VOA标准英语2014--Food Distribution Increases in CAR 增加中非共和国食品供给

 

Food Distribution Increases in CAR 增加中非共和国食品供给

The World Food Program says emergency food supplies are reaching more people in Central African Republic. However, the main supply road from Cameroon to CAR’s capital Bangui remains¹ insecure. Armed groups frequently have targeted civilians² based on their religion.

Since mid-February, the World Food Program has bolstered³ its food stocks using airlifts. Those airlifts, though, are due to end this week. They were needed because truck convoys⁴ from Cameroon were too few – and carried too little – to replenish⁵ rapidly dwindling⁶ supplies.

WFP’s Alexis Masciarelli said progress is being made.

“We are increasing our presence across the country. In the last few weeks we’ve been distributing to new locations, especially in the north of the country, including rural areas. And that’s very important for us because it means that we go and bring assistance to a lot of people, who had fled the violence, who had gone to the bush, and for several weeks [had] only been eating roots and leaves. And now they try and go back to their homes and they realize that there’s been a lot of destruction. A lot of their houses have been looted, burned. So, we are there to help them to rebuild their lives,” he said.

The airlifts have brought in about 1,500 tons of rice from neighboring countries.

Truck drivers remain wary⁷ about making the 600 kilometer trip from Cameroon to Bangui. They want an armed escort.

“We’ve had trucks coming in the country thanks to escorts from the African force that is based here. Especially, the Rwandan contingent⁸ has been very helpful in helping⁹ trucks come through the road that was too insecure,” he said.

But Masciarelli said that food deliveries are not just about meeting immediate¹⁰ needs.

“Slowly, it’s coming in,” he said, “It’s not enough yet because what is important at the moment is not just to distribute food immediately for the people in need, but also to start prepositioning food stocks in locations all across the country before the rainy season starts next month, which will have made all the roads very difficult to pass.”

While the WFP is able to distribute in more places in CAR, there’s a problem at Bangui airport – where at one point about 100-thousand people had fled for safety.

“The conditions at the airport are still obviously quite difficult. We have had to suspend operations there because there’s been a lot of insecurity around the airport camp. So, we’ve been, in fact, the last week or so distributing in other areas of Bangui where there are also a lot of people displaced – around churches, around mosques¹¹, as well. We’ve been distributing over the last week to over 80,000 people outside the main airport camp,” he said.

 

The WFP spokesman said it’s difficult to determine how many people remain at the airport site. There’s a constant ebb¹² and flow depending on the level of insecurity in the area – but the figure is in the thousands.

1 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。

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 bolstered   

v.支持( bolster的过去式和过去分词 )；支撑；给予必要的支持；援助

参考例句：

• He bolstered his plea with new evidence. 他举出新的证据来支持他的抗辩。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The data must be bolstered by inferences and indirect estimates of varying degrees of reliability. 这些资料必须借助于推理及可靠程度不同的间接估计。 来自辞典例句

4 convoys   

n.（有护航的）船队( convoy的名词复数 )；车队；护航（队）；护送队

参考例句：

• Truck convoys often stop over for lunch here. 车队经常在这里停下来吃午饭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A UN official said aid programs will be suspended until there's adequate protection for relief convoys. 一名联合国官员说将会暂停援助项目，直到援助车队能够得到充分的保护为止。 来自辞典例句

5 replenish   

vt.补充；(把…)装满；(再)填满

参考例句：

• I always replenish my food supply before it is depleted.我总是在我的食物吃完之前加以补充。
• We have to import an extra 4 million tons of wheat to replenish our reserves.我们不得不额外进口四百万吨小麦以补充我们的储备。

6 dwindling   

adj.逐渐减少的v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The number of wild animals on the earth is dwindling. 地球上野生动物的数量正日渐减少。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is struggling to come to terms with his dwindling authority. 他正努力适应自己权力被削弱这一局面。 来自辞典例句

7 wary   

adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的

参考例句：

• He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
• Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头，突然警惕起来。

8 contingent   

adj.视条件而定的；n.一组，代表团，分遣队

参考例句：

• The contingent marched in the direction of the Western Hills.队伍朝西山的方向前进。
• Whether or not we arrive on time is contingent on the weather.我们是否按时到达要视天气情况而定。

9 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

10 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

11 mosques   

清真寺； 伊斯兰教寺院，清真寺； 清真寺，伊斯兰教寺院( mosque的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why make us believe that this tunnel runs underneath the mosques? 为什么要让我们相信这条隧洞是在清真寺下？
• The city's three biggest mosques, long fallen into disrepair, have been renovated. 城里最大的三座清真寺，过去年久失修，现在已经修复。

12 ebb   

vi.衰退，减退；n.处于低潮，处于衰退状态

参考例句：

• The flood and ebb tides alternates with each other.涨潮和落潮交替更迭。
• They swam till the tide began to ebb.他们一直游到开始退潮。