VOA标准英语2015--安吉丽娜·朱莉呼吁保护叙利亚难民

Angelina Jolie Appeals for Action on Behalf of Syrian Refugees 安吉丽娜·朱莉呼吁保护叙利亚难民

UNITED NATIONS—

Actress Angelina Jolie Pitt, U.N. special envoy¹ for refugee issues, told the Security Council on Friday of the suffering of Syrian refugees she has met during visits to the region and urged council members to overcome their political divisions and end Syria's conflict.

Jolie Pitt said she had made 11 trips to countries hosting Syrian refugees over the past four years. She said she wished some of the refugees could speak to the council.

“I think of the mother I met recently in a camp in Iraq, and she could tell you what it’s like to try to live after your young daughter is ripped from your family by armed men and taken as a sex slave," Jolie Pitt said. "I think of Hala, one of six orphan² children living in a tent in Lebanon. She could tell you what it’s like to share the responsibility for feeding your family at the age of 11, because your mother died in an airstrike and your father is missing."

Jolie Pitt scolded the Security Council for its political divisions and lack of action to resolve the crisis.

“The Security Council has powers to address these threats to international peace and security, but these powers lie unused," she said. "...The problem is not lack of information — we know in excruciating detail what’s happening in Yarmouk, in Aleppo, in Homs — the problem is lack of political will.”

The Security Council has seen four vetoes from Russia, supported by China, of measures that might have helped halt the conflict and the humanitarian³ disaster it has created. More than 220,000 Syrians have been killed since 2011, among them some 10,000 children, and nearly 4 million Syrians have become refugees.

Jolie Pitt urged council members to visit those refugees so they could see their suffering firsthand.

The council also heard from U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos, who urged members to look at all options to stop the violence. Among the options she recommended were an arms embargo⁴, targeted sanctions for violators of international law, and the implementation⁵ of humanitarian pauses. She urged accountability, noting calls for the Syrian file to be sent to the International Criminal Court.

World Food Program chief Ertharin Cousin warned that massive funding shortfalls could force aid agencies to further cut rations⁶ to already poverty-stricken Syrian refugees. She said rations had been cut by 30 percent to displaced Syrians inside the country and that some refugees in neighboring countries would receive no assistance.

U.N. High Commissioner⁷ for Refugees Antonio Guterres spoke⁸ of the escalating⁹ crisis in the eastern Mediterranean¹⁰, where Syrian refugees have been among those who have died trying to cross the sea to Europe.

1 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

2 orphan   

n.孤儿；adj.无父母的

参考例句：

• He brought up the orphan and passed onto him his knowledge of medicine.他把一个孤儿养大，并且把自己的医术传给了他。
• The orphan had been reared in a convent by some good sisters.这个孤儿在一所修道院里被几个好心的修女带大。

3 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。

4 embargo   

n.禁运（令）；vt.对...实行禁运，禁止（通商）

参考例句：

• This country put an oil embargo on an enemy country.该国对敌国实行石油禁运。
• During the war,they laid an embargo on commerce with enemy countries.在战争期间，他们禁止与敌国通商。

5 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

6 rations   

定量( ration的名词复数 )； 配给量； 正常量； 合理的量

参考例句：

• They are provisioned with seven days' rations. 他们得到了7天的给养。
• The soldiers complained that they were getting short rations. 士兵们抱怨他们得到的配给不够数。

7 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

10 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。