VOA标准英语2010年-New York's Haitian Americans Grieve, W

"Here I sit in my living room and there is nothing that I can do and that's killing¹ me inside."

It was sunny in New York on Wednesday where business remained brisk in Brooklyn's Flatbush district, home to many of the city's hundreds of thousands of Haitian-Americans.  However, for most residents here, life changed forever on January 12, when a massive earthquake hit their homeland.  Hundreds of thousands lost their lives, were wounded or became homeless.

Ruth Lucie lost 17 family members in the quake, including two grandchildren

"This is a tragedy," said Ruth Lucie, who lost 17 relatives that day. When asked how she copes with her enormous loss, she praises, rather than blames, God. "The Lord knows why He let that happen. I don't know. I have a lot of hope in God. That's why I can stand in front of you."  Without faith, Lucie said she might literally² die from sadness.  

At the Bedford Haitian Community Center, one of dozens of grassroots groups across the city that is collecting donations of food, water, clothing and medical supplies for earthquake victims,  28-year-old volunteer Shamir Henri is still digesting the recent news that his aunt, uncle and their children are homeless as a result of the quake. "As for everyone else, we don't know. It's chaotic³ over there. It's crazy." 

Shamir is a Catholic who advocates prayer but he wonders whether he will ever understand God's role in the catastrophe⁴.  "We could ask all we want, but we won't get answers."

Like many Americans who have contributed money to charity and aid organizations like the Red Cross in the past week, Alex Pierre also wrote a check. But he yearns⁵ to do something more "hands-on" and personal. He said that being so far away from the scene is difficult for him.

Alex Pierre, who has lived in the U.S. for 19 years, is deeply frustrated⁶ that he cannot do more to help.
 

"If I was in Haiti when the earthquake happened, I could go and help somebody that's injured, somebody that's passed away, take them to the cemetery⁷. And, here I sit in my living room and there is nothing that I can do and that's killing me inside."   

A morbid⁸ cast hangs over Rincer's Multi Services, a storefront office run by Haitian-Americans that helps clients with translation, tutoring, immigration paperwork and other tasks. Worker Andree La Fleur said she's received many calls from clients canceling visa applications for their relatives in Haiti because they've been killed.  Last week's disaster became very personal for her as well when she learned that her six-year-old nephew had died.

La Fleur often thinks about children who died anonymously⁹ in the streets of Port au Prince, Haiti's capital, where the earthquake was centered. She knows many bodies were buried in mass graves for public health reasons. "Their parents don't know where they are."  Le Fleur feels for the mothers and fathers who might want to go to the cemetery to grieve for their children. "You can't do it because you don't know where they are. Nobody in Haiti is going to forget this day."

Terrel Nicholls, 10, feels for his many school friends whose families hail from Haiti

Children have been deeply affected¹⁰ by the tragedy. Ten-year-old Terrel Nicholls is not Haitian-American, but many of his schoolmates are. He said he feels bad for people down in Haiti. "We have everything, all the stores and all the food here. And down there, they hardly have anything." When asked what he would wish for them, he answers without hesitation¹¹, "I hope they feel better and I hope it don't happen again."

Whether the strong aftershock that Haiti experienced Wednesday will bring more in its wake, or whether its beleaguered¹² residents will have the time to grieve and rebuild, is an open question. Meanwhile, Haitians, both at home and abroad, watch, wait and do what they can. 

 

1 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。

2 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

3 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。

4 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

5 yearns   

渴望，切盼，向往( yearn的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Every man yearns for sympathy in sorrow. 每个遇到不幸的人都渴望得到同情。
• What I dread is to get into a rut. One yearns for freshness of thought and ideas. 我害怕的就是墨守成规。人总是向往新思想和新观念的。

6 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

8 morbid   

adj.病的；致病的；病态的；可怕的

参考例句：

• Some people have a morbid fascination with crime.一些人对犯罪有一种病态的痴迷。
• It's morbid to dwell on cemeteries and such like.不厌其烦地谈论墓地以及诸如此类的事是一种病态。

9 anonymously   

ad.用匿名的方式

参考例句：

• The manuscripts were submitted anonymously. 原稿是匿名送交的。
• Methods A self-administered questionnaire was used to survey 536 teachers anonymously. 方法采用自编“中小学教师职业压力问卷”对536名中小学教师进行无记名调查。

10 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。

11 hesitation   

n.犹豫，踌躇

参考例句：

• After a long hesitation, he told the truth at last.踌躇了半天，他终于直说了。
• There was a certain hesitation in her manner.她的态度有些犹豫不决。

12 beleaguered   

adj.受到围困[围攻]的；包围的v.围攻( beleaguer的过去式和过去分词)；困扰；骚扰

参考例句：

• The beleaguered party leader was forced to resign. 那位饱受指责的政党领导人被迫辞职。
• We are beleaguered by problems. 我们被许多困难所困扰。 来自《简明英汉词典》