VOA标准英语2008年-Burma Tells UN Chief It Will Allow All Relief W

By Luis Ramirez
Bangkok
23 May 2008

Burma's military junta¹ has agreed to allow relief workers of all nationalities to enter the country to help victims of Cyclone² Nargis. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says Burmese leader General Than Shwe made the concession³ during a meeting on Friday, nearly three weeks after the storm hit, killing⁴ at least 78,000 people. VOA's Luis Ramirez reports from our Southeast Asia bureau in Bangkok.

 

The U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon met with Burmese leader General Than Shwe at the capital, Naypiyidaw, on Friday. After two hours, the U.N. chief emerged saying it had been a good meeting.

"He has agreed to allow all the aid workers, regardless of nationality. He has taken quite a flexible position on this matter," Ban said.

When asked whether this was a breakthrough, Secretary General Ban said he thought so.

 

Until now, Burma's reclusive military leadership has refused to allow large numbers of international relief workers to enter the country and insisted that the military authorities be the ones to distribute aid.

The generals' concession comes as Burma prepares to host a donors⁵' conference Sunday in which Southeast Asian nations will be asked to donate money for relief efforts.

Three weeks after the storm hit, the help brought by relief workers may be too late for many of the victims. Tens of thousands of dead and thousands more are still missing in the disaster. It remains⁶ unclear when the workers will be allowed to enter. Many have been waiting for visas in Bangkok for weeks.

The Burmese government until now has only allowed a few international humanitarian⁷ workers into the country. Aid shipments have been restricted to arriving in the main city, hundreds of kilometers from the hardest-hit zones.

U.N. officials say their understanding of the agreement Friday is that it includes allowing aid workers into the Irawaddy Delta⁸, the area hardest hit by the cyclone. The officials quote Burmese leaders as saying they do not oppose the relief workers' presence as long as they are genuine humanitarian workers and it is clear that they are going into Burma strictly⁹ to do relief work.

Officials estimate more than two million people are suffering for lack of clean water, food, and medical treatment.

The United States, Britain, and France have all positioned ships off the Burmese coast and offered to rush in relief supplies to the hardest-hit areas of the Irawaddy Delta, but Burma's government has refused them entry.

The U.N. secretary-g eneral arrived in Burma on Thursday and got an official tour of some of the devastation¹⁰, but critics say officials kept him away from some of the worst-hit areas - including places where victims have yet to receive any aid whatsoever¹¹.

On Sunday, Ban is scheduled to attend a donor-pledging conference in Rangoon among U.N. officials and representatives of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The grouping's Secretary-General, Surin Pitsuwan, on Friday said members might be reluctant to send money to Burma unless they are sure the process will be transparent¹². He said the amount donated will depend on whether they are confident that they will get access, a chance to participate, and verify how the aid efforts are carried out.

1 junta   

n.团体；政务审议会

参考例句：

• The junta reacted violently to the perceived threat to its authority.军政府感到自身权力受威胁而进行了激烈反击。
• A military junta took control of the country.一个军政权控制了国家。

2 cyclone   

n.旋风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• An exceptionally violent cyclone hit the town last night.昨晚异常猛烈的旋风吹袭了那个小镇。
• The cyclone brought misery to thousands of people.旋风给成千上万的人带来苦难。

3 concession   

n.让步，妥协；特许(权)

参考例句：

• We can not make heavy concession to the matter.我们在这个问题上不能过于让步。
• That is a great concession.这是很大的让步。

4 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

5 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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。

7 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。

8 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

9 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

10 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》

11 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。

12 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。