VOA标准英语2010年-VOA Correspondent Reports on Relief Ef

More international rescue teams, medical supplies, food and clean water are arriving in Port-au-Prince late Friday to help the victims of Tuesday's earthquake in Haiti. VOA correspondent Brian Wagner reports the big problem now is how to bring the supplies to people.

He spoke¹ with relief/rescue personnel and victims at the Port-au-Prince airport Friday. In the photo gallery we hear from Al Perez of the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, Aldo Gonzalez with the Red Cross of El Salvador, Andrew Davis, a missionary² from Baltimore, Maryland, and Haiti residents Jean Coby and Lionel Moyes.

WAGNER: I am at the international airport in Port-au-Prince, the staging ground for what has becoming an increasingly large international effort to help this country recover from the devastating³ earthquake.  Cargo⁴ and passenger planes continue to come night and day.  We have seen planes from the United States, Canada, Israel, Venezuela, and Russia.  Some of the planes are dropping off  food, water, rescue equipment, and other supplies and tools that the [rescue] teams will need. 

Rescue and aid workers also are arriving.  Just a few moments ago a team from the San Francisco, California, area left the airport to help the Haitians in need.  A team from the U.S. state of New Jersey⁵ loaded their trucks and headed on their way. 

One of the most important questions we have heard from Haitians is when is the aid going to be handed out to them and their neighborhood.  We saw a group of young men gathered at the airport this morning [Friday] who had clearly come in the hopes of getting something; food, water, anything to help them get through the next few days.  Representatives of different aid groups are conscious of the need to get things into peoples' hands as fast as they can.

I put that question to Wayne Robinson, a team leader with Shelter Box, which distributes temporary shelters to people in disasters.  He said his team is working as fast as they can.

ROBINSON: We have 930 shelter boxes in the air right or soon to be in the air.  Once we get them on the ground here, we feel we will be able to get them through customs.  We have volunteers lined up and sites identified so we can put them out into the community in Port-au-Prince and the surrounding area.

In the last day or so the United States and French governments have started running passenger flights out of the country [Haiti] for evacuees⁶ from those countries.  People line up and wait for a plane to arrive so they can leave Haiti and leave behind what is a very difficult, traumatic experience for many.

Lionel Moyes

One man I talked to is Lionel Moyes who is a U.S. military veteran and whose family is from Haiti.  He grew up in the United States, but he decided⁷ with his retirement⁸ he would move back to Haiti to give something back to the people here.  The earthquake has changed his plans, at least for now.

MOYES: I spoke with my children [who live in the U.S.] last night and they though I was dead.  I am happy to hear from them and they know I am okay.  I am on my way back home [to the United States].

WAGNER: You think you will ever come back to Haiti?

MOYES: No doubt about it.  I will be back, but not right away.  It is difficult to stay right now because it is not a healthy condition with the smoke and smell of death.

WAGNER: The sun is setting right now in Port-au-Prince. From we have have heard today [Friday], the situation outside the airport remains⁹ much the same.  People are gathering¹⁰ in plazas¹¹ and other large areas waiting for aid to arrive.  Aid workers say help is on the way.  The question is how long can hold on until it gets there.

 

 

1 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。

2 missionary   

adj.教会的，传教(士)的；n.传教士

参考例句：

• She taught in a missionary school for a couple of years.她在一所教会学校教了两年书。
• I hope every member understands the value of missionary work. 我希望教友都了解传教工作的价值。

3 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

4 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

5 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

6 evacuees   

n.被疏散者( evacuee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Moreover, for multi-exits, evacuees select a exit based on game theory. 在有多个出口时，疏散人员根据对策论选择出口。 来自互联网
• Evacuees wade through flooded area following heavy monsoon rains in Peshawar on Saturday, July 31, 2010. 撤离灾区涉水通过后在白沙瓦沉重的季风降雨在周六，2010年7月31日。 来自互联网

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

9 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。

10 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

11 plazas   

n.（尤指西班牙语城镇的）露天广场( plaza的名词复数 )；购物中心

参考例句：

• At focal points, there are seating plazas as rest points for users. 在主要主景点上，有空间较大的广场提供休息的地方。 来自互联网
• Such products are suitable for lighting and decoration of plazas, courtyards, parks, residential district and roadside. 本产品适合于广场、庭院，公园、小区草坪和道路的装饰和照明。 来自互联网