时间:2019-01-13 作者:英语课 分类:2006年VOA标准英语(三月)


英语课

By Gilbert da Costa
Abuja
21 March 2006

Nigeria's long-delayed head count has started rather sluggishly 1.  Gilbert da Costa reports for VOA that logistical problems could be a major challenge to what authorities are hoping will be the most credible 2 census 3 in Nigeria.

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Olusegun Obasanjo seen as he participates in National Population Census at Abuja 
  

President Olusegun Obasanjo, in a televised address, urged his countrymen not to see the poll as a contest for political supremacy 4.
 
He said far-reaching steps had been taken to enhance the credibility of the exercise.

"For the first time in the conduct of census in Nigeria, the 2006 census has employed such technology as the use of geographic 5 positioning system, GPS, and satellite imageries," he said.  "Consequently, for the first time, it will be possible to verify the extent of buildings and persons as enumerated 6 during the census."

Hours into the exercise however, it became obvious that logistical challenges inherent in a vast, chaotic 7 and impoverished 8 country could be a major drawback.
 
My attempts to track down census field workers yielded no result, two hours into the exercise. 

I drove to the Abuja office of the National Population Commission, where a large crowd of census officials were engaged in a heated argument with their director.
 
One of the agitated 9 workers, Peter Ali, explained his predicament to VOA.
 
"After the training, we [were] supposed to have been paid for the training.  Up till now, at least 75 percent of us have not been paid," he noted 10.  "Many of us have not been posted to our E.A.s [enumeration 11 areas] where we are supposed to work.  We are supposed to have arrived at our E.A.s three days before today.  We are supposed to be here 18th and today is 21st when the real enumeration has to take place.  Up to today, as I am talking to you now, I do not even know where I am working."
 

National Population Commission official takes count in Lagos, March 21, 2006   
  
Census director Abu Noah dismissed the protesters as gate crashers.  He said though they were trained, they were not signed up as field workers.
 
"I got in touch with my controller and he had actually briefed me," he said.  " And he said most of the people that are here, they were gate crashers at the initial stage of the training and at the end of the training, only a few of the gate crashers sailed through."
 
Asked to comment on the fact that most of the protesting field workers had identification cards issued by the commission, Mr. Noah could not provide a tangible 12 response.
 
Independent census monitors have equally acknowledged that it had been a very difficult first day for the census in the capital city.  Olu Wilson of the non-governmental organization, Life International Foundation, summed up her impressions.

"Things need to be cleaned up properly," she said.  "Right now there is a lot of pandemonium 13 going on, misinformation and those who have done things, they have not been given appropriate materials to work with and without that material and those people cannot go and do the counting.  Those who have received their IDs have not been posted.  So, all those things need to be looked into and make sure that at least by tomorrow, they would have gone into the act of doing the proper counting."
 
A clearer picture of day one of the census would emerge by the end of the day.  Analysts 14 say the authorities will have to work much faster and harder if they hope to achieve the credible census Nigerians have been yearning 15 for.
 
Several previous censuses 16 have ended in fiasco, after disputes among the main ethnic 17 groups.
 
Concerns have been expressed that the credibility of the current census may be compromised by heightened political tension before elections next year.



adv.懒惰地;缓慢地
  • The river is silted up and the water flows sluggishly. 河道淤塞,水流迟滞。
  • Loaded with 870 gallons of gasoline and 40 gallons of oil, the ship moved sluggishly. 飞机载着八百七十加仑汽油和四十加仑机油,缓慢地前进了。 来自英汉非文学 - 百科语料821
adj.可信任的,可靠的
  • The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
  • Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法?
n.(官方的)人口调查,人口普查
  • A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
  • The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。
n.至上;至高权力
  • No one could challenge her supremacy in gymnastics.她是最优秀的体操运动员,无人能胜过她。
  • Theoretically,she holds supremacy as the head of the state.从理论上说,她作为国家的最高元首拥有至高无上的权力。
adj.地理学的,地理的
  • The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
v.列举,枚举,数( enumerate的过去式和过去分词 )
  • A spokesperson enumerated the strikers' demands. 发言人列数罢工者的要求。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He enumerated the capitals of the 50 states. 他列举了50个州的首府。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
adj.混沌的,一片混乱的,一团糟的
  • Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
  • The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。
adj.穷困的,无力的,用尽了的v.使(某人)贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 );使(某物)贫瘠或恶化
  • the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
  • They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
adj.被鼓动的,不安的
  • His answers were all mixed up,so agitated was he.他是那样心神不定,回答全乱了。
  • She was agitated because her train was an hour late.她乘坐的火车晚点一个小时,她十分焦虑。
adj.著名的,知名的
  • 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。
n.计数,列举;细目;详表;点查
  • Predictive Categoriesinclude six categories of prediction, namely Enumeration, Advance Labeling, Reporting,Recapitulation, Hypotheticality, and Question. 其中预设种类又包括列举(Enumeration)、提前标示(Advance Labeling)、转述(Reporting)、回顾(Recapitulation)、假设(Hypotheticality)和提问(Question)。 来自互联网
  • Here we describe a systematic procedure which is basically "enumeration" in nature. 这里介绍一个本质上是属于“枚举法”的系统程序。 来自辞典例句
adj.有形的,可触摸的,确凿的,实际的
  • The policy has not yet brought any tangible benefits.这项政策还没有带来任何实质性的好处。
  • There is no tangible proof.没有确凿的证据。
n.喧嚣,大混乱
  • The whole lobby was a perfect pandemonium,and the din was terrific.整个门厅一片嘈杂,而且喧嚣刺耳。
  • I had found Adlai unperturbed in the midst of pandemonium.我觉得艾德莱在一片大混乱中仍然镇定自若。
分析家,化验员( analyst的名词复数 )
  • City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
  • I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。
a.渴望的;向往的;怀念的
  • a yearning for a quiet life 对宁静生活的向往
  • He felt a great yearning after his old job. 他对过去的工作有一种强烈的渴想。
人口普查,统计( census的名词复数 )
  • Data derived from population censuses is useful for social researchers. 从人口普查中得到的数据对社会研究者们很有用处。
  • UNFPA also helps countries compile reliable demographic data and carry out censuses. 人口基金还帮助各国汇编可靠的人口数据及开展人口普查。
adj.人种的,种族的,异教徒的
  • This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏,这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
  • The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。
学英语单词
99Tc-Succimer
A. S. L. O.
actual efficiency
agricultural history
Allan alloy
amind
antiboxing
aromatic alcohols
average line load
azimuth setting knob
beaten biscuit
bitriplets
BZOH
Camellia tachangensis
cavitation level
Chitignano
cognitive meaning
color pyrometer
compound link
computing language
coufin
Cover On A Bounce
curve of resistance
deastin
descriptor index
determination of buffer bicarbonate
doorchimes
dpph
Dunstable, John
dynamic photo-elasticity
eigendecompositions
electromagnetic calculation
employment service statistics
Eochiromys
ethify
fatigue limit state
finast
five-roller stretcher
float tanks
Flörsheim-Dalsheim
Forgiveness of sin
genoeser
has the advantage of
hepatonephritis serosa acuta
hologastrous
immunologically competent cell
indevotion
iridic platinum
ken-kind
koala bear
labilized gravity meter
linear parallax
mansouri
metallish
multi-purpose trademark machine
multiprocessor scheduling
neo-mods
net freight ton kilo meters
Pamitene
pay off old scores with
Peguan
pit bottom
policepersons
positive gradient
post-cold-wars
problem of the origin of the protein
Psorergates
pt boats
pterygoid muscles
pubic bones
pulse flow technique
ram steam
random satellite system
RCPS
relative pulse
reminted
remote terminal emulation
rhodium hydroxide
Robiquetia
sales on type
sclero-iridotasis
sea lions
seangreen
senile ectropion
show caves
simultaneous congruence
spinal curvatures
state-court
stratum cinereum
suspended stiffening truss
theopneustic
thiemes
true believer
truncated sprt
unequal pulse
Ureterp
vertical blanking generator
warrant-cards
widle
work of adhesion per unit area
yells