VOA标准英语2014--塔那那利佛遭遇蝗灾

 

Locust¹ Swarms² Fill Antananarivo Skies 塔那那利佛遭遇蝗灾

Locust swarms filled the skies over Madagascar’s capital this week. However, an expert says it does not mean the locust plague in the nation has returned.

Annie Monard said the locust swarms over Antananarivo were caused by “exceptional weather” for the city -- high temperatures and winds blowing towards the capital. Usually, she said, the locusts³ won’t fly there because of the city’s altitude and lower temperatures.

Monard is in charge of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization’s locust campaign in Madagascar. She sounded the alarm years ago, warning of a plague if control measures were not conducted. They did not start on time due to a funding shortfall and a locust plague was officially declared. The nation’s crops were at risk.

“A large-scale control campaign started in September 2013 and the campaign has the duration mainly of the rainy season. A lot of operations were carried out during that time and they are still ongoing⁴. And more than one-point-two million hectares were treated,” she said.

The first phase of the control campaign stopped the plague from growing worse. But more must be done to get the locust numbers down to pre-plague levels, known as a recession period. That’s when there are only scattered⁵ locust populations, which is normal for Madagascar.

“Now, it’s necessary to continue because we stopped the plague, but there are still locust populations in the southwestern part of Madagascar and in the western part of Madagascar. And it is necessary to continue controlling these locust populations and the remaining swarms to avoid the plague from starting again,” said Monard.

The FAO expert said two more large-scale locust campaigns are needed. However, funds are still being collected before the next program begins. She added that to be effective the second campaign should start very soon.

“The second campaign will start during the second half of September in order to have the teams in place in the field. The helicopter is planned to arrive in early October and the treatments start again with the rainy season, which should start in September/October as usual. [That’s] because the breeding of the locust populations starts with the rainy season.”

The FAO had warned that without locust control campaigns in Madagascar the livelihoods⁶ of 13-million people would be at risk. 

1 locust   

n.蝗虫；洋槐，刺槐

参考例句：

• A locust is a kind of destructive insect.蝗虫是一种害虫。
• This illustration shows a vertical section through the locust.本图所示为蝗虫的纵剖面。

2 swarms   

蜂群，一大群( swarm的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They came to town in swarms. 他们蜂拥来到城里。
• On June the first there were swarms of children playing in the park. 6月1日那一天，这个公园里有一群群的孩子玩耍。

3 locusts   

n.蝗虫( locust的名词复数 )；贪吃的人；破坏者；槐树

参考例句：

• a swarm of locusts 一大群蝗虫
• In no time the locusts came down and started eating everything. 很快蝗虫就飞落下来开始吃东西，什么都吃。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

5 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

6 livelihoods   

生计，谋生之道( livelihood的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• First came the earliest individualistic pioneers who depended on hunting and fishing for their livelihoods. 走在最前面的是早期的个人主义先驱者，他们靠狩猎捕鱼为生。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• With little influence over policies, their traditional livelihoods are threatened. 因为马赛族人对政策的影响力太小，他们的传统生计受到了威胁。