VOA标准英语2010年-Relief Efforts Shift to Rebuilding Hai

Two weeks after Haiti's earthquake, the international community is beginning to focus on long-term aid for the devastated¹ nation. International donors² are meeting in Montreal, Monday.  A United Nations agency is calling on international donors to focus on rebuilding Haiti's agriculture.
 
Relief efforts continue in Haiti, as food aid, rescuers and medical teams still flood into the devastated island nation. But the focus is shifting to how to rebuild the impoverished⁴ country. 

According to the Rome-based International Fund for Agricultural Development, agriculture needs to be on top of this agenda. That is the message IFAD President Kanayo Nwanze plans to take to top business leaders and politicians meeting in Davos, Switzerland, later this week.

"Haiti's agriculture, which sustains the majority of the population, is crucial for the long-term development of the country," he stressed.  "Assistance to Haiti for long-term development will provide the opportunities for them to grow their own food, as much as possible, and not be too dependent on imported food," he said.
Earthquake survivors⁵ board a bus headed for small towns in the countryside in Port-au-Prince (File)

Speaking by Internet link, Nwanze told reporters that focusing on Haiti's agricultural production is particularly critical now, as Haitians flee the quake-hit capital Port-au-Prince for the countryside.

Nwanze says, the United States -- one of the main donor³ countries -- is already beginning to shift its focus to rural development.
 
"The U.S. has certainly made it known that it is committed to both the reconstruction⁶ and long-term rehabilitation⁷ of Haiti," said Nwanze.  "I believe one of those [efforts] would be assisting the Haitians, themselves, to be able to grow enough food and be able to reduce their dependency on imports," he said.

But the track record has not been good. The share of foreign aid earmarked for agriculture in Haiti dropped from 18 percent in the 1980's to less than four percent in 2007. Only recently has it rebounded⁸, after the spike⁹ in world food prices. But even before the quake, 80 percent of Haiti's food was imported.

Nwanze says that IFAD and two other U.N. agencies -- the World Food Program and the Food and Agricultural Organization -- will begin this week to assess the impact of Haiti's earthquake on rural areas, as a first step to a longer-term development strategy.

 

1 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

2 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》

3 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。

4 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 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

6 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。

7 rehabilitation   

n.康复，悔过自新，修复，复兴，复职，复位

参考例句：

• He's booked himself into a rehabilitation clinic.他自己联系了一家康复诊所。
• No one can really make me rehabilitation of injuries.已经没有人可以真正令我的伤康复了。

8 rebounded   

弹回( rebound的过去式和过去分词 )； 反弹； 产生反作用； 未能奏效

参考例句：

• The ball rebounded from the goalpost and Owen headed it in. 球从门柱弹回，欧文头球将球攻进。
• The ball rebounded from his racket into the net. 球从他的球拍上弹回网中。

9 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。