VOA标准英语2010年-Haitian-Americans Worry, Wonder About

You will find Haitian-American communities throughout the United States, from New York, to California to Florida.  One of the most prominent is what's known as "Little Haiti" in Miami, Florida.   With so many people missing in Haiti following Tuesday's deadly earthquake, Haitian-Americans are on edge. 

Staff members at the Haitian American Youth Alliance have been hard at work since hearing of Tuesday's deadly 7.0 earthquake, trying to help those with loved ones in Haiti, even while worrying about their own.

There are an estimated 45,000 Americans in Haiti.  Telephone lines are down so word on people's welfare is slow in coming.   

And often when news comes it isn't good.

In Washington Wednesday, Raymond Joseph, Haiti's ambassador to the U.S. called on the world to help, requesting a quadrupling of U.S. aid to his country, already plagued by poverty and years of political instability.

"The way it is, Port-au-Prince has to be rebuilt. And I think a lot of the shanty¹ towns that were crushed should not be rebuilt in Port-au-Prince. Decentralized," Joseph said.

U.S. President Barack Obama pledged a full scale humanitarian² effort. "I have directed my administration to respond with a swift, coordinated³ and aggressive effort to save lives," he said.

From around the world, relief, in the form of supplies and manpower, is on the way.

1 shanty   

n.小屋，棚屋；船工号子

参考例句：

• His childhood was spent in a shanty.他的童年是在一个简陋小屋里度过的。
• I want to quit this shanty.我想离开这烂房子。

2 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。

3 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法