VOA慢速英语--Finding Classroom Space in the Bahamas

 

The powerful ocean storm that struck the Bahamas earlier this month killed more than 50 people and destroyed many homes, businesses and school buildings.

Now, Bahamian education officials are trying to find classroom space for students whose families have been displaced¹.

Hurricane Dorian was one of the most powerful storms in the country's recorded history. It made landfall on September 1 and remained on top of the northern Bahamas for almost 50 hours. It damaged or destroyed nearly every structure on the island of Great Abaco. The nearby Grand Bahama island was hit hard, too.

Bahamian officials say they hope fewer than 10,000 students would need to be placed into new schools. The plan is to move them to schools across the islands.

Officials recently set up what they describe as a “one-stop shop” for the displaced students. Last Thursday, those students gathered inside the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium in Nassau, the Bahamian capital.

The students – aged² 4 to 19 – waited in line for clothing, school supplies, shots and vision³ and hearing tests. They also sought appointments to speak with volunteer mental health workers.

“These kids need their education, how are they going to get jobs or have any options?” said Chandra Alexis, an 18-year-old evacuee⁴ from Abaco, about 150 kilometers north of Nassau.

“We lost everything; without school there’s nothing,” she said. She was waiting in line to find out which schools her younger sister and another family member would attend this year.

The island of Abaco had 17 schools, most of them public. Grand Bahama had about 20 schools, said Belinda Wilson. She is president of Bahamas Union of Teachers. She said all of the union's members on the two islands were found safe.

Public schools on most islands opened on September 9, a week later than the planned opening. But on Abaco and Grand Bahama, schools remained closed. Engineers have had to check the safety of the school buildings.

Wilson and the teachers union say that no teacher or student “is going to enter any of those buildings until an engineer is able to say to that those schools are structurally⁵ sound."

Lorraine Armbrister is permanent secretary of the Bahamas’ Ministry⁶ of Education. She said the main goal right now is to get children back into school, “so that they’re not further disadvantaged or further traumatized.”

She said, “We want to normalize their lives as soon as possible.”

The government is registering⁷ evacuees⁸ living in temporary shelters in the capital. Soon it will work with those staying in Nassau hotels or with family and friends to get their children into schools.

Nassau is on New Providence⁹ island. Wilson said that island’s schools may not have enough room for all of the displaced children who were evacuated¹⁰ to the capital.

“There are many other islands that could accommodate¹¹ students,” said Wilson, whose union represents about 4,000 teachers on 24 islands.

She added that the process of moving teachers, students and parents to different islands will “take all of our imagination.”

The United Nations Children’s Fund¹² is working with the Bahamian Education Ministry. It said student sign-ups would begin on other islands in the coming days.

The process is set to continue through the middle of October but may go longer if needed, Armbrister said. With every student needing health exams, education officials are able to process only about 200 to 300 students a day.

I’m Anne Ball.

Words in This Story

displaced – v. to force people or animals to leave the area where they live

disadvantaged – adj. lacking the things (such as money and education) that are considered necessary for an equal position in society

traumatized – v. to cause (someone) to become very upset in a way that often leads to serious emotional problems : to cause (someone) to suffer emotional trauma

1 displaced   

移动( displace的过去式和过去分词 )； 替换； 移走； 撤职

参考例句：

• Gradually factory workers have been displaced by machines. 工厂的工人已逐渐被机器取代。
• He was displaced by another young man. 他已被另一个年轻人顶替。

2 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

3 vision   

n.视觉，先见之明，光景，视力，眼力，幻想，影像；vt.幻想

参考例句：

• The wall cuts across our line of vision.那面墙挡住了我们的视线。
• Much reading has impaired his vision.大量读书损害了他的视力。

4 evacuee   

n.被疏散的人员，被撤走的人员

参考例句：

• A woman sits motionless at an evacuee center for leaked radiation from the damaged fukushima nuclear facilities friday march 25 2011 in soma fukushima prefecture japan.2011年3月25日星期五，日本福岛县相马市，为福岛核设施泄露而设立的避难中心里，一位妇女一动不动地坐在那里。
• Not quite true,said Tom,a 42-year-old evacuee.但汤姆，一位42岁的避难者，说事实不尽然如此。

5 structurally   

在结构上

参考例句：

• The house roof was (structurally) unsound. 这屋顶（结构）不牢固。
• Pinhole on shot-hole damage is never structurally significant. 针孔和蛀洞所造成的危害对结构的影响不大。

6 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

7 registering   

寄存

参考例句：

• An increasing number of students are registering for degree courses each year. 每年，越来越多的学生注册学习学位课程。
• The new students have started registering. 新生已开始报到。

8 evacuees   

n.被疏散者( evacuee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Moreover, for multi-exits, evacuees select a exit based on game theory. 在有多个出口时，疏散人员根据对策论选择出口。 来自互联网
• Evacuees wade through flooded area following heavy monsoon rains in Peshawar on Saturday, July 31, 2010. 撤离灾区涉水通过后在白沙瓦沉重的季风降雨在周六，2010年7月31日。 来自互联网

9 providence   

n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝

参考例句：

• It is tempting Providence to go in that old boat.乘那艘旧船前往是冒大险。
• To act as you have done is to fly in the face of Providence.照你的所作所为那样去行事，是违背上帝的意志的。

10 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

11 accommodate   

vt.容纳，向...提供住处，使适应，顺应

参考例句：

• You should soon accommodate yourself to the new circumstance.你应尽快适应新环境。
• Are there enough shelves to accommodate all our books?有足够的书架容纳我们所有的书吗？

12 fund   

n.基金，资金，存款，财源，贮藏；vt.提供资金，积累

参考例句：

• They decided to set up a fund for this purpose.他们决定为此专立一项基金。
• This fund may not be drawn on without permission.这笔钱非经批准不得动用。