CNN 2010-08-22

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Well, you've made it to Thursday. I'm Carl Azuz. This is CNN Student News! Your hearing: Listen up, 'cause we're gonna be talking about that in just a bit. We start off today, though, in Pakistan.

First Up: Pakistan Aid

AZUZ: Severe flooding has left 20 percent -- one fifth -- of the country underwater, and officials are worried about the threat of disease. A lot of the victims are walking through dirty flood waters, and that can lead to the spread of things like cholera¹ or typhoid. Experts are estimating that as many as 3.5 million children are at risk of getting sick.

Of course, the most immediate² concern is aid: food, medical supplies. The United Nations has asked for $460 million from the international community. Only about half of that has been raised so far. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to announce today that the United States will be sending more aid to Pakistan. Sara Sidner has more on the relief efforts.

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're here off the shores of Karachi on the USS Peleliu with the Expeditionary Strike Group 5. It is their whole mission to make sure to be available when there is some sort of disaster. They patrol these waters, and they were in the area to help those in the flood zones in Pakistan. They've been able to get about 5,000 people out of those flood zones, rescuing them with helicopters. They've also been able to drop about a half million pounds of aid. They say they will be here for as long as it takes. There are more helicopters coming in; there are more ships coming in. The U.S. says that it has a humanitarian³ commitment that they're going to make to Pakistan. They've already given about $90 million in kind. But the U.N. continually saying that there is simply not enough aid being offered to this country.
 

1 cholera   

n.霍乱

参考例句：

• The cholera outbreak has been contained.霍乱的发生已被控制住了。
• Cholera spread like wildfire through the camps.霍乱在营地里迅速传播。

2 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。

3 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。