CNN 2010-01-18

Today, we are exploring the connection between your education and your community's economy. Thank you for spending part of your Thursday with CNN Student News. I'm Carl Azuz. Let's go.

 

Massive devastation¹, severe loss of life, uncertainty² about what to do or where to go: That is what is facing survivors³ of Tuesday's deadly earthquake in Haiti. The Caribbean island nation is home to around 9 million people. The Red Cross says that one out of every three of those residents was affected⁴ by this quake.

 

Yesterday, Haiti's president told CNN that it was too early to know how many people had died in the tremor⁵, although he had heard reports ranging from 30,000 to 100,000. To make matters worse, he said it's difficult to help people who have been injured because many hospitals were destroyed by the earthquake. Several Haitian officials have said that all of Port-au-Prince, the capital city, is either damaged or destroyed. The quake struck about 10 miles from the city. One CNN reporter on the scene described the devastation as "horrifying⁶ and disturbing." In downtown Port-au-Prince, he said, "block after block after block, there is not one building."

 

The country's president is calling on the international community for aid, saying, "We need doctors, we need medicine, we need medical help." The U.S., along with nations from Europe, Asia and South America, as well as global relief agencies -- all of them have already begun sending relief workers and assistance to Haiti. President Obama has pledged that America will have a major role in the relief efforts.

 

The people of Haiti will have the full support of the United States in the urgent effort to rescue those trapped beneath the rubble⁷ and to deliver the humanitarian⁸ relief: the food, water and medicine that Haitians will need in the coming days.

 

Haiti is part of the island of Hispaniola, along with the Dominican Republic. And that island has a fault line that runs along its southern side. That's why scientists have warned that Hispaniola was at risk for a major earthquake. Haiti itself is a little smaller than the state of Maryland. It's the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. 80 percent of its population lives under the poverty line, and that economic situation might create additional challenges as the country tries to recover from this natural disaster.

 

That recovery process: likely to be long and difficult. We've already mentioned that several countries and agencies have launched relief efforts. But if you want to get involved, head to the Spotlight⁹ section at CNNStudentNews.com and click on the "Impact Your World" link. You're going to find a list of organizations that can use your help.
 

1 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

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 tremor   

n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震

参考例句：

• There was a slight tremor in his voice.他的声音有点颤抖。
• A slight earth tremor was felt in California.加利福尼亚发生了轻微的地震。

6 horrifying   

a.令人震惊的，使人毛骨悚然的

参考例句：

• He went to great pains to show how horrifying the war was. 他极力指出战争是多么的恐怖。
• The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate. 战争的可能性太可怕了，真不堪细想。

7 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。

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 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。