时间:2018-12-08 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语2010年(一月)


英语课

The U.S. Army has set up a data collection center in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, to assess the needs of residents in the aftermath of the massive earthquake January 12. Thousands who come daily are in desperate need of water, food and work.


Ten thousand people show up here most days, at a building of the Haitian agriculture ministry 1, which the U.S. Army is using temporarily as a data collection and operations center. 


Soldiers outside the gate try to keep the crowds orderly, separating men and women into separate lines.   Small numbers are allowed to enter through the iron gates every few minutes.


The army 82nd Airborne Division oversees 2 the center, where Creole-speaking Haitian staff conduct interviews with quake victims. 


One woman says she is desperate for help. "We came from under the rubble 3.  We have many injuries.  Our houses have been destroyed and all of my relatives have been killed," she says.


U.S Army Sergeant 4 First Class Brandon Lemmons says he passes along each day's information to his commanders, and they use it to map out their relief strategies. "The main concern, number one, everybody had more than anything, buy number, was food and water; number two would be medical.  Number three would be shelter, depending on a typical day," he says.


He says other concerns include price gouging 5 for essentials like baby food and rice.


As  the army collects information, many Haitians come here in the hope of finding a job. 


"We don't have any money at all.  We have lost everything.  We are not able to work any more," says a woman who once worked for a U.S. military contractor 6 and hopes to find similar work. "I was in charge of 50 employees in the laundry section."


Thirty Haitians have been hired to help operate this center.  Sergeant Lemmons says the military is doing what it can to give jobs to local people, to fill the needs of this and other American units in Haiti. "A lot of them need interpreters.  A lot of them need laborers 7 for their base.  Some of them want more skilled people to come in, like the masons.  We may be able to use them later.   So we may not be able to give them a job right off the bat, but the longer we stay, the more people we're going to need and hopefully the more people we can help," says Lemmons.


When the center closes in late afternoon, thousands will be turned away and face the prospect 8 of coming back tomorrow.  Sergeant Lemmons says the process so far has been orderly, but people are desperate and the need is great.



1 ministry
n.(政府的)部;牧师
  • 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。
2 oversees
v.监督,监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )
  • She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网
3 rubble
n.(一堆)碎石,瓦砾
  • After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后,花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
  • After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。
4 sergeant
n.警官,中士
  • His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
  • How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹?
5 gouging
n.刨削[槽]v.凿( gouge的现在分词 );乱要价;(在…中)抠出…;挖出…
  • Banks and credit-card companies have been accused of gouging their customers. 银行和信用卡公司被指控欺诈顾客。 来自辞典例句
  • If back-gouging is applied, grinding to bright metal is required. 如果采用火焰气刨,则应将其打磨至可见光亮的金属表面。 来自互联网
6 contractor
n.订约人,承包人,收缩肌
  • The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
  • The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样,有几分要看地势而定。
7 laborers
n.体力劳动者,工人( laborer的名词复数 );(熟练工人的)辅助工
  • Laborers were trained to handle 50-ton compactors and giant cranes. 工人们接受操作五十吨压土机和巨型起重机的训练。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • Wage-labour rests exclusively on competition between the laborers. 雇佣劳动完全是建立在工人的自相竞争之上的。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言
8 prospect
n.前景,前途;景色,视野
  • This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
  • The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。
标签: contractor
学英语单词
adjustable rheostat
air-dump car
algorithmic synthesis
alkaline-aggregate reaction
altitudinal index
apertifs
arc de triomphe
arithmetical computing machine
automatic slide control
battery set
beckler
biliousnesses
billiard parlors
biregular ring
Blu-rays
blue dye
bontempelli
Callograptus
chlamys schmeltzii
circumduct
collateral claim
complex arithmetic
continuous wave illuminator
control economy
convex bend frame
corner braces
cornices
dimethylbenzyl carbinol
disc extruder
dissolved state
distemper
dithioketals
dolomide
drum pelletizer
edge-adaptive coding
eftsoon(s)
experimental network operating system
fatigue data
field interview
forkpoint
fruit powder
gin run
hubzone
ionic interchange
jam-nut
khazens
let something into
lilioids
load diversity factor
lookout assist devices
lychnoides
mathison
molly-whopping
necklace trees
neutercane
North Pt.
orna
outside order
paguristes versus
part-load traffic
passameter
pedatum
photoannulations
pilot line channel
pool shark
posterior capsule
pressure at velocity stage
profile pool
prunus maximowiczii rupr.
rare-earth removal system
rebecca rolfes
record of attendance
Rodau
romeus
rossanoes
rotating direction of rotor
rotor profile
routes of invasion
sand bars
scale sth down
Sethotope
skip symbol
state expenditure
step reaction
sub-transient reactance
Sunnitizing
supertwist
tank angle
tant
Tcnb
temperature control for high temperature boiler
theremins
throw a scare
time-out algorithm
tubotympanal canal
Tusson
unincarcerated
upper/lower (support) grid plate
vandenboschia radicans copel.
virtual
wingbase
Wittow