VOA慢速英语 2008 0517

IN THE NEWS - In China, Number of Earthquake Deaths Is Expected to Top 50,000
Soldiers and civilian¹ volunteers continue rescue efforts in Sichuan Province. But survivors² have criticized the government's delays in sending aid. Transcript³ of radio broadcast:
16 May 2008

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

Thousands of soldiers and civilian volunteers continue rescue and relief efforts after Monday’s huge earthquake in southwestern China. Thousands of people are believed to still be buried under collapsed⁵ buildings.
　

COLLAPSE⁴: collapse" bordercolor="#111111" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="15%" align="right" border="0">

Rescuers search for victims in the wreckage6 of a school in Dujiangyan, Sichuan

Officials say the number of dead is expected to rise to more than fifty thousand. On Friday, Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived in Sichuan Province to support earthquake relief efforts. Hundreds of thousands of people are without homes. Health officials warn that a lack of food, clean water and medical supplies could lead to the spread of disease. Officials also warn that dams and other structures weakened by the earthquake could still collapse.

So far, China has received international aid worth more than two hundred million dollars. But officials say the country still needs tools, equipment, temporary shelters and medicine. The Chinese government made a rare public appeal Thursday for tools used for digging and moving wreckage. Some rescuers have been digging through building wreckage with only their hands.

Airplanes carrying aid and volunteers from Taiwan landed in China on Thursday. The first foreign rescue team arrived Friday in Sichuan Province from Japan. China has also agreed to accept teams from Russia, Singapore and South Korea.

Chinese state television has shown Chinese Premier⁷ Wen Jiabao in areas where the earthquake hit, talking to survivors and directing relief work.

The Chinese government has sent about one hundred thirty thousand military and aid workers to Sichuan Province. It has also deployed⁸ more than one hundred helicopters to transport victims and drop emergency supplies to survivors. The state-run Xinhua news agency reports the government has also ordered temporary controls on food prices and transportation costs in affected⁹ areas.

However, many survivors are criticizing the government’s delays in sending help to affected areas. Others have questioned the safety of public schools and hospital buildings. Many schools collapsed, killing¹⁰ classrooms full of children. Thousands of parents lost their only child in the quake because China’s population control policies limit most families to having one child.

Also this week, aid organizations said the number of victims of a severe storm in Burma could reach more than one hundred thousand. The storm struck Burma’s Irrawaddy Delta¹¹ on May third. The United Nations says as many as two million survivors need food, water, shelter and medicine.

Pressure continues on Burma's military government to permit international aid organizations to help the survivors. A U.N. spokesman in the country says some aid is reaching affected areas but it is not enough.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. Our reports can be found on our Web site at voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Steve Ember.

1 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

2 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

5 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

6 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

7 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

8 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

9 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。

10 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。

11 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。