VOA标准英语2013--约旦与叙利亚难民危机斗争

 

Jordan Struggles With Syrian Refugee Crisis 约旦与叙利亚难民危机斗争

Zaatari camp in Jordan has more than 140,000 Syrian refugees.  Thousands of other refugees live in Jordanian towns close to the border with Syria.  Humanitarian¹ workers say they are preparing Syrian refugees for a return home, even though it is far from clear when that may be.

在约旦Zaatari营地已经超过140000叙利亚难民。成千上万的难民住在约旦城镇靠近叙利亚边界的。人道主义工作人员说,他们正在准备对叙利亚难民返回家园。

Since its opening more than a year ago, the Zaatari camp has become Jordan's fourth largest city.

The sprawling² tent city has schools, health centers and places of prayer, and a main street lined with stores and cafes.

The refugees have fled violence, harassment³ and fear, but also hunger and deprivation⁴ that the war in their country has brought on. 

Twelve-year-old Sami recalls food shortages during his last weeks in Syria.

"In the last three weeks in Syria we were living on bulgur, tomatoes and sometimes there was a car that brought bread, but it was very expensive," Sami said. "What can I say, the situation was dark and difficult.''  

In Zaatari, children go to school, new babies are born and even weddings take place.  But life is far from normal in the camp, where most people think they will return home one day. 

"We are preparing them for life after this crisis," said Jack⁵ Byrne, country director for Jordan at the International Rescue Committee. "We do not provide them with jobs in Jordan, and it's not the policy of the Jordanian government.  So we try to provide more counseling, more therapy, more preparation for when they can rebuild their lives."

More than two million people have fled Syria, putting a strain on the host countries.  Jordan's King Abdullah urged the international community Tuesday to help take care of the growing number of refugees in his country.

"The flow of Syrian refugees in Jordan already equals one-tenth of our own population," he noted⁶. "It could reach 1 million, some 20 percent of our population, by next year. These are not just numbers. They are people who need food, water, shelter, sanitation⁷, electricity, health care and more."

Byrne said the humanitarian effort in Jordan needs to double its current funding to provide basic relief for Syrian refugees in the coming year.

"When we look at the protracted⁸ crisis that may go on for another year and even if it were to end tomorrow, there would be a great need in rebuilding and resettling people. I think we would be talking about anywhere between $5 and $20 million in the next eight to 12 months," he said.

The United States announced in June that it is doubling its aid for Syrian refugees to $890 million for this year.  It is by far the largest aid donor⁹ to the Syrian disaster relief.

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 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

3 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

4 deprivation   

n.匮乏；丧失；夺去，贫困

参考例句：

• Many studies make it clear that sleep deprivation is dangerous.多实验都证实了睡眠被剥夺是危险的。
• Missing the holiday was a great deprivation.错过假日是极大的损失。

5 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

8 protracted   

adj.拖延的；延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The war was protracted for four years. 战争拖延了四年。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We won victory through protracted struggle. 经过长期的斗争，我们取得了胜利。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。