voa标准英语2008年-Aid Agencies Say Congo Fighting Has Split Famil

Aid agencies say recent fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo has led to the widespread separation of family members. More than 250,000 people are believed to have been displaced since fighting resumed between rebels and government forces in August. Derek Kilner has more from VOA's East Africa Bureau in Nairobi.
　

A demonstrator carries a flower tribute during a silent walk through London to the Rwandan embassy as people mark the human tragedy in the Congo, 21 Nov 2008

Humanitarian¹ organizations, including Save the Children and Oxfam, say more than half the civilians² displaced by recent fighting in eastern Congo may have lost contact with family members.

Save the Children emergency officer George Graham spoke³ to VOA from Goma, the capital of North Kivu province in Eastern DRC.

"The survey was conducted by four British aid agencies who went into the camps around Goma. We interviewed almost 300 people and found that of those people, two thirds had lost a family member, whether that be a parent or a husband or a wife, or indeed a child," said Graham. "About a quarter of the people we surveyed had lost children."

With its limited sample size, the survey does not provide conclusive⁴ figures, but the organization says it provides an indication of the scale of the problem.

"The villages have been attacked completely by surprise. Families have found themselves in the middle of the night having to gather their possessions, gather all their family members together and flee to safety," he added. "And in the chaos⁵ of this situation, we are finding numerous reports of families ending up separated."

The aid agency CARE has also said that up to one-fifth of displaced families around Goma are headed by single mothers.

Sporadic⁶ fighting has plagued eastern Congo since the official end of the country's civil war in 2003, but the violence has intensified⁷ since late August. The heaviest clashes have pitted the rebel National Congress for Defense⁸ of the People, led by Laurent Nkunda, against government forces. But several other armed groups have been involved in attacks.

The U.N. Security Council last week approved the deployment⁹ of an additional 3,000 troops for the peacekeeping mission in the Congo, known by the French acronym¹⁰, MONUC. With 17,000 troops it is the world's largest peacekeeping mission, but its forces are spread across a large area and have had difficulty preventing clashes.

Government troops stopped a U.N. convoy¹¹ Sunday near the Kibati refugee camp outside Goma and removed 23 people being transported by the United Nations. The men were taken despite the apparent objection of the peacekeepers. U.N. officials say they included members of the Mai Mai militia¹², who have traditionally been allied¹³ with the government, but government soldiers accused the men of being rebels.

After the incident, civilians threw stones at the U.N. convoy, the latest manifestation¹⁴ of local frustration¹⁵ with the operation. But for the most part, a tentative ceasefire has been holding in the region.

Last week, Nkunda's forces pulled back from front lines near the town of Kanyabayonga, north of Goma. MONUC military spokesman Jean-Paul Dietrich says that so far the peacekeepers have encountered few problems.

"The situation has been calm for about a week in this region. There was some attempt of incursion on Thursday, when a group of about 70 Mai Mai tried to enter Rwindi, which was left by CNDP on Tuesday evening," said Dietrich. "But we finally convinced them not to continue towards Kiwanja, I think this was their plan, and they returned from where they came."

Nkunda says he is protecting the region's ethnic¹⁶ Tutsi community from Rwandan Hutu militia operating in the area, and has demanded direct negotiations¹⁷ with the Congolese government. The government maintains negotiations must involve all of the numerous armed groups operating in the country's east.

1 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。

2 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 conclusive   

adj.最后的，结论的；确凿的，消除怀疑的

参考例句：

• They produced some fairly conclusive evidence.他们提供了一些相当确凿的证据。
• Franklin did not believe that the French tests were conclusive.富兰克林不相信这个法国人的实验是结论性的。

5 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。

6 sporadic   

adj.偶尔发生的 [反]regular；分散的

参考例句：

• The sound of sporadic shooting could still be heard.仍能听见零星的枪声。
• You know this better than I.I received only sporadic news about it.你们比我更清楚，而我听到的只是零星消息。

7 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

9 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

10 acronym   

n.首字母简略词，简称

参考例句：

• That's a mouthful of an acronym for a very simple technology.对于一项非常简单的技术来说，这是一个很绕口的缩写词。
• TSDF is an acronym for Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facilities.TSDF是处理，储存和处置设施的一个缩写。

11 convoy   

vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队

参考例句：

• The convoy was snowed up on the main road.护送队被大雪困在干路上了。
• Warships will accompany the convoy across the Atlantic.战舰将护送该船队过大西洋。

12 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

13 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

14 manifestation   

n.表现形式；表明；现象

参考例句：

• Her smile is a manifestation of joy.她的微笑是她快乐的表现。
• What we call mass is only another manifestation of energy.我们称之为质量的东西只是能量的另一种表现形态。

15 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

16 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

17 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。