时间:2018-12-08 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语2008年(十二月)


英语课
Four years after the devastating 1 Indian Ocean tsunami 2, the International Federation 3 of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies reports tremendous progress has been made in rebuilding the structures that were destroyed and in rehabilitating 4 shattered communities. Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Maldives were the countries most seriously affected 5 by the disaster.
 






Thais and others offer prayers during remembrance services at Dolphin Park on Patong Beach in Phuket, Thailand, 26 Dec 2008



Nearly one quarter of one million people were killed by the tsunami. Entire communities were wiped out, houses destroyed, lives ruined.

Now, four years after this catastrophic event, the Red Cross reports 97 percent of houses planned for people affected by the tsunami are finished or under construction. And, hundreds of new hospitals, clinics and schools have been built back better.

The International Federation's special representative for tsunami recovery, Jerry Talbot, tells VOA the lives of people who lost everything also have been rebuilt and are improving.

"And, building back better is making sure that these families are able to function again, have somewhere to live, that they have livelihoods 6 and that they are members of communities that are more resilient and safer," said Talbot.
 






Baan Nam Khem, Khao Lak Phang Nga Province, Southern Thailand - hardest hit from Dec 26 tsunami (VOA photo - R. Corben)




Talbot acknowledges that some people have been so deeply traumatized by the disaster that the scar will stay with them for the rest of their lives. He says many people, who have lost loved ones, will need special care.

"Every one of those persons who died, of course, leaves behind a grieving family. And, very often, of course, it means that we have a lot of single parent households, for example where people are struggling to take care of a young family whilst at the same time trying to find the wherewithal to make sure that there is something in the kitchen every day," he said.

Talbot says tsunami-affected communities run many risks from climate change, flooding, landslides 7 and other disasters. He says these disasters cannot be prevented, but people can and are being taught how to mitigate 8 future risks.

He says early warning systems have been set up to alert people to approaching danger.

So far, more than four million people have received assistance from the Red Cross. The agency says it expects to complete all work by the end of 2010. By then, the Red Cross says it will have spent more than $2.5 billion.



1 devastating
adj.毁灭性的,令人震惊的,强有力的
  • It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
  • Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。
2 tsunami
n.海啸
  • 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。
3 federation
n.同盟,联邦,联合,联盟,联合会
  • It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
  • Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。
4 rehabilitating
改造(罪犯等)( rehabilitate的现在分词 ); 使恢复正常生活; 使恢复原状; 修复
  • a unit for rehabilitating drug addicts 帮助吸毒者恢复正常生活的机构
  • She was more concerned about protecting the public than rehabilitating the criminal. 她比较关心保护百姓,而不大关心改造罪犯。
5 affected
adj.不自然的,假装的
  • She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
  • His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。
6 livelihoods
生计,谋生之道( livelihood的名词复数 )
  • 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。
7 landslides
山崩( landslide的名词复数 ); (山坡、悬崖等的)崩塌; 滑坡; (竞选中)一方选票占压倒性多数
  • Landslides have cut off many villages in remote areas. 滑坡使边远地区的许多村庄与外界隔绝。
  • The storm caused landslides and flooding in Savona. 风暴致使萨沃纳发生塌方和洪灾。
8 mitigate
vt.(使)减轻,(使)缓和
  • The government is trying to mitigate the effects of inflation.政府正试图缓和通货膨胀的影响。
  • Governments should endeavour to mitigate distress.政府应努力缓解贫困问题。
学英语单词
a bruchid weevil
a crowd of
base company
bayleaf
believe in sth
Benifaio
bissell
bite on the bullet
blue-bottle
boat hire
Carex aterrima
CERN AG synchrotron
chemoreceptors
circular irrigation
civiliss
cokernels
component side
DBaaS
depressant prescription
double-tone signal oscillator
en nemara (al nimarah)
engineering change list
enzymology diagnosis method
far infrared interferometer
ferropotassium tartrate
fiammetta
fills
foe-
four-horn feed
frequency-modulated carrier-curr-ent telephony
full drive pulse
Garies
gas-jet tube
ground position indicator (gpi)
heald eye
jacanas
Jamaica
judge lynch
lavasseur
Lechite
ligamenta annulare radii
line fed
maharal
main-royal
make the supreme sacrifice
Marseilles spread
Mathesius metal
MAVAR(mixer amplification by variable reactance)
merhandise
mesembryanthemum edules
mole out
multiaperture core device
NARADCOM
nitroprusside-Na
nonexponentially
o'campo
Paestum
parceled up
photon energy
Pierre Joseph, I.
plate-girder flange splice
platyophthalmon (stibnite)
poder
quadruple table
rank on
Rifamicina
rivet in double shear
Samoa i Sisfo(Western Samoa)
sasajiscymnus seboshii
sdsososrs-s
sea-monster
shit yourself
shrivelers
sigelman
snake river pln.
sphalerite structure
spiced pork leg
standby readiness
steath
stereocilial
struck with admiration
submarine launcher
sulphostannates
sweep someone off his feet
tangential bracing
television budget
text length clause
thioglycolic
three-way intersection
Tokyo Experimental Computer Network
toothwash
torridities
trep-
trophic fresh-water fish
trygon
tungsten copper alloy
ultra-centrifuge process
vented reservoir
verify hypothesis
Villarta de los Montes
Westerburg
wetfastness