VOA慢速英语2019 安哥拉清洁水匮乏 催生快递服务

In recent years, Angola has become one of the richest countries in Africa. One reason is money earned by Angola’s oil industry. In 2017, business advisory¹ service Mercer named the capital, Luanda, the most costly² city for foreigners to live in.

近年来，安哥拉已成为非洲最富有的国家之一。其中一个原因就是安哥拉石油工业的盈利。2017年，商业咨询服务公司美世（Mercer）将首都罗安达列为外国人生活成本最高昂的城市。

But, many Luandans do not have access to even basic needs.

但是，许多罗安达人的基本生活需求甚至都无法得到满足。 

Luanda is surrounded on three sides by water: the Bengo and Cuanza Rivers and the Atlantic Ocean. Yet only half of its eight million people have access to clean, running water.

罗安达三面环水：本戈河、宽扎河以及大西洋。然而，在800万人口中，只有一半能够获得清洁的自来水。

Many people in and around Angola’s capital must use untreated water for everyday activities – and even for work.

安哥拉首都及其周边地区的许多人必须使用未经处理的水来满足日常活动——甚至是工作。 

Car washers like Herminio Chitembo, for example, use untreated sewage water to earn a living.

例如，像厄米诺·希滕博这样的洗车工会用未经处理的污水谋生。 

Chitembo says he and other car washers do this kind of work for survival. They are unemployed³ — that is why they are here.

希滕博称，他和其他洗车工人靠这份工作谋生。他们失业了——这就是他们在这里的原因。 

The United Nations Children’s Agency reports that nationwide, forty-four percent of Angolans still do not have access to clean water.

联合国儿童基金会报告称，在全国范围内，仍有44％的安哥拉人无法获得洁净水。 

Agency representative Patricia Portela De Sousa says a lack of access to safe drinking water, sanitation⁴ systems and hygiene⁵ are the main causes of infectious diseases. She said this “means that many people are in danger.” Not having safe water, she added, equals a high chance of getting diseases and even dying.

基金会代表帕特丽夏· 波特拉·德索萨表示，缺乏安全的饮用水、卫生系统以及个人卫生是引发传染病的主要原因。她称，这“意味着很多人都处于危险中”。她补充道，没有安全的水源，就等于很有可能患病甚至死亡。

Angolan officials are working to improve access. But the lack of clean water is a business opportunity for hundreds of young men. They bring drinking water to buyers across the city.

安哥拉官员正在努力改善饮水条件。但清洁水匮乏对于数百名年轻人而言，却是商机。他们为整个城市的客户运送饮用水。

Eliseu André Paulo says people need this water because, in the neighborhood where they sell it, there is no water at all. There are water taps, but the taps have never had running water.

埃利塞乌·安德烈· 保罗表示，人们需要这种水，因为在他们卖水的附近，根本没有水。虽然有水龙头，但却从来没流过自来水。

The United States Agency for International Development found that Angola has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in water and sanitation infrastructure⁶ in recent years. But continuous access to improved water and sanitation remains⁷ an issue.

美国国际开发署发现，近年来安哥拉在饮水和卫生基础设施方面投入了数亿美元。 但持续改善饮水和卫生条件仍然是个问题。

The Public Water Company of Luanda, known as EPAL, admits there is a serious water shortage.

罗安达公共水务公司，即EPAL，承认该国水资源严重短缺。 

EPAL representative Vladimir Bernardo says Luanda’s water company has an average production level of 540,000 cubic meters of water per day. But the daily need is over a million cubic meters.

EPAL代表弗拉基米尔· 博纳多表示，罗安达的自来水公司平均每天生产水540,000立方米。但该国每日用水需求量却超过100万立方米。

Luanda’s water company says financial issues have slowed progress, but its current infrastructure projects will soon improve access to clean water.

罗安达的自来水公司表示，财务问题减缓了供水进程，但最近的基础设施项目将很快改善洁净水的供应问题。

For now, Angolans do their best to survive, using the dirty water they have or the clean water they can sell.

目前，安哥拉人利用能够获得的污水或者可以出售的洁净水，在尽最大努力地生存下去。

1 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。

2 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

3 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

4 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

5 hygiene   

n.健康法，卫生学 （a.hygienic）

参考例句：

• Their course of study includes elementary hygiene and medical theory.他们的课程包括基础卫生学和医疗知识。
• He's going to give us a lecture on public hygiene.他要给我们作关于公共卫生方面的报告。

6 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。

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。