VOA标准英语2010年-Senate Panel Discusses Governance for

Haitians and international aid workers continue to grapple with immediate¹ rescue and relief efforts, pulling a teenage girl out of the rubble² Wednesday, 15 days after the initial devastating³ earthquake.  But in Washington at a hearing on Haiti, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee turned its attention to intermediate and long-term issues, such as good and sustainable governance for Haiti. 

Ranking Republican member Senator Richard Lugar cited a new poll of 400 Haitian Americans in the Miami Herald⁴ newspaper, which shows that a clear majority have lost faith in the Haitian government's ability to rebuild their shattered homeland.

"Sixty-three percent disapprove⁵ of how Haitian President Rene Preval's government has responded," senator Lugar said. "The unhappiness runs so deep that  a majority of Haitian Americans support the United Nations and the international community taking over Haiti's day-to-day operations, at least until Haiti recovers from the catastrophe⁶." 

The survey, conducted in Creole and English, said two-thirds of those Haitian Americans polled are so concerned they would be willing to move back to Haiti temporarily to help with the reconstruction⁷. 

In contrast to their dissatisfaction with the Haitian government's response, 96 percent of those Haitian Americans polled said they approve of the U.S. government's response, and 88 percent approved of the United Nation response.

Some Haitians have criticized President Rene Preval for not  being more visible and for not communicating better in the two weeks since the disaster.  Dr. Rony Francois, the incoming Director of Public Health for the U.S. state of Georgia said he personally had only seen President Preval on television once since the earthquake.

"I can certainly understand that there would be an initial paralysis⁸ in any leader," Dr. Francois said. "But in my perspective, crises again are where good leaders define themselves."

Francois and most of the people testifying at the hearing emphasized the magnitude of the destruction, with government buildings in Haiti's capital wiped out.

Paul Farmer, the U.N. Deputy Special Envoy⁹ for Haiti said as he flew into Washington, D.C. he tried to imagine a similar scenario¹⁰.

"What would it be like to look around you and see every federal building collapsed¹¹?  The White House, the Dirksen building, all of them," Framer said. "And that is of course what we have seen in Haiti."

The senators and witnesses were in broad agreement the United Nations should be the one to provide temporary leadership of recovery and reconstruction efforts in Haiti. 

RAND corporation Director of International Security and Defense¹² Policy James Dobbins said the bad news is that Haiti is going to require an international security presence for quite some time.  But he said contrary to some media reports the vast majority of Haitians are neither heavily armed nor prone¹³ to any sort of violence.

"One has only to regard the patience with which the people of Port-au-Prince has awaited succor¹⁴ over the last two weeks to recognize its essentially¹⁵ peaceful character," Dobbins said. "Haiti is no Somalia, Iraq or Afghanistan."

Foreign Relations Committee Chairman, Democratic Senator John Kerry, said the immense tragedy in Haiti provides an opportunity to rebuild the country in a sustainable way, and there is a real chance for Haitians to re-imagine their country as they rebuild it.

 

1 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。

2 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。

3 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。

4 herald   

vt.预示...的来临，预告，宣布，欢迎

参考例句：

• In England, the cuckoo is the herald of spring.在英国杜鹃鸟是报春的使者。
• Dawn is the herald of day.曙光是白昼的先驱。

5 disapprove   

v.不赞成，不同意，不批准

参考例句：

• I quite disapprove of his behaviour.我很不赞同他的行为。
• She wants to train for the theatre but her parents disapprove.她想训练自己做戏剧演员，但她的父母不赞成。

6 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

7 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。

8 paralysis   

n.麻痹(症)；瘫痪(症)

参考例句：

• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。
• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。

9 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

10 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

11 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。

12 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

13 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

14 succor   

n.援助，帮助；v.给予帮助

参考例句：

• In two short hours we may look for succor from Webb.在短短的两小时内，韦布将军的救兵就可望到达。
• He was so much in need of succor,so totally alone.他当时孑然一身，形影相吊，特别需要援助。

15 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。