2007年VOA标准英语-US Disaster Official Says Government Prepared f

By Dan Robinson
Capitol Hill
15 May 2007

The U.S. official in charge of emergency preparedness has pledged there will be no repeat of the chaotic¹ government response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, saying federal authorities are ready to deal with the aftermath of any storm in the new hurricane season that officially begins on June 1, as well as other disasters. VOA's Dan Robinson reports from Capitol Hill.

The government's poor response to Hurricane Katrina which struck the Gulf² coast causing severe damage, and overflowing³ levees in New Orleans, Louisiana, sparked a controversy⁴ over emergency management and intensified oversight⁵ by Congress.

Mississippi Congressman⁶ Bennie Thompson is chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee:

"FEMA will have a lot of explaining to do if it is not ready when a hurricane makes landfall this season," said Bennie Thompson.

FEMA is the Federal Emergency Management Agency, under the Department of Homeland Security, and its director, David Paulison, tried to assure lawmakers there would be no repeat of post-Katrina chaos⁷ and mismanagement.

David Paulison

A new FEMA, he says, is prepared with improved logistics, communications and other capabilities⁸, and a proactive attitude:

"You are not going to see the same type of response," said David Paulison. "You are going to see a federal government that is extremely proactive, moving very quickly and making sure that when the state asks for something it is there on the ground waiting for them."

After Hurricane Katrina, congressional and other investigations⁹ revealed that poor communication between the federal government and state officials was a key problem hampering¹⁰ a quick response.

Paulison faced tough questions from Gulf coast lawmakers wary¹¹ of government assurances that Americans and the world will not turn on their televisions in coming months to see a repeat of horrendous¹² scenes in New Orleans and elsewhere.

The FEMA director had this exchange with Texas Congressman Al Green:

GREEN: "The debate last time was whether the governor of Louisiana or the president of the United States should have done something immediately, if not sooner. Is that same system in place?"

PAULISON: "Yes sir."

GREEN: "OK, if that same system is still in place how will we avoid seeing what we saw on television, persons begging for help and nobody showing up?"

Lawmakers took Paulison to task for his agency's failure to produce a revised National Response Plan, with the official pledging this would be completed some time after the June 1 start of the U.S. hurricane season.

An official from the Government Accountability Office, William Jenkins, said FEMA remains¹³ an agency transition, and questioned whether the agency is up to the task:

"FEMA faces a formidable challenge as it works to implement¹⁴ the reform act's provisions, change its culture from one of mostly reactive to more proactive, and quickly build its capacity to effectively respond to a major disaster that could occur at any time," he said.

Responding to questions Tuesday, FEMA director Paulison said the federal response to any new major disaster will continue to be based on needs communicated by state and local officials who he described as the true first responders.

That said, Paulison added the federal government does not intend to allow those situations to become overwhelming before stepping in.

1 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

2 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

3 overflowing   

n. 溢出物,溢流 adj. 充沛的，充满的 动词overflow的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The stands were overflowing with farm and sideline products. 集市上农副产品非常丰富。
• The milk is overflowing. 牛奶溢出来了。

4 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

5 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

6 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

7 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

8 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

9 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

10 hampering   

妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• So fraud on cows and development aid is seriously hampering growth. 因此在牛问题上和发展补助上的诈骗严重阻碍了发展。
• Short-termism, carbon-trading, disputing the science-are hampering the implementation of direct economically-led objectives. 短效主义，出售二氧化碳，进行科学辩论，这些都不利于实现以经济为主导的直接目标。

11 wary   

adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的

参考例句：

• He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
• Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头，突然警惕起来。

12 horrendous   

adj.可怕的，令人惊惧的

参考例句：

• He described it as the most horrendous experience of his life.他形容这是自己一生中最可怕的经历。
• The mining industry in China has a horrendous safety record.中国的煤矿工业具有令人不安的安全记录。

13 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。

14 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。