2007年VOA标准英语-Floods Cause Food Crisis in Burundi

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
19 January 2007

The World Food Program says heavy flooding in Burundi has made thousands of people homeless and destroyed most of the food crop they were counting on for their subsistence. WFP warns Burundi could have a serious food crisis¹ unless the international community responds quickly to emergency needs. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva.

Seven of Burundi's provinces are heavily hit by severe flooding, including an area around the capital Bujumbura. The World Food Program reports several people have been killed, hundreds of houses destroyed and, at least, 23,000 made homeless.

Christiane Berthiaume (file photo)

WFP Spokeswoman, Christiane Berthiaume, says these floods could not have come at a worse time. She says people were just starting to rebuild their lives after emerging² from 13 years of civil war.

"The situation is already so precarious³ and so fragile⁴ that it is really putting at risk the people that already do not have enough to eat. For them, you know, getting their daily food is a challenge," she said.  

WFP, the U.N. Office of Humanitarian⁵ Affairs and the Food and Agriculture Program recently did an evaluation⁶ of the food situation in Burundi.

Berthiaume says the study shows that the lack of food in large parts of the country is so great many people are eating only one meal a day. In some cases, she says, they can only afford to eat one meal every other day.

She says many people in Burundi already are suffering from malnutrition⁷. She fears the situation will only get worse.

"According again to this survey, it looks like between 50 and 80 percent of the normal food production will be lost because of those floods," she said. "So, all these are factors that really could announce a serious food crisis if we do not react quickly."

Berthiaume says the World Food Program has begun distributing food to some 400,000 needy⁸ people. But, she says the agency is short of cash and needs $12 million to continue its humanitarian operation until July.

1 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

2 emerging   

adj.正在不断出现的

参考例句：

• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency. 两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。
• I saw the woman emerging out of a shop. 我看见那个妇女从商店里走出来。

3 precarious   

adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的

参考例句：

• Our financial situation had become precarious.我们的财务状况已变得不稳定了。
• He earned a precarious living as an artist.作为一个艺术家，他过得是朝不保夕的生活。

4 fragile   

adj.易碎的，脆的，易损坏的，虚弱的，脆弱的

参考例句：

• The old lady was increasingly fragile after her operation.那位老太太手术后身体越来越虚弱。
• This glass disc looks very fragile.这个玻璃盘子看起来很容易碎。

5 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。

6 evaluation   

n.估价，评价；赋值

参考例句：

• I attempted an honest evaluation of my own life.我试图如实地评价我自己的一生。
• The new scheme is still under evaluation.新方案还在评估阶段。

7 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。

8 needy   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的

参考例句：

• Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷，但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
• They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。