2007年VOA标准英语-Work Intensifies to Clear Angola's Landmines

By Scott Bobb
Huambo, Angola
24 July 2007

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Princess Diana uses a remote switch to trigger the detonation of some explosive ordinance dug up by mine sweepers in Huambo, Angola, 15 Jan 1997

The world recently marked the 10th anniversary of the death of Princess Diana in a car crash in Paris. The late princess was a leading advocate against landmines³, which kill and maim⁴ thousands of people every year.  Shortly before her death, she visited Angola - one of the most heavily mined countries in the world.  Correspondent Scott Bobb reports from Huambo, central Angola, that five years after the end of the Angolan civil war, efforts are intensifying⁵ to clear the mines which hinder reconstruction⁶ and threaten displaced people returning home.

It is midday in a field 30 kilometers outside Huambo.  Carlos Silva, wearing a helmet, face shield and padded clothing, is crouched⁷ over a patch of scrub grass with a metal detector⁸.

Silva has located an anti-personnel mine, one of more than a million placed during Angola's 27-year civil war.

He is one of a team of 70 de-miners of the Halo Trust working in this minefield.  It contains hundreds of mines laid two decades ago to protect a satellite station.

Silva digs carefully to expose the side of the mine. If he touches the detonator on top, the mine could explode.  It is slow work.  A de-miner working under reasonable conditions can cover only a few dozen square meters a day.

Since 1994, Halo Trust has destroyed more than 30,000 landmines, several hundred bombs and hundreds of thousands of weapons and ammunition⁹ rounds.

Mines were laid along roads and railways and around many communities in Angola.  Five years after a peace accord ended the war, only a fraction of the mines have been removed.

A few kilometers away, another team is clearing mines from around electrical power poles.

In these situations, de-miners use armored earth movers to clear large numbers of mines quickly. This front loader scoops¹⁰ up piles of contaminated earth and spread it in a thin layer on the ground so de-miners with metal detectors¹¹ and rakes can check it for mines.

Angola's civil war displaced nearly two million people and affected¹² one-third of its estimated 12 million population.  With peace, many people are returning to their villages and their fields.  Increasingly they are coming into contact with these deadly relics¹³ of the war.

The project manager for Halo Trust in Huambo, Southern Craib (sic) says, because of peace de-mining, priorities are constantly changing.

"There has been an expansion, in terms of population, returning refugees, renewed economic growth," Craib said. "And, that is putting added pressure on land.  Tasks [minefields] that were previously¹⁴ considered low priority are now becoming high priority and, if they are simply not cleared now, there will be accidents in the future."

The minefield around the satellite station became a priority after two people from a re-populated village nearby stepped on mines. More than one thousand mines have already been destroyed here.  This day, five more are to be eliminated.

Site supervisor¹⁵ Antonio Alipio has been working with Halo Trust for nine years.  He is one of 1100 Angolans and seven foreigners working for Halo Trust.

Alipio unlocks a box containing explosives that will be used to destroy the mines. Carefully he measures fuses about one meter long and tapes them to the charges.

Alipio sets a charge beside each of the five mines and lights the fuses.  He has three minutes to move a safe distance away.

He counts the explosions and, afterwards, inspects the fragments to make sure the mines have been completely destroyed.

Alipio has destroyed thousands of mines in his time.  He is proud of his work.

He says, with more than 1,000 mines, one can imagine many people would have stepped on them.  Many would have died and many would be amputees.  But, he says because of his work, many lives have been saved.

Craib says, at this rate, it will take four to seven years to clear the high and medium-priority areas in Angola.  Low priority areas in remote, uninhabited regions will have to wait.

"There is an achievable end state that can be reached," Craib said. "It simply needs continued support of donor¹⁶ governments and the international community and the population of the richer nations in the world to achieve [solve] a problem that is experienced largely only in the third and developing world."

The Angolan government is anxious to clear the minefields, because they hinder economic recovery and the preparations for national elections next year.  But, for the de-miners, the primary goal remains¹⁷ to prevent any further loss of life, as Angolans struggle to recover from the devastation¹⁸ of war.

1 detonation   

n.爆炸；巨响

参考例句：

• A fearful detonation burst forth on the barricade.街垒传来一阵骇人的爆炸声。
• Within a few hundreds of microseconds,detonation is complete.在几百微秒之内，爆炸便完成了。

2 ordinance   

n.法令；条令；条例

参考例句：

• The Ordinance of 1785 provided the first land grants for educational purposes.1785年法案为教育目的提供了第一批土地。
• The city passed an ordinance compelling all outdoor lighting to be switched off at 9.00 PM.该市通过一条法令强令晚上九点关闭一切室外照明。

3 landmines   

潜在的冲突； 地雷，投伞水雷( landmine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The treaty bans the use production and trade of landmines. 该条约规定，禁止使用地雷相关产品及贸易。
• One of the weapon's of special concern was landmines. 在引起人们特别关注的武器中就有地雷。

4 maim   

v.使残废，使不能工作，使伤残

参考例句：

• Automobile accidents maim many people each year. 汽车车祸每年使许多人残废。
• These people kill and maim innocent civilians.这些人杀死和残害无辜平民。

5 intensifying   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的现在分词 )；增辉

参考例句：

• The allies are intensifying their air campaign. 联军部队正加大他们的空战强度。 来自辞典例句
• The rest of the European powers were in a state of intensifying congestion. 其余的欧洲强国则处于越来越拥挤的状态。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史

6 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。

7 crouched   

v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He crouched down beside her. 他在她的旁边蹲了下来。
• The lion crouched ready to pounce. 狮子蹲下身，准备猛扑。

8 detector   

n.发觉者，探测器

参考例句：

• The detector is housed in a streamlined cylindrical container.探测器安装在流线型圆柱形容器内。
• Please walk through the metal detector.请走过金属检测器。

9 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

10 scoops   

n.小铲( scoop的名词复数 )；小勺；一勺[铲]之量；（抢先刊载、播出的）独家新闻v.抢先报道( scoop的第三人称单数 )；（敏捷地）抱起；抢先获得；用铲[勺]等挖（洞等）

参考例句：

• two scoops of mashed potato 两勺土豆泥
• I used three scoops of flour and one(scoop)of sugar. 我用了三杓面粉和一杓糖。 来自辞典例句

11 detectors   

探测器( detector的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The report advocated that all buildings be fitted with smoke detectors. 报告主张所有的建筑物都应安装烟火探测器。
• This is heady wine for experimenters using these neutrino detectors. 对于使用中微子探测器的实验工作者，这是令人兴奋的美酒。 来自英汉非文学 - 科技

12 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

13 relics   

[pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸

参考例句：

• The area is a treasure house of archaeological relics. 这个地区是古文物遗迹的宝库。
• Xi'an is an ancient city full of treasures and saintly relics. 西安是一个有很多宝藏和神圣的遗物的古老城市。

14 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

15 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

16 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

17 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。

18 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》