister] announced last week," he added.

With an economy that is all but collapsed¹², and official inflation at 231 million percent, Mr. Tsvangirai said it will take as much as $5 billion to get Zimbabwe fully¹ back on its feet.

1 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

2 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。

3 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

4 interventions   

n.介入，干涉，干预( intervention的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Economic analysis of government interventions deserves detailed discussion. 政府对经济的干预应该给予充分的论述。 来自辞典例句
• The judge's frequent interventions made a mockery of justice. 法官的屡屡干预是对正义的践踏。 来自互联网

5 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。

6 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》

7 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 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。

9 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

10 crunched   

v.嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼( crunch的过去式和过去分词 )；嘎吱作响；（快速大量地）处理信息；数字捣弄

参考例句：

• Our feet crunched on the frozen snow. 我们的脚嘎吱嘎吱地踩在冻雪上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He closed his jaws on the bones and crunched. 他咬紧骨头，使劲地嚼。 来自英汉文学 - 热爱生命

11 grumbling   

adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的

参考例句：

• She's always grumbling to me about how badly she's treated at work. 她总是向我抱怨她在工作中如何受亏待。
• We didn't hear any grumbling about the food. 我们没听到过对食物的抱怨。

12 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。