新奇事件簿 海燕重创菲律宾

The United Nations humanitarian¹ chief Valerie Amos has said aid is not reaching survivors² of Typhoon Haiyan quickly enough. Ms Amos is the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator³. She spoke⁴ to reporters in Manila yesterday and explained how urgent it was to act more quickly. She said: "The situation is dismal⁵. Those who have been able to leave have done so. Many more are trying. People are extremely desperate for help." She added: "We need to get assistance to them now. They are already saying it has taken too long to arrive. Ensuring a faster delivery is our immediate⁶ priority." Early efforts at providing assistance were hampered⁷ by continuing bad weather.

联合国人道主义救援主席阿莫斯称物资没有按时运抵台风海燕的受灾群众。阿莫斯女士目前是联合国副秘书长，同时也是紧急救援协调员。昨天，她在马尼拉对记者做出了以上结论，并解释了情况紧急的原因。她说：“情况很不好。能够离开的已经离开了。但是许多人还在尝试着这么去做。人们急需帮助。”她还说：“我们需要给予他们帮助。他们称救灾物资的运抵时间太长了。确保迅速运达是我们的头等大事。”由于连续不断的糟糕天气，物资运抵受到了影响。

Typhoon Haiyan is possibly the strongest on record to make landfall. Meteorologists say the violent storm packed winds of up to 315kph. It is believed over 10,000 people perished in the city of Tacloban alone. Hundreds of thousands are now homeless after the typhoon flattened⁸ almost everything in its path. The New York Times reported there being "typhoon gridlock" as the destroyed infrastructure⁹ is making the logistics of distributing aid a nightmare. People are desperate for water. The Doctors Without Borders charity said: "Access is extremely difficult and is preventing people from receiving help." Christian¹⁰ Aid said: "The devastation¹¹ here is unimaginable."

台风海燕或将成为史上最强台风。气象学家称风暴时速高达每小时315公里。人们认为仅仅塔克洛班市一座城市的死亡人数就超过了1万人。数万人无家可归，台风所到之处一片狼藉。纽约时报报道称这是“台风堵塞”，被摧毁的基础设施让物资供应变成了噩梦。”人们急缺水资源。医生无国界慈善组织称：“进入灾区非常困难，人们也无法得到帮助。基督徒互援会称：“灾难程度无法想象。”

1 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。

2 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

3 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 dismal   

adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的

参考例句：

• That is a rather dismal melody.那是一支相当忧郁的歌曲。
• My prospects of returning to a suitable job are dismal.我重新找到一个合适的工作岗位的希望很渺茫。

6 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。

7 hampered   

妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions. 恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• So thought every harassed, hampered, respectable boy in St. Petersburg. 圣彼德堡镇的那些受折磨、受拘束的体面孩子们个个都是这么想的。

8 flattened   

[医]（水）平扁的，弄平的

参考例句：

• She flattened her nose and lips against the window. 她把鼻子和嘴唇紧贴着窗户。
• I flattened myself against the wall to let them pass. 我身体紧靠着墙让他们通过。

9 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

10 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

11 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》