VOA标准英语2010年-Haiti Earthquake Displaces 300,000

In its first estimate, the United Nations reports about 10 percent of the housing in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince has been destroyed, leaving some 300,000 people homeless. The UN says a full assessment¹ of the damages inflicted² by the powerful earthquake will take several days to complete.

Lisa Schlein | Geneva 15 January 2010

Earthquake survivors³ in a public park in downtown Port-au-Prince, 14 Jan 2010

In its first estimate, the United Nations reports about 10 percent of the housing in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince has been destroyed, leaving some 300,000 people homeless.  The UN says a full assessment of the damages inflicted by the powerful earthquake will take several days to complete.

The United Nations says some 3.5 million people are living in areas affected⁴ by the earthquake. Nearly three million are in the capital, Port-au-Prince, which was most seriously affected. 

Aid agencies say it is too soon to know how many people were killed and injured. But, they say it is sure to be in the tens of thousands. 

In the meantime, a helicopter assessment of the stricken area has found 50 percent of some areas have been destroyed or seriously damaged, with many buildings completely collapsed⁵.

A U.N. spokeswoman, Elizabeth Byrs, says a coordination⁶ center has been set up near the airport to oversee⁷ the increasingly complex humanitarian⁸ operation.  And, she says a reception center has been set up at the airport to help coordinate⁹ the many incoming teams and humanitarian aid.

In addition, she says an air bridge is being established with the Dominican Republic from Santo Domingo to Port-au-Prince.

"Another shuttle will be put in place, established by the peacekeeping forces - a shuttle with airplanes with the capacity of between 30 and 40 passengers," she said. 

The World Food Program and International Organization for Migration¹⁰ report they distributed food and non-food items Thursday to 4,000 survivors in Port-au-Prince. They will continue with the emergency distribution today, Friday.

World Food Program spokeswoman, Emilia Casella, says WFP's warehouses¹¹ have been seriously damaged but food stocks appear to be intact. In any case, she says that the food in the warehouses is not appropriate for the current needs.

She says people caught in the earthquake are unable to cook and require ready-to-eat foods.

"What the World Food Program is now looking at is aiming to reach initially¹² about two million people who are affected by Tuesday's earthquake with an emergency operation that will start by calling for 14 million humanitarian daily rations¹³ which would be enough to feed two million people for about 30 days," she said. 

Thousands of corpses¹⁴ are strewn along the streets of Port-au-Prince and environs. A World Health Organization spokesman, Paul Garwood, says collecting and disposing of the corpses is of primary concern.

"The presence of dead bodies in a community does not pose a public health risk," he noted¹⁵. "That has got to be stressed and made clear. There has been inaccurate¹⁶ reporting to that fact… At the same time, there is an obvious psycho-social mental health aspect to this. People do not want to see this. And, if you are a family member of someone who has passed away, anyone seeing this kind of tragedy has to be responded to. We work with that kind of urgency." 

Garwood says the scale of this disaster is overwhelming.  He says there is an urgent need for more body bags so laying the corpses to rest is done in an appropriate way.

He says WHO does not recommend mass graves.  Rather, in cases where there are large numbers of bodies, he says WHO advises that bodies be placed in shallow ditches.

 

1 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

2 inflicted   

把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They inflicted a humiliating defeat on the home team. 他们使主队吃了一场很没面子的败仗。
• Zoya heroically bore the torture that the Fascists inflicted upon her. 卓娅英勇地承受法西斯匪徒加在她身上的酷刑。

3 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

4 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。

5 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。

6 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

7 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

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 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

10 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

11 warehouses   

仓库，货栈( warehouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The whisky was taken to bonded warehouses at Port Dundee. 威士忌酒已送到邓迪港的保稅仓库。
• Row upon row of newly built warehouses line the waterfront. 江岸新建的仓库鳞次栉比。

12 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

13 rations   

定量( ration的名词复数 )； 配给量； 正常量； 合理的量

参考例句：

• They are provisioned with seven days' rations. 他们得到了7天的给养。
• The soldiers complained that they were getting short rations. 士兵们抱怨他们得到的配给不够数。

14 corpses   

n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The living soldiers put corpses together and burned them. 活着的战士把尸体放在一起烧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Overhead, grayish-white clouds covered the sky, piling up heavily like decaying corpses. 天上罩满了灰白的薄云，同腐烂的尸体似的沉沉的盖在那里。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

15 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

16 inaccurate   

adj.错误的，不正确的，不准确的

参考例句：

• The book is both inaccurate and exaggerated.这本书不但不准确，而且夸大其词。
• She never knows the right time because her watch is inaccurate.她从来不知道准确的时间因为她的表不准。