VOA标准英语2012--Charities Say Africa Drought Aid Delay Cost Tens of Thousands of Lives

Charities Say Africa Drought Aid Delay Cost Tens of Thousands of Lives

It's estimated that between 50,000 and 100,000 people died in the drought and food crisis that hit the Horn of Africa last year - more than half of them children under five.
The U.S. government says 29,000 young children died in the space of just 90 days when the famine was at its peak.
An investigation¹ by aid agencies Oxfam and Save the Children says many of the victims could have been saved if the world had acted earlier.
"There were warnings of a food crisis issued in early 2011 and those warnings stated that the crisis would probably hit in the summer of 2011. But those warnings weren't heeded² and there are a number of reasons why. Essentially³ at the beginning of the year there were many competing priorities such as the Arab Spring, the crisis in Ivory Coast and the Japanese tsunami⁴ that had just occurred. So the attention of the international community was elsewhere," said Rocco Blume.
Rocco Blume says the international community gave very generously once the scale of the catastrophe⁵ was clear. But sophisticated early warning systems forecast a likely emergency as early as August 2010 - well before the first signs of famine surfaced.
"Currently, the international aid system and the international community tend to respond to figures of malnutrition⁶ or statistics of malnutrition," said Blume. "The world gets into gear when television pictures start showing starving children. It's possible to respond far earlier and to prevent that situation from occurring."
The report concludes that a culture of risk aversion caused a six-month delay in the aid effort - costing lives and money.
"Aid agencies have in the past been accused of 'crying wolf' when they issue warnings before a crisis has actually hit," he said. "There is a difficult balance we have to strike in giving the early warnings but also making very clear what the impact will be."
The timing⁷ of the report is no accident. Aid agencies warn another crisis is looming⁸, this time in West Africa and the international community needs to act fast.
"Right now in West Africa there are warnings that this year there will be a food crisis," said Blume. "Across the countries of Niger, Mali, Mauritania and Burkina Faso, there are very low food stocks, high food prices. And the implication of this is that right now the international community needs to be providing funding and support to prevent this from becoming a dire⁹ food emergency."
Poor harvests, drought and pest infestations¹⁰ have been blamed for the shortages. Aid agencies warn the last food crisis in West Africa in 2010 hit 10 million people and action is needed to stop a crisis turning into a catastrophe.

1 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

2 heeded   

v.听某人的劝告，听从( heed的过去式和过去分词 )；变平，使（某物）变平( flatten的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She countered that her advice had not been heeded. 她反驳说她的建议未被重视。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I heeded my doctor's advice and stopped smoking. 我听从医生的劝告，把烟戒了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

4 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

5 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

6 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。

7 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

8 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望

9 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

10 infestations   

n.（害虫、盗贼等）群袭，出没，横行( infestation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The arrival of warm weather raises the specter of disease and increased rat infestations caused by rotting garbage. 天气转暖使人们担心垃圾腐烂会引起疾病传播和鼠群猖獗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Piperazine citrate is the drug of choice in the treatment of Ascaris infestations. 枸橼酸哌嗪治疗蛔虫感染是最好的药物。 来自辞典例句