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1.VOA常速
【Greeks Divided as Election Stalemate Looms Again】
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TEXT:Industrial disputes do not get much worse than this. The workers at the Hellenic Halyvourgia steel plant have been on strike for more than 200 days. Yorgos Sifonios is president of the workers’ union. He showed letters of solidarity from unions across the world.
“The Union has undertaken collective action, which has roused the whole of Greece's working class. Our strike has become a landmark, a model of how all workers must fight,” Sifonios said.
The factory’s owner laid off 50 workers last year, blaming falling demand. The company declined an interview.
The workers say production was actually increasing. Among those on the picket line is Panayiotis Papanikolaou, who has worked at the factory for more than 20 years.
“Right now, I think most of the workers will support and vote for Syriza - not PASOK or New Democracy - because Syriza supports the workers,” Papanikolaou said.
Greek unemployment hit a record 21.7 percent in February. More than half of young people have no job.
Alex Tsipras, the 37-year-old leader, of the Syriza Party, has vowed to cancel the austerity program insisted on by the European Union in return for financial bailouts.
Results from Friday, the last day of polling before the June 17 election, show Syriza and New Democracy - which supports the bailout - each holding around 26 percent.
Anastasios Georgiadis is director of Kapa Research, which carried out the poll.
“Based on today’s information, it will be no easier to form a government than it was on May 7 [after the first election],” Georgiadis said.
Analysts say the economic crisis has polarized Greek politics. Nikos Christodoulou from Merit Securities says the markets would punish a Syriza victory.
“The market wants a more pro-European government which would implement the reforms and would not attack the bailout agreement,” Christodoulou said.
Athens residents flocked to the beach Saturday and Sunday to enjoy the sun and try to forget about the crisis.
In less than two weeks, they return to the polls knowing another economic storm could soon follow.
2.VOA慢速
【Groups Warn of Health Needs in Burma】
TEXT:This is the VOA Special English Health Report.
In the past year, Burma has opened its political system and reached cease-fire agreements with some ethnic militias . The government has also eased media restrictions. But many aid groups say their jobs have not gotten any easier.
Health workers are warning about the spread of a form of drug-resistant malaria. The malaria is resistant to treatment with artemisinin . It was first seen several years ago in Cambodia.
Frank Smithuis started a group called Medical Action Myanmar. He says even with the recent political openings, aid organizations still find it difficult to gain access to areas most in need of aid. This is true, he says, especially in areas torn by many years of conflict along Burma's eastern border.
FRANK SMITHUIS: "There are now very good opportunities because of the cease-fire agreements with the Karen and the Mon. Larger areas should now be open for access to a joint activity to stop this artemisinin resistance spread. However that has not happened yet and we definitely need to have more openness and more activity and more international donor money. And that's very, very important."
In the past, many nongovernmental organizations simply worked without official approval. Lower-level government officials largely ignored organizations that did not follow the rules.
Until two thousand nine, just three international nongovernmental aid organizations had the required approvals to operate inside Burma. Yet more than one hundred were operating there. Many were able to get a memorandum of understanding that allowed them to work without an official registration.
But then came the recent political changes. Heads of aid organizations say lower-level officials are now unclear about their powers and responsibilities. In many cases they are enforcing the requirements more closely.
Save the Children is an aid organization whose work is mostly related to mother and child health in Burma. Kelland Stevenson with Save the Children says, in general, ministries and government workers have become much more cooperative. He agrees with those who say the barriers that humanitarian workers now face are largely bureaucratic .
KELLAND STEVENSON: "It shouldn't be a political discussion. There remains a bit of command and control from government, and it's not going to open up overnight. And the discussion about getting access to new areas is under way. You have to remember these changes have been extraordinarily dramatic in such a short time. I mean, we're talking a year."
Kelland Stevenson says "things are changing so quickly." Still, aid groups warn that some issues -- such as the drug-resistant malaria -- may only get worse unless the government also takes action quickly.
And that's the VOA Special English Health Report. For more health news for people learning English, go to 51voa.com. I'm Jim Tedder.
參考譯文：這里是美國之音慢速英語健康報道。
去年，緬甸開放政治體制，并與一些少數族裔民兵達成停火協議。政府還放寬了媒體限制，但許多援助組織稱其工作難度沒有降低。
衛生工作者警告說，有一種抗藥性瘧疾正在蔓延。這種瘧疾對青蒿素治療有抗性，幾年前柬埔寨首次出現這種疾病。
Frank Smithuis創立了名為“緬甸醫療行動”的組織，他說，盡管最近幾年政治開放了，援助組織仍然感到很難進入那些急需援助的地區。尤其是緬甸東部邊境多年來遭受沖突摧殘的地區。
Frank Smithuis：“由于緬甸政府同克倫族、孟族簽署了停火協議，應該開放更多地區，以使聯合行動進入，阻止這種抗青蒿素疾病的蔓延。然而這一切還未實現，還需開放更多地區，有更多這樣的活動和更多的國際捐助資金。這是非常非常重要的。”
過去，許多非政府組織沒有經過官方批準就行動了，低級政府官員通常對那些不守規定的組織不管不問。
直到2009年還只有3個國際非政府援助組織得到批準，允許在緬甸境內活動。但事實上有100多個組織在那里活動，許多組織都得到一份允許其不經過官方注冊就運行的諒解備忘。
隨后就發生了最近的政治變革，援助組織負責人稱，低級官員不清楚自己的權力和指責。在很多情況下他們更加嚴格實施有關要求。
“救助兒童會”是一家援助組織，主要負責緬甸國內母親與兒童的健康問題。該組織的Kelland Stevenson說，大體上，各部和政府工作人員更加配合協作了。他同意一些人說的，人道主義工作者目前面臨的障礙主要是官僚主義。
KELLAND STEVENSON: “這不應該是一種政治問題，目前存在少許的政府命令和控制，不會一夜之間就開放的。目前正在討論進入新地區，要知道，這些改變很突然，是在很短的時間內發生的。我是說就在一年內發生的。”
KELLAND STEVENSON說“事情變化真么快”，不過援助組織警告說，除非政府才會很快采取行動，諸如抗藥性瘧疾等問題會加劇惡化的。
本VOA慢速譯文由可可英語Sunny提供。
