VOA标准英语2009年-Scores of Smuggling Victims Dead or Missin

The U.N. refugee agency says 65 people are dead or missing and presumed dead in three separate incidents involving smuggling¹ boats in the Gulf² of Aden during the past 48 hours.
　
Somalia and Gulf of Aden

These tragic³ events are just the latest in a long string of incidents affecting people from the Horn of Africa. People in this region, scarred by civil war, political instability, famine and poverty, willingly risk their lives in search of a better future.

In the first incident, which took place early Sunday, a vessel⁴ carrying 142 people reportedly capsized as the smuggling crew jumped over board after failing to fix an engine.

U.N. refugee chief spokesperson Melissa Fleming says 98 people managed to swim ashore⁵ while 43 others are missing and presumed dead.

"According to survivors⁷, one person was reported to have suffocated⁸ in the engine room. Passengers said that the boat departed on Thursday morning from the Somali town of Elayo, west of Bossasso," Fleming said. "One survivor⁶ told UNHCR that passengers were repeatedly beaten and threatened by the smugglers during the journey. In the second incident, involving a smuggling boat reportedly carrying 112 Africans, 13 people lost their lives at the hands of smugglers."

Fleming says passengers on this vessel also were brutally⁹ treated by the smugglers. She says three people were beaten to death by the smugglers and another 10 died as a result of asphyxiation¹⁰. She says 38 people in a third boat had a lucky escape.

She says an EU warship¹¹ sighted a small boat sinking in deep waters and came to its rescue. But eight other people were not so lucky. She says rescue helicopters launched from the EU vessel spotted¹² two bodies in nearby waters. Another six people are missing and presumed drowned.

UNHCR spokeswoman Fleming says it appears this lethal¹³ trade is expanding.

"UNHCR staff in Yemen report an increasing number of large smuggling vessels¹⁴ packed with larger numbers of people making the journey across the Gulf of Aden and putting more lives at risk," Fleming said.

The UNHCR reports 860 boats and more than 43,500 people have made the perilous¹⁵ journey to Yemen from the Horn of Africa this year. It says more than 270 people have drowned or are missing at sea and presumed dead.

1 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

2 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

3 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

4 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

5 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

6 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

7 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

8 suffocated   

（使某人）窒息而死( suffocate的过去式和过去分词 )； （将某人）闷死； 让人感觉闷热； 憋气

参考例句：

• Many dogs have suffocated in hot cars. 许多狗在热烘烘的汽车里给闷死了。
• I nearly suffocated when the pipe of my breathing apparatus came adrift. 呼吸器上的管子脱落时，我差点给憋死。

9 brutally   

adv.残忍地，野蛮地，冷酷无情地

参考例句：

• The uprising was brutally put down.起义被残酷地镇压下去了。
• A pro-democracy uprising was brutally suppressed.一场争取民主的起义被残酷镇压了。

10 asphyxiation   

n. 窒息

参考例句：

• Objective Inquiry into the heavy asphyxiation rescues measure of the new born. 摘要目的探讨新生儿重度窒息抢救的措施。
• Self-contained breathing apparatus(SCBA) may be required to prevent asphyxiation of rescue personnel. 可能要求有自给式呼吸器(SCBA)，以防止救援人员窒息。

11 warship   

n.军舰，战舰

参考例句：

• He is serving on a warship in the Pacific.他在太平洋海域的一艘军舰上服役。
• The warship was making towards the pier.军舰正驶向码头。

12 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

13 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

14 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

15 perilous   

adj.危险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• The journey through the jungle was perilous.穿过丛林的旅行充满了危险。
• We have been carried in safety through a perilous crisis.历经一连串危机，我们如今已安然无恙。