VOA慢速英语--国家遭遇饥荒 也门孩子与营养不良作斗争

Yemeni Boy Fights Malnutrition¹ as Famine Strikes Nation

Four months ago, 10-year-old Hassan Merzam Muhammad of Yemen was so malnourished he was unable to walk. His father had to carry him into a medical center.

A photographer with Reuters news agency captured Hassan's image. The photograph was named one of Reuters' pictures of the year.

Now, after medical treatment, Hassan is able to play with toys and uses hand signals and a smile to communicate. He has been unable to speak since birth.

But malnutrition continues to threaten him and 2 million other Yemeni children. War, economic collapse² and the coronavirus crisis have all pushed the country toward its worst famine in years.

"Hassan eats what we eat: rice, bread. We don't have fat-rich foods nowadays, we cannot find meat for him," his uncle Tayeb Muhammed told Reuters.

Hassan has lost some of the weight he gained during treatment since returning to his family's small shelter. His family has been forced to find new shelter five times because of the ongoing³ war. The family now lives in Hajjah, a very poor area of the country. There is no work for Hassan's father.

When Reuters reporters first met Hassan in July, he weighed just nine kilograms. A struggling local doctors' group sent him to the capital city, Sanaa, for treatment. A charity paid for his treatment.

Today, Hassan weighs just over 13 kilograms. The boy still needs additional treatment.

"His body is weak again," his uncle told Reuters.

Doctor Ali Yahya Hajer works at Hassan's local medical center. He said the family needs containers of food delivered to their home until the child's health and the family's situation improve.

Famine has never been officially declared in Yemen. Yet, the five-year-long war has left 80 percent of the population in need of food aid. The United Nations calls the situation in Yemen the world's largest humanitarian⁴ crisis.

Around 45 percent of Yemen's population is facing high levels of severe food insecurity, the U.N.'s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) says.

Predictions for next year are worse, the IPC says. Between January and June of 2021, 54 percent of Yemenis are likely to experience high levels of extreme hunger.

"These alarming numbers must be a wake-up call to the world," said David Beasley. He is executive director of the U.N's World Food Programme (WFP).

The U.N. warned of a coming famine in Yemen in late 2018. The warning started the international aid process. But aid efforts have slowed in 2020 because of coronavirus restrictions⁵, reduced remittances⁷, locusts⁹, floods and lack of money. As a result, food insecurity has worsened.

Conflict, however, remains¹⁰ the main driver of food insecurity.

A Saudi-led coalition¹¹ has been battling the Iranian-backed Houthi movement since 2015. The war has killed more than 100,000 people and has sharply divided the country.

Words in This Story

malnourished - adj. not eating enough food or not eating enough healthy food

famine – n. a situation in which many people do not have enough food to eat

remittance⁶ – n. an amount of money that is sent as a payment for something

locust⁸ – n. a type of grasshopper¹² that travels in very large groups and that can cause great destruction by eating crops

charity – n. the act of giving money, food, or other kinds of help to people who are poor, sick

1 malnutrition   

n.营养不良

参考例句：

• In Africa, there are a lot of children suffering from severe malnutrition.在非洲有大批严重营养不良的孩子。
• It is a classic case of malnutrition. 这是营养不良的典型病例。

2 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

3 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

4 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。

5 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

6 remittance   

n.汇款，寄款，汇兑

参考例句：

• Your last month's salary will be paid by remittance.最后一个月的薪水将通过汇寄的方式付给你。
• A prompt remittance would be appreciated.速寄汇款不胜感激。

7 remittances   

n.汇寄( remittance的名词复数 )；汇款，汇款额

参考例句：

• He sends regular remittances to his parents. 他定期汇款给他父母。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Remittances sometimes account for as much as 20% of GDP. 在这些国家中，此类汇款有时会占到GDP的20%之多。 来自互联网

8 locust   

n.蝗虫；洋槐，刺槐

参考例句：

• A locust is a kind of destructive insect.蝗虫是一种害虫。
• This illustration shows a vertical section through the locust.本图所示为蝗虫的纵剖面。

9 locusts   

n.蝗虫( locust的名词复数 )；贪吃的人；破坏者；槐树

参考例句：

• a swarm of locusts 一大群蝗虫
• In no time the locusts came down and started eating everything. 很快蝗虫就飞落下来开始吃东西，什么都吃。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 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。

11 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

12 grasshopper   

n.蚱蜢，蝗虫，蚂蚱

参考例句：

• He thought he had made an end of the little grasshopper.他以为把那个小蚱蜢干掉了。
• The grasshopper could not find anything to eat.蚱蜢找不到任何吃的东西。