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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.
参考译文：这里是美国之音慢速英语健康报道。
去年，缅甸开放政治体制，并与一些少数族裔民兵达成停火协议。政府还放宽了媒体限制，但许多援助组织称其工作难度没有降低。
卫生工作者警告说，有一种抗药性疟疾正在蔓延。这种疟疾对青蒿素治疗有抗性，几年前柬埔寨首次出现这种疾病。
Frank Smithuis创立了名为“缅甸医疗行动”的组织，他说，尽管最近几年政治开放了，援助组织仍然感到很难进入那些急需援助的地区。尤其是缅甸东部边境多年来遭受冲突摧残的地区。
Frank Smithuis：“由于缅甸政府同克伦族、孟族签署了停火协议，应该开放更多地区，以使联合行动进入，阻止这种抗青蒿素疾病的蔓延。然而这一切还未实现，还需开放更多地区，有更多这样的活动和更多的国际捐助资金。这是非常非常重要的。”
过去，许多非政府组织没有经过官方批准就行动了，低级政府官员通常对那些不守规定的组织不管不问。
直到2009年还只有3个国际非政府援助组织得到批准，允许在缅甸境内活动。但事实上有100多个组织在那里活动，许多组织都得到一份允许其不经过官方注册就运行的谅解备忘。
随后就发生了最近的政治变革，援助组织负责人称，低级官员不清楚自己的权力和指责。在很多情况下他们更加严格实施有关要求。
“救助儿童会”是一家援助组织，主要负责缅甸国内母亲与儿童的健康问题。该组织的Kelland Stevenson说，大体上，各部和政府工作人员更加配合协作了。他同意一些人说的，人道主义工作者目前面临的障碍主要是官僚主义。
KELLAND STEVENSON: “这不应该是一种政治问题，目前存在少许的政府命令和控制，不会一夜之间就开放的。目前正在讨论进入新地区，要知道，这些改变很突然，是在很短的时间内发生的。我是说就在一年内发生的。”
KELLAND STEVENSON说“事情变化真么快”，不过援助组织警告说，除非政府才会很快采取行动，诸如抗药性疟疾等问题会加剧恶化的。
本VOA慢速译文由可可英语Sunny提供。
