2006年VOA标准英语-Emergency Aid Flights Resume in Pakistan Q

By Benjamin Sand
Islamabad
18 January 2006

After three days of bad weather, the United Nations has resumed emergency aid flights into areas of Pakistan devastated¹ by October's massive earthquake. But relief workers say conditions on the ground still hamper² aid efforts.

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The skies have cleared and aid is now pouring in as flights resume, but relief agencies in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir say the danger is far from over.

 

Earthquake survivor³ carries wood to keep his family warm in severe cold in Batlian village, about 16 kilometers from Muzaffarabad  
  

Wind, rain and snow grounded aid flights for three days earlier this week and caused dozens of landslides⁴ throughout the quake zone.

Sayad Razak is the emergency coordinator⁵ for the UK-based aid agency Islamic Relief.

He says several of his teams have been forced to postpone⁶ distribution of food and emergency shelters in several high altitude villages.

"It's freezing cold. Road access has become a problem," he said. "They've become very dangerous, either by road or even by foot."

He says thick ice still covers many of the unpaved roads that snake through the Himalayan quake zone.

The forecast is for more snow in the next few days and nighttime temperatures in many quake areas are already dropping to -15 Celsius⁷.

Razak says thousands of families living above the snowline still do not have winterized tents.

Doctors in Muzaffarabad, close to the earthquake's epicenter, report a sharp rise in severe respiratory infections, especially among children.

More than three months after the earthquake hit, an estimated two million people are living in temporary shelter. The U.N. and international aid agencies have distributed an estimated 250,000 tents, but only a quarter of them are appropriate for winter conditions.

Tuesday, former U.S. President George Bush toured a tent village for some 30,000 quake survivors⁸ outside the capital Islamabad.

Former U.S. President George Bush comforts earthquake survivor Ayesha, 3   
  
The 81-year-old statesman, who is the special U.N. envoy⁹ for the South Asian quake, says he is working to make sure international donors¹⁰ honor pledges they made late last year.

"Right now, with the weather and the winter, it's very important that the relief effort go forward and that the funds be available to get this done," the former president said.

Major donors have pledged more than $6 billion for Pakistan's earthquake recovery, but most of the funding has either not been delivered or has been set aside for medium and long term development programs.

The U.N. says funding for its emergency programs, which cost an estimated 50 or $60 million a month, is running dangerously low.

1 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

2 hamper   

vt.妨碍，束缚，限制；n.(有盖的)大篮子

参考例句：

• There are some apples in a picnic hamper.在野餐用的大篮子里有许多苹果。
• The emergence of such problems seriously hamper the development of enterprises.这些问题的出现严重阻碍了企业的发展。

3 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

4 landslides   

山崩( landslide的名词复数 )； （山坡、悬崖等的）崩塌； 滑坡； （竞选中）一方选票占压倒性多数

参考例句：

• Landslides have cut off many villages in remote areas. 滑坡使边远地区的许多村庄与外界隔绝。
• The storm caused landslides and flooding in Savona. 风暴致使萨沃纳发生塌方和洪灾。

5 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？

6 postpone   

v.延期，推迟

参考例句：

• I shall postpone making a decision till I learn full particulars.在未获悉详情之前我得从缓作出决定。
• She decided to postpone the converastion for that evening.她决定当天晚上把谈话搁一搁。

7 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

8 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

9 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

10 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》