VOA标准英语2010年-Rights Report on Ethiopia Sparks Fierc
时间:2019-01-14 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语2010年(十一)月
A U.S.-based human rights group has raised an uproar 1 with a report arguing that development assistance to Ethiopia may be doing more harm than good by strengthening a repressive government. The report has sparked condemnation 2 in some quarters, praise in others.
The Human Rights Watch report issued last month accuses Ethiopia's government of using development aid to suppress political dissent 3. The 105-page document alleges 4 that much of the $3 billion a year contributed by foreign donors 6 is used to consolidate 7 the power of the ruling Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front.
Ethiopian government spokesmen did not answer repeated phone calls seeking comment on the report. The government, however, launched a scathing 8 counterattack online. Statements posted on the foreign ministry 9 website accuse Human Rights Watch of "unbridled arrogance 10" and "warped 11 neo-colonialism."One statement calls the allegations a "make believe" story that is part of a "vendetta 12" against the Ethiopian people. Another accuses the rights group of trying to bully 13 the international aid community into halting cooperation with Addis Ababa.
A consortium of 25 aid donors, known as the Development Assistance Group, issued a statement saying it disagrees with the conclusions in the HRW report. The DAG, as the assistance group is known, said its own independent study earlier this year uncovered no evidence of widespread or systematic 14 aid distortion.
The full DAG study posted on the group's website, though, paints a different picture. It states that its study was a "desk-top" exercise - not an investigation 15 - and no specific allegations were checked. The study notes that a fact-finding mission late last year by the U.S. Agency for International Development observed the potential for political bias 16 in the allocation of aid. It recommended further analysis to determine if systematic distortion takes place on the basis of political affiliation 17.
The United States is Ethiopia's largest individual aid donor 5, giving an estimated $1.3 billion per year. USAID Country Director Thomas Staal said the types of distortion alleged 18 in the HRW report would be difficult for a donor study to detect.
"To us, the important thing is to make sure the programs are well managed, closely monitored with strict accountability systems, and you're building institutions that can make sure programs are meeting the goals, targets and beneficiaries intended," said Staal. "And you cannot go after individual cases of an allegation here and there."Authors of the Human Rights Watch report call the Development Assistance Group's response to their allegations "disingenuous 19." In a telephone interview, HRW Horn of Africa Senior Researcher Leslie Lefkow said the aid community has been timid in confronting Ethiopia's government with charges of misusing 20 aid money.
"This is one of the ironies 21 of research we did, and the discussions we had with officials before we published this report, is that many of them privately 22 acknowledge the characterization of the regime as repressive. They acknowledge these characteristics privately, but publicly there is no appetite for voicing this analysis."Ethiopian opposition 23 leader Bulcha Demeksa is a former World Bank director and a long-time senior official of the United Nations Development agency. He said the ruling party's access to vast sums of cash during the last election should have been a red flag to donors that aid money was involved.
"I do not understand how they cannot see the huge amount of money that was spent in elections this year," said Demeksa. "Where does this money come from? Ethiopia, all by itself, cannot sustain that. I believe this money was from the various types of aid coming from donors."Demeksa said political payments were so widespread during the election that anyone not receiving money was socially ostracized 24. "In my own district I know very well ... and there is no house this has not touched. People are now afraid if they think somebody has not received money, and is not a thorough EPRDF supporter, nobody goes to his house, he is not invited to weddings, social functions."Lefkow said the ruling party's influence has grown exponentially in recent years. "Between 2005 and 2010, the party increased its membership to between 4 million and 5 million, that is one in seven adults, which means in most families you have a party member, and in most kebeles (village districts) every household probably has a party member. So I do not think it is an exaggeration to say the party has essentially 25 infiltrated 26 every layer of Ethiopian society."Prime Minister Meles Zenawi rejects characterizations of Ethiopia as a "one party state." He describes it as a dominant 27 party state.
In parliamentary elections this year, the EPRDF and its allies won 99.6 percent of the seats. In village and regional council elections two years ago, the party won all but three of nearly 3 million seats. Ethiopia remains 28 one of the world's poorest countries, though official figures show the economy has grown 10 percent or more in each of the past seven years.
- She could hear the uproar in the room.她能听见房间里的吵闹声。
- His remarks threw the audience into an uproar.他的讲话使听众沸腾起来。
- There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
- The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。
- It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
- He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。
- The newspaper article alleges that the mayor is corrupt. 报纸上断言该市长腐败。
- Steven was tardy this morning and alleges that his bus was late. 史提芬今天早上迟到的说词是公车误点了。
- 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。
- Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去,请给我们发电子邮件。
- About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- The two banks will consolidate in July next year. 这两家银行明年7月将合并。
- The government hoped to consolidate ten states to form three new ones.政府希望把十个州合并成三个新的州。
- a scathing attack on the new management 针对新的管理层的猛烈抨击
- Her speech was a scathing indictment of the government's record on crime. 她的演讲强烈指责了政府在犯罪问题上的表现。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
- We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。
- His arrogance comes out in every speech he makes.他每次讲话都表现得骄傲自大。
- Arrogance arrested his progress.骄傲阻碍了他的进步。
- a warped sense of humour 畸形的幽默感
- The board has warped. 木板翘了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
- For years he pursued a vendetta against the Morris family.多年来他一直在寻求向莫里斯家族报世仇。
- She conducted a personal vendetta against me.她对我有宿仇。
- A bully is always a coward.暴汉常是懦夫。
- The boy gave the bully a pelt on the back with a pebble.那男孩用石子掷击小流氓的背脊。
- The way he works isn't very systematic.他的工作不是很有条理。
- The teacher made a systematic work of teaching.这个教师进行系统的教学工作。
- In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
- He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。
- They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
- He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。
- There is no affiliation between our organization and theirs,even though our names are similar.尽管两个组织的名称相似,但我们之间并没有关系。
- The kidnappers had no affiliation with any militant group.这些绑架者与任何军事组织都没有紧密联系。
- It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
- alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为
- It is disingenuous of him to flatter me.他对我阿谀奉承,是居心叵测。
- His brother Shura with staring disingenuous eyes was plotting to master the world.他那长着一对狡诈眼睛的哥哥瑞拉,处心积虑图谋征服整个世界。
- This means we must stop misusing them. 也就是说,我们已必须停止滥用抗菌素不可了。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 预防生物武器
- Misusing organic fertilizer may cause a decrease in the soil's quality. 滥用有机肥料可能会导致土地的土质下降。 来自互联网
- It was one of life's little ironies. 那是生活中的一个小小的嘲弄。
- History has many ironies. 历史有许多具有讽刺意味的事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
- The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。
- The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
- The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。
- He was ostracized by his colleagues for refusing to support the strike. 他因拒绝支持罢工而受到同事的排斥。
- The family were ostracized by the neighborhood. 邻居们都不理睬那一家人。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
- Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
- She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。
- The headquarters had been infiltrated by enemy spies. 总部混入了敌方特务。
- Many Chinese idioms have infiltrated into the Japanese language. 许多中国成语浸透到日语中。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
- The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
- She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。