VOA标准英语2010年-US Military Center Assesses Haitian Ne

The U.S. Army has set up a data collection center in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, to assess the needs of residents in the aftermath of the massive earthquake January 12. Thousands who come daily are in desperate need of water, food and work.

Ten thousand people show up here most days, at a building of the Haitian agriculture ministry¹, which the U.S. Army is using temporarily as a data collection and operations center. 

Soldiers outside the gate try to keep the crowds orderly, separating men and women into separate lines.   Small numbers are allowed to enter through the iron gates every few minutes.

The army 82nd Airborne Division oversees² the center, where Creole-speaking Haitian staff conduct interviews with quake victims. 

One woman says she is desperate for help. "We came from under the rubble³.  We have many injuries.  Our houses have been destroyed and all of my relatives have been killed," she says.

U.S Army Sergeant⁴ First Class Brandon Lemmons says he passes along each day's information to his commanders, and they use it to map out their relief strategies. "The main concern, number one, everybody had more than anything, buy number, was food and water; number two would be medical.  Number three would be shelter, depending on a typical day," he says.

He says other concerns include price gouging⁵ for essentials like baby food and rice.

As  the army collects information, many Haitians come here in the hope of finding a job. 

"We don't have any money at all.  We have lost everything.  We are not able to work any more," says a woman who once worked for a U.S. military contractor⁶ and hopes to find similar work. "I was in charge of 50 employees in the laundry section."

Thirty Haitians have been hired to help operate this center.  Sergeant Lemmons says the military is doing what it can to give jobs to local people, to fill the needs of this and other American units in Haiti. "A lot of them need interpreters.  A lot of them need laborers⁷ for their base.  Some of them want more skilled people to come in, like the masons.  We may be able to use them later.   So we may not be able to give them a job right off the bat, but the longer we stay, the more people we're going to need and hopefully the more people we can help," says Lemmons.

When the center closes in late afternoon, thousands will be turned away and face the prospect⁸ of coming back tomorrow.  Sergeant Lemmons says the process so far has been orderly, but people are desperate and the need is great.

1 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

2 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

3 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

4 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

5 gouging   

n.刨削[槽]v.凿( gouge的现在分词 )；乱要价；（在…中）抠出…；挖出…

参考例句：

• Banks and credit-card companies have been accused of gouging their customers. 银行和信用卡公司被指控欺诈顾客。 来自辞典例句
• If back-gouging is applied, grinding to bright metal is required. 如果采用火焰气刨，则应将其打磨至可见光亮的金属表面。 来自互联网

6 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。

7 laborers   

n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工

参考例句：

• Laborers were trained to handle 50-ton compactors and giant cranes. 工人们接受操作五十吨压土机和巨型起重机的训练。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Wage-labour rests exclusively on competition between the laborers. 雇佣劳动完全是建立在工人的自相竞争之上的。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言

8 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。