西部落：索马里干旱,严重饥荒

Millions of people in five countries across the Horn of Africa are gripped by severe drought and have been for months. But now in one of those countries, Somalia, the UN says that the situation is so bad in some areas, there is famine for the first time in 20 years.

几个月以来，非洲之角的5个国家上百万人民正遭受严重的干旱。据联合国消息，在其中一个国家索马里旱情极为严重，该地区20年以来第一次遭受到饥荒的威胁。

"The state of famine exists in parts of Bakool and Lower Shabelle, regions of southern Somalia. The rest of southern Somalia is close to famine. In some parts of Somalia, malnutrition¹ rates have reached extraordinarily² high levels of 50% for children under five."

“位于索马里南部的巴利勒和下谢贝利出现了饥荒，其余的南部地区也将遭此厄运。在索马里的部分地区，5岁以下儿童的营养不良率高峰时达到50%。”

The UN has officially declared two parts of Somalia to be in famine and made the worst drought in east Africa for 60 years. The areas are most affected³ in the south of Somalia where estimated 310,000 people are acutely malnourished. More than 166,000 Somalis have fled the country since the start of the year. This aerial photographs from NASA showed how the Sahara Desert is pushing further south into Africa and the dust clouds swirling⁴ over the area all add to the drying up of thousands of square miles of land on which millions of people are trying to eke⁵ out of their lives.

联合国正式宣布索马里南部两个地区出现饥荒，这两个地区正在经历60年来最严重的旱灾。据估计，在索马里南部受灾最为严重的地区有31万人极度营养不良。自今年初，有超过166,000名难民逃离索马里。美国国家航空总署高空拍摄的照片显示，撒哈拉沙漠正在进一步南移，扩大至非洲，涡旋在非洲上空的沙尘云会加剧这场干旱。在这片上千平方英里的土地上，上百万人口在挣扎着勉强维持生计。

For weeks, there has been a mass migration⁶ of people from the worst affected areas, particularly in Somalia, to the vast and overflowing⁷ refugee camp at Dadaab in northern Kenya. The International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell was there last weekend and says, "doing nothing is not an option".

几个星期以来在受灾最严重的地区，尤其是索马里，大量人口迁移到肯尼亚南部达达阿布难民营，它号称是这个世界上最大的难民营。国际发展委员会秘书安德鲁·米切尔上星期在这里视察时说道“这样下去绝不是办法。”

"Unless the international community now puts its shoulder to the wheel and significantly reinforces the effort which Britain has led so far, then I fear that many very young children will die as a result of this."

“除非国际社会鼎力相助，大力支持英国政府的人道主义援助工作，否则还会有许多儿童死于营养不良。”

Somalia is being hamstrung by internal strife⁸ for decades with the Al-Qaeda affiliated⁹ Al-Shebaab group making the security situation too precarious¹⁰ for many aid organizations to function properly.

索马里几十年来因内部争斗而四分五裂。“基地”组织的附属机构Al-Shebaab group使很多儿童组织的处境更加危险，因此不能充分发挥其职能。

1 malnutrition   

n.营养不良

参考例句：

• In Africa, there are a lot of children suffering from severe malnutrition.在非洲有大批严重营养不良的孩子。
• It is a classic case of malnutrition. 这是营养不良的典型病例。

2 extraordinarily   

adv.格外地；极端地

参考例句：

• She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
• The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。

3 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。

4 swirling   

v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Snowflakes were swirling in the air. 天空飘洒着雪花。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• She smiled, swirling the wine in her glass. 她微笑着，旋动着杯子里的葡萄酒。 来自辞典例句

5 eke   

v.勉强度日，节约使用

参考例句：

• They had to eke out a livinga tiny income.他们不得不靠微薄收入勉强度日。
• We must try to eke out our water supply.我们必须尽量节约用水。

6 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

7 overflowing   

n. 溢出物,溢流 adj. 充沛的，充满的 动词overflow的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The stands were overflowing with farm and sideline products. 集市上农副产品非常丰富。
• The milk is overflowing. 牛奶溢出来了。

8 strife   

n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争

参考例句：

• We do not intend to be drawn into the internal strife.我们不想卷入内乱之中。
• Money is a major cause of strife in many marriages.金钱是造成很多婚姻不和的一个主要原因。

9 affiliated   

adj. 附属的, 有关连的

参考例句：

• The hospital is affiliated with the local university. 这家医院附属于当地大学。
• All affiliated members can vote. 所有隶属成员都有投票权。

10 precarious   

adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的

参考例句：

• Our financial situation had become precarious.我们的财务状况已变得不稳定了。
• He earned a precarious living as an artist.作为一个艺术家，他过得是朝不保夕的生活。