中东－叛乱分子袭击不断，伊拉克重建仍在继续

 

Iraq Reconstruction¹ Proceeds Despite

Insurgent² Attacks

 

Senior U.S. officials responsible for the $21 billion Iraq reconstruction project say work is continuing, in spite of insurgent attacks, and the situation has improved in recent months. The officials spoke³ from Baghdad to reporters at the Pentagon.

 

The officials say they have already spent more than one-quarter of the money allocated⁴ for reconstruction projects throughout Iraq, ranging from power plants to water and sewerage systems to schools and military bases. The officials say they will soon launch the 2,000th project of the effort, with nearly 600 projects already completed.

 

The head of the Pentagon's Project Contracting Office, Charles Hess, says the effort to rebuild Iraq's facilities has accelerated lately, as insurgent attacks have been reduced.

 

Mr. Hess: We are able to construct and work in many areas of the country, and, in fact, my sense is that, I won't say everything is improving, but clearly, it seems like we have, in fact, the ability to do a lot of work in multiple areas that we didn't necessarily have that opportunity before.

 

But Mr. Hess also believes the insurgents⁵ still view construction projects as key targets in their effort to hurt the ability of the new government and the coalition⁶ to improve the lives of ordinary Iraqis.

 

Mr. Hess: While I'm encouraged, I certainly don't think that the worst is over. My suspicion is that the insurgents will regroup and try and figure out other ways to get at the heart of the infrastructure⁷, and get at the heart of the democratic process that the Iraqis are trying to institute. But for right now, I think progress can be made.

 

Officials say the areas where work was not possible in the past, but is proceeding⁸ now, include the city of Fallujah, where U.S. forces launched a major offensive against the insurgents last year, and the Sadr City neighborhood of Baghdad, where security forces also conducted a major operation.  The senior U.S. army general on the reconstruction team says 12,000 Iraqis are now working on building projects in Sadr City.

 

Mr. Hess, the head of the Iraq reconstruction project, says the effort to build Iraq's electrical generation capacity has been particularly delayed by attacks.

 

Mr. Hess and other officials say Iraq's power plants are currently producing about 75 percent of the country's pre-war electricity demand, but the demand has increased substantially, as Iraqis have purchased more electrical appliances. The result is that only about half of the needed power is being produced. The officials blame poor maintenance of old equipment under the previous government for part of the problem.

 

Meanwhile, Mr. Hess says, work is continuing daily to improve the situation, thanks in part to the work of Iraqi and foreign civilian⁹ workers.

 

Mr. Hess: What we see typically is, we'll go into a city like, say, Samara. Work will commence. Perhaps, there will be some type of attack somewhere in the city. For a short time, contractors¹⁰ will decide not to show up on site.But that usually only lasts a relatively¹¹ short amount of time, and then they're back to work. There are some impacts, but clearly they are willing to come back out and risk their lives to get the work done.

 

Officials say short delays in projects are typical, with about 10 percent experiencing delays of two weeks or more.

 

Al Pessin, VOA News at Pentagon.

 

注释:

Pentagon [5pentE^En] n. 五角大楼

sewerage [5sjuEridV] n. 污水处理系统

facility [fE5siliti] n. 设施

accelerate [Ak5selEreit] v. 加速

multiple [5mQltipl] n. 若干

coalition [7kEuE5liFEn] n. 联盟

figure out 采用

infrastructure [5infrE5strQktFE] n. 基础设施

substantially [sEb5stAnF(E)li] adv. 充分地

1 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

2 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

3 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。

4 allocated   

adj. 分配的 动词allocate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The Ford Foundation allocated millions of dollars for cancer research. 福特基金会拨款数百万美元用于癌症研究。
• More funds will now be allocated to charitable organizations. 现在会拨更多的资金给慈善组织。

5 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

6 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。

7 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。

8 proceeding   

n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报

参考例句：

• This train is now proceeding from Paris to London.这次列车从巴黎开往伦敦。
• The work is proceeding briskly.工作很有生气地进展着。

9 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

10 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。