a. floods

b. an epidemic among livestock

c. drought

d. pests

2 Why has aid come in so slowly?

a. Officials underestimated the seriousness of the situation.

b. People donated large amounts of money to victims of the Haiti earthquake.

c. Donor response has been lukewarm.

d. Aid groups can only work after the lean season ends.

3 Which of the following statements is not true?

a. The situation in Chad is expected to be worse than in Niger.

b. Niger gets emergency food supplies via Libya and the Sahara.

c. Chad has fewer agencies on the ground, and emergency food supplies can take five months to arrive.

d. The food crisis in Chad is more pressing in the west.

4 What prompted the world to help in 2005?

a. a United Nations call for aid

b. a 'never again' campaign

c. the establishment of a new UN emergency response fund

d. TV images of starving children

Think about

1 Why are countries slow in responding to the food crisis? What is holding them back from sending aid?

2 What role did the media play in the food crisis in 2005?

3 In what ways does large-scale malnutrition among children affect a country in the long term?

4 How could neighbouring countries help? And how could you and your classmates help?

Use the vocabulary

1 People around the world have _______________________________ to help quake survivors in Haiti to rebuild their country.

2 The market looked _______________________ as stock prices plunged 10 per cent yesterday.

3 Kyrgyzstan is ___________________ catastrophe if the international community does not intervene.

4 Health officials had paid little attention to the new virus until tens of thousands of people died in just two days. The tragedy _________________.

Answers

June 22

Reading comprehension: 1. d, 2. b, 3. c, 4. d

Use the vocabulary: 1. face tough times, 2. ride out the slump, 3. whittled down, 4. struggling to find