VOA标准英语2010年-Clinton to Visit Haiti Saturday for Fi

A US Air Force photo shows tents on the edge of the runway at Port-au-Prince airport, providing shelter to US military personnel participating in the Haiti's relief effort, 15 Jan 2010

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will fly to Port-au-Prince Saturday to meet Haitian President Rene Preval and get a first-hand look at Haiti earthquake relief efforts. Clinton says the gesture will convey the United State's unwavering support, solidarity¹ and sympathies to the Haitian people.

Not wanting to disrupt relief efforts, Clinton will fly into Port-au-Prince on a U.S. military cargo² plane already committed to the relief mission, and will not leave the confines of the airport.

She told reporters here she will meet at the airport with Haitian President Rene Preval, U.S. military and civilian³ relief personnel, and members of non governmental groups to thank them for their efforts and underscore American solidarity with the Haitian people. "Our hearts and our prayers are with the people of Haiti, the brave rescue workers that are there, on the ground, literally⁴ working around the clock. We had some wonderfully heartwarming stories today of people being rescued from the rubble⁵ alive and well, and to reiterate⁶ the support that we feel for all of those who are caught up in this disaster," she said.

Clinton will be accompanied to Haiti by a team of officials including U.S. Agency for International Development administrator⁷ Raj Shah.

President Obama has committed $100 million dollars to an official U.S. aid effort that officials here say will likely become much larger over time, and be supplemented by potentially even bigger contributions by private Americans to non-governmental aid groups.

Under questioning, Clinton said she did not want to understate the task facing Haiti and its international supporters, but said she was confident the country has the resilience to overcome the current situation. "A country that had four hurricanes last year and a devastating⁸ earthquake this year has certainly got more than its share of problems. But I think we've learned a lot, and there's a resilience among the people of Haiti, and a commitment on the part of the current government that I think bodes⁹ well for being able to bring about reconstruction¹⁰ and recovery efforts that will be successful," she said.

Clinton said the military transport she will fly into Haiti on will be carrying relief supplies and that on the flight out several hours later, the same aircraft will carry American civilians¹¹ and others being evacuated¹² from the country.

U.S. officials estimate that as many as 45,000 American citizens, many of them U.S.-Haitian dual¹³ nationals, were in the country at the time of Tuesday's earthquake and that about one thousand had been evacuated by late Friday.

Under questioning, Clinton said the United States very much appreciates a decision by Cuba to open up its airspace to medical evacuation and emergency flights from Haiti, and would welcome any other contributions by the communist government to the international relief mission.

The State Department said the United States and Haiti signed an agreement Friday giving U.S. experts operational control of the Port-au-Prince airport, which was left in the immediate¹⁴ aftermath of the earthquake without a traffic control system.

Clinton said she expects the convening¹⁵ soon of an international donor¹⁶ conference for Haiti and had already discussed the issue with Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, among others.

 

1 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。

2 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

3 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

4 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

5 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

6 reiterate   

v.重申，反复地说

参考例句：

• Let me reiterate that we have absolutely no plans to increase taxation.让我再一次重申我们绝对没有增税的计划。
• I must reiterate that our position on this issue is very clear.我必须重申我们对这一项议题的立场很清楚。

7 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

8 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

9 bodes   

v.预示，预告，预言( bode的第三人称单数 )；等待，停留( bide的过去分词 )；居住；（过去式用bided）等待

参考例句：

• This bodes ill for the failure of the programme. 这是那项计划有凶兆。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• This bodes him no good. 这对他是不祥之兆。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

10 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

11 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

12 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

13 dual   

adj.双的；二重的，二元的

参考例句：

• The people's Republic of China does not recognize dual nationality for any Chinese national.中华人民共和国不承认中国公民具有双重国籍。
• He has dual role as composer and conductor.他兼作曲家及指挥的双重身分。

14 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

15 convening   

召开( convene的现在分词 )； 召集； （为正式会议而）聚集； 集合

参考例句：

• When convening the assembly, however, you shall blow without sounding an alarm. 民10:7但招聚会众的时候、们要吹号、不要吹出大声。
• We warmly welcome the convening of Asia-Europe meeting in London. 热烈欢迎亚欧会议在伦敦召开。

16 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。