VOA常速英语2007年-Children From Chad Allegedly Abducted by Zoe's

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
02 November 2007

The UN Children's Fund says 103 children in Chad who it says were abducted¹ by the French Charity, Zoe's Ark, will be kept in an orphanage² in the town of Abeche, until their families are located. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA that UNICEF says aid agencies are looking after the children.

The UN Children's Fund says the children will remain in the orphanage in Abeche while the judicial³ process gets underway.

Six workers from the French Charity, Zoe's Ark, are charged with attempted kidnapping. Three French journalists and six European members of the group's aircrew also face charges.

Last week, the plane carrying the children was stopped moments before it was to take off from Abeche, and the children were rescued. The plane was going to fly to France where workers from Zoe's Ark said the children would be placed temporarily with French families.

Zoe's Ark said the children were orphans⁴ from Sudan's conflict-ridden province of Darfur, a claim rejected by UNICEF and two other international agencies.

UNICEF Spokeswoman, Miranda Eels⁵, says a team of social workers is looking after the children. "All their needs in terms of health and nutrition, water, toys, medicine, they are all being attended to," she said. "Preliminary results show that they are healthy with no sign of malnutrition⁶ or trauma⁷. Six children have been treated for minor⁸ injuries, such as small wounds. Five have haven⁹ treated for encephalitis and four for fever."

The children include 21 girls and 82 boys. Most are aged¹⁰ 3-5. The youngest is about 1 year old, and the oldest about 10.

Eeles says interviews with the children indicate most probably come from Chadian villages near the cities of Adre and Tine alongside the Chad-Sudan border. She says several aid workers plan to go to this area next week to seek more information about the children's background. She says they will speak to community and village leaders to learn more about the children's situation and to clear up their nationality.

"That particular border appears at times to be quite superficial depending on the security situation," she noted¹¹. "There is quite a lot of movement between Chad and Sudan. So, there are children from Sudan living in Chad. There are children from Chad living in Sudan. The plan for next week is to try and determine exactly where these children are from. But, at the moment, we are not entirely¹² sure exactly if they are Chadian or Sudanese."

Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross says it has visited the foreigners detained by the Chadian authorities. It says the detainees have written Red Cross messages to their families.

1 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

2 orphanage   

n.孤儿院

参考例句：

• They dispensed new clothes to the children in the orphanage.他们把新衣服发给孤儿院的小孩们。
• They gave the proceeds of the sale to the orphanage.他们把销售的收入给了这家孤儿院。

3 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

4 orphans   

孤儿( orphan的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The poor orphans were kept on short commons. 贫苦的孤儿们吃不饱饭。
• Their uncle was declared guardian to the orphans. 这些孤儿的叔父成为他们的监护人。

5 eels   

abbr. 电子发射器定位系统（=electronic emitter location system）

参考例句：

• Eels have been on the feed in the Lower Thames. 鳗鱼在泰晤士河下游寻食。
• She bought some eels for dinner. 她买回一些鳗鱼做晚餐。

6 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。

7 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

8 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

9 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

10 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。

11 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

12 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。