VOA标准英语2010年-Haitians Flee Capital in Search of Aid

Haiti's government and aid groups are struggling to respond to the housing needs of tens of thousands of people affected¹ by last week's earthquake. Some people are trying to leave the damaged city behind.

Buses stream out of the Haitian capital, packed with people in search of a safe and stable place to live, as aftershocks continue to rattle² the city's residents. Some are heading back to their family homes in smaller towns on the coast or in rural parts of the Caribbean nation. Others simply hope to find a place that is free of aftershocks and free of the fear of falling buildings.

Scores of people remain in Port-au-Prince, where tent communities have emerged for both poor and wealthy residents who lost their homes in Tuesday's quake. Health experts say living conditions in the makeshift communities pose serious health concerns.

Haitian officials are studying plans to build temporary housing for those affected by the earthquake. It is unclear how soon the sites could be ready and if they could accommodate the tens of thousands of people affected by the disaster.

Across the street from the Presidential Palace, Vivienne Riviere and her family sleep under a tarp, surrounded by their belongings³. She says people are still waiting to get help from the government.

She says she may move out to a temporary housing site, but she still wants to know if the government will pay to rebuild her old home.

Across town in the vast slum of Cite Soleil, residents complain they have received almost no aid from Haitian officials or foreign governments.

In the Boston neighborhood, injured residents gathered at a make-shift triage center in front of the Mission Ranch⁴ health clinic. Volunteers at the compound say it is one of few buildings that remain, after their orphanage⁵ and school were damaged.

Pastor⁶ Mark Dreibelbis of Mission Ranch says the only outside help has come from a United Nations team on Thursday.  "We saw the blue helmets down here with a truck, they were giving out [nine-kilogram] bags of food. There should be another truck of water, we hope. It is so sporadic⁷, and Cite Soleil is a slum of about 200,000 people. It's almost impossible to care for," he said.

Dreibelbis says a growing concern is that jailed gang members who escaped during the earthquake are now coming home. He says residents fear the gangsters⁸ will eventually return to what it is they do best: robbery, murder and rape⁹.

1 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。

2 rattle   

v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓

参考例句：

• The baby only shook the rattle and laughed and crowed.孩子只是摇着拨浪鼓，笑着叫着。
• She could hear the rattle of the teacups.她听见茶具叮当响。

3 belongings   

n.私人物品，私人财物

参考例句：

• I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
• Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。

4 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

5 orphanage   

n.孤儿院

参考例句：

• They dispensed new clothes to the children in the orphanage.他们把新衣服发给孤儿院的小孩们。
• They gave the proceeds of the sale to the orphanage.他们把销售的收入给了这家孤儿院。

6 pastor   

n.牧师，牧人

参考例句：

• He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
• We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师：教会的事是由五位执事管理的。

7 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。

8 gangsters   

匪徒，歹徒( gangster的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gangsters offered him a sum equivalent to a whole year's earnings. 歹徒提出要给他一笔相当于他一年收入的钱。
• One of the gangsters was caught by the police. 歹徒之一被警察逮捕。

9 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。