voa标准英语2008年-Britain, EU Seek to Stave off Humanitarian Cata

The foreign ministers of Britain and France are heading to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda to try to stave off a further humanitarian¹ crisis in eastern Congo where tens of thousands are fleeing advancing rebel forces, despite a cease-fire that appears to be holding. VOA's Sonja Pace reports from London.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner are heading on a joint² mission for talks in the DRC and Rwanda - with the aim of, as one British official put it, impressing upon both those governments the seriousness of the situation.

Their visit comes amid renewed fighting in eastern Congo between the Congolese army and ethnic³ Tutsi rebels, led by Laurent Nkunda. With a rebel advance on the eastern city of Goma, tens of thousands of civilians⁴ have fled the surrounding countryside into the city seeking safety, food and shelter.
　

Internally Displaced People (IDP) leave Goma in direction to the improvised5 IDP's camp in Kibati, about 25 kilometers north of the provincial6 capital of Goma, 31 Oct 2008

Jaya Murthy is spokesman for the UN Children's Organization, Unicef. Speaking with VOA from Goma, Murthy described the humanitarian situation there as "terrible."

"Tens of thousands of people have fled their homes from intensified⁷ fighting over the past five days," he said. "We have 40 to 50,000 internally displaced people that are just outside of Goma and in Goma. These people are staying in small camps, also in churches, in schools and with host families in Goma."

Murthy says there are also reports of thousands of people fleeing in other areas of North Kivu province, where aid agencies have not been able to reach them.

He says there is growing concern about the physical and emotional state of those fleeing the conflict. "Often the people who have fled their homes, fled with very little if anything. They haven't eaten in days or eaten very little," said Murthy.

"They haven't had access to healthcare. Oftentimes children are separated from their families during displacement⁸, which makes them more prone⁹ to abuse, exploitation and violence. We're very worried that there could be an outbreak of diseases or epidemics¹⁰ of cholera¹¹, which is very common here and measles¹². Also, when we have massive population displacement we see skyrocketing malnutrition¹³ rates," he added.
　

Renegade ex-general Laurent Nkunda (file photo)

Rebel leader Nkunda says his forces are defending ethnic Tutsis in the area against Rwandan Hutu fighters, who fled to Congo after Rwanda's 1994 genocide. Since that time, simmering ethnic tension, unrest and open warfare¹⁴ have broken out periodically.

Murthy says the cease-fire has afforded aid agencies a window of opportunity to distribute food and supplies, including high energy biscuits for children. But, he warns the situation remains¹⁵ very tenuous¹⁶ and he said the need for stability is crucial to get help to those in need.

1 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

2 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

3 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

4 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。

5 improvised   

a.即席而作的,即兴的

参考例句：

• He improvised a song about the football team's victory. 他即席创作了一首足球队胜利之歌。
• We improvised a tent out of two blankets and some long poles. 我们用两条毛毯和几根长竿搭成一个临时帐蓬。

6 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

7 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 displacement   

n.移置，取代，位移，排水量

参考例句：

• They said that time is the feeling of spatial displacement.他们说时间是空间位移的感觉。
• The displacement of all my energy into caring for the baby.我所有精力都放在了照顾宝宝上。

9 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

10 epidemics   

n．流行病

参考例句：

• Reliance upon natural epidemics may be both time-consuming and misleading. 依靠天然的流行既浪费时间，又会引入歧途。
• The antibiotic epidemics usually start stop when the summer rainy season begins. 传染病通常会在夏天的雨季停止传播。

11 cholera   

n.霍乱

参考例句：

• The cholera outbreak has been contained.霍乱的发生已被控制住了。
• Cholera spread like wildfire through the camps.霍乱在营地里迅速传播。

12 measles   

n.麻疹，风疹，包虫病，痧子

参考例句：

• The doctor is quite definite about Tom having measles.医生十分肯定汤姆得了麻疹。
• The doctor told her to watch out for symptoms of measles.医生叫她注意麻疹出现的症状。

13 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。

14 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

15 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。

16 tenuous   

adj.细薄的，稀薄的，空洞的

参考例句：

• He has a rather tenuous grasp of reality.他对现实认识很肤浅。
• The air ten miles above the earth is very tenuous.距离地面十公里的空气十分稀薄。