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2007年VOA标准英语-Iraqi Hospital Struggles to Maintain US-Funded

时间:2007-06-02 01:03:39

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(单词翻译)

By Barry Newhouse
Irbil, Iraq
30 April 2007

American inspectors2 who review reconstruction3 projects in Iraq say some rebuilt facilities are falling into disrepair because they are not being properly maintained. A report by the Special Inspector1 General for Iraq Reconstruction, says of eight projects initially4 declared successes, seven are in jeopardy5 of falling short of their goals. VOA's Barry Newhouse visited a hospital in Irbil that is one of the projects inspectors said is at risk.

A hospital worker with a child in the neonatal unit
A hospital worker with a child in the neonatal unit
Pregnant women and their families crowd the halls of the Irbil Maternity6 Teaching hospital. This 300-bed facility in Iraq's northern Kurdish region is one of the best in the area, and many patients travel hours from the violent cities of Kirkuk and Mosul to receive care. On a busy day, as many as 80 babies are born here.

The U.S. government paid a contractor7 $6 million 800,000 in 2005 and 2006 to modernize8 the facility. Contractors9 installed new floors and plumbing10, set-up new boilers12 and air conditioning units, and added some modern hospital equipment like an incinerator and an oxygen delivery system.

Stuart W. Bowen, Jr. is the special inspector general for Iraq Reconstruction.

"We visited the Irbil maternity hospital up in Kurdistan this quarter," he said. "It was something we reported on previously13 as a project that was well constructed. This was a sustainment review to see if the Iraqis are using the facility properly. The answer is, no."

One year after the contractors left and the hospital staff took over, inspectors say some of the expensive improvements are failing, but hospital workers insist it is not their fault.

"This is a new boiler11," he said. "It is not working. It is the thermostat14."

Hospital engineer Khaldoon Tahsin points out a broken boiler
Hospital engineer Khaldoon Tahsin points out a broken boiler
Hospital engineer Khaldoon Thasin stands in front of one of the hospital's new boilers that is charred15 with black soot16. It and another boiler are missing a thermostat and he says he does not know how to fix it or where to buy a new one.

 

Hospital Director Dr. Sabriya Hamadameen says when contractors turned over the new equipment to the hospital they only told workers how to operate the equipment. She says they did not explain how to maintain it.

"We have the problem about the spare parts and the training," she said. "Our engineers they have no training about the new boiler and chiller [air conditioning] which they supplied to this hospital."

U.S. inspectors found similar maintenance problems throughout the facility in January.

Inspectors said workers did not know how to operate the incinerator and dumped medical waste into the new sewage system, causing backups.

Dr. Hamadameen says workers now properly use the incinerator. But she said they still have difficulties with some of the sophisticated new equipment, such as the oxygen system.

Huge new compressors pump oxygen throughout the hospital, but the system's automatic settings have begun to malfunction17. Unless someone regularly checks the tanks to ensure they are correctly pressurized, Dr. Hamadameen says doctors cannot be sure their patients are receiving enough oxygen.

"If there is a patient that is taking anesthesia in the operating room, maybe if they do not check every 20 minutes maybe the patient will pass [die] when the oxygen becomes low," he said.

Workers pry18 open a shed housing an unused water purification system.

NEWHOUSE: "Can you explain how this works?"

TAHSIN: "No, no I do not know how it is working. [I] Only [know how] to start it."

U.S. inspectors recommended American officials work with the Iraqi government to train hospital workers on how to properly use and maintain the new equipment.

But in response, U.S. embassy officials in Baghdad rejected such a move, saying that once the facility was turned over to the Iraqis, American contractors had no obligation to train the hospital staff.


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 inspector q6kxH     
n.检查员,监察员,视察员
参考例句:
  • The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
  • The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。
2 inspectors e7f2779d4a90787cc7432cd5c8b51897     
n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 );(英国公共汽车或火车上的)查票员;(警察)巡官;检阅官
参考例句:
  • They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过,通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》
3 reconstruction 3U6xb     
n.重建,再现,复原
参考例句:
  • The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后,该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
  • In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期,技术决定一切。
4 initially 273xZ     
adv.最初,开始
参考例句:
  • The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
  • Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。
5 jeopardy H3dxd     
n.危险;危难
参考例句:
  • His foolish behaviour may put his whole future in jeopardy.他愚蠢的行为可能毁了他一生的前程。
  • It is precisely at this juncture that the boss finds himself in double jeopardy.恰恰在这个关键时刻,上司发现自己处于进退两难的境地。
6 maternity kjbyx     
n.母性,母道,妇产科病房;adj.孕妇的,母性的
参考例句:
  • Women workers are entitled to maternity leave with full pay.女工产假期间工资照发。
  • Trainee nurses have to work for some weeks in maternity.受训的护士必须在产科病房工作数周。
7 contractor GnZyO     
n.订约人,承包人,收缩肌
参考例句:
  • 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。
8 modernize SEixp     
vt.使现代化,使适应现代的需要
参考例句:
  • It was their manifest failure to modernize the country's industries.他们使国家进行工业现代化,明显失败了。
  • There is a pressing need to modernise our electoral system.我们的选举制度迫切需要现代化。
9 contractors afd5c0fd2ee43e4ecee8159c7a7c63e4     
n.(建筑、监造中的)承包人( contractor的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后,接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》
10 plumbing klaz0A     
n.水管装置;水暖工的工作;管道工程v.用铅锤测量(plumb的现在分词);探究
参考例句:
  • She spent her life plumbing the mysteries of the human psyche. 她毕生探索人类心灵的奥秘。
  • They're going to have to put in new plumbing. 他们将需要安装新的水管。 来自《简明英汉词典》
11 boiler OtNzI     
n.锅炉;煮器(壶,锅等)
参考例句:
  • That boiler will not hold up under pressure.那种锅炉受不住压力。
  • This new boiler generates more heat than the old one.这个新锅炉产生的热量比旧锅炉多。
12 boilers e1c9396ee45d737fc4e1d3ae82a0ae1f     
锅炉,烧水器,水壶( boiler的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Even then the boilers often burst or came apart at the seams. 甚至那时的锅炉也经常从焊接处爆炸或裂开。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
  • The clean coal is sent to a crusher and the boilers. 干净的煤送入破碎机和锅炉。
13 previously bkzzzC     
adv.以前,先前(地)
参考例句:
  • The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
  • Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿,解释原先发生了什么。
14 thermostat PGhyb     
n.恒温器
参考例句:
  • The thermostat is connected by a link to the carburetor.恒温控制器是由一根连杆与汽化器相连的。
  • The temperature is controlled by electronic thermostat with high accuracy.电子恒温器,准确性高。
15 charred 2d03ad55412d225c25ff6ea41516c90b     
v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式);烧焦
参考例句:
  • the charred remains of a burnt-out car 被烧焦的轿车残骸
  • The intensity of the explosion is recorded on the charred tree trunks. 那些烧焦的树干表明爆炸的强烈。 来自《简明英汉词典》
16 soot ehryH     
n.煤烟,烟尘;vt.熏以煤烟
参考例句:
  • Soot is the product of the imperfect combustion of fuel.煤烟是燃料不完全燃烧的产物。
  • The chimney was choked with soot.烟囱被煤灰堵塞了。
17 malfunction 1ASxT     
vi.发生功能故障,发生故障,显示机能失常
参考例句:
  • There must have been a computer malfunction.一定是出了电脑故障。
  • Results have been delayed owing to a malfunction in the computer.由于电脑发生故障,计算结果推迟了。
18 pry yBqyX     
vi.窥(刺)探,打听;vt.撬动(开,起)
参考例句:
  • He's always ready to pry into other people's business.他总爱探听别人的事。
  • We use an iron bar to pry open the box.我们用铁棍撬开箱子。

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