1. ENGLISH 4
LISTENING
GLOBAL PROBLEMS
ITALY’S EARTHQUAKE HOMELESS AWAIT WINTER
FROM : EURONEWS, 2 OCTOBER 2009
Italy is far from meeting the needs of the people of
Abruzzo, whose region was devastated by an earthquake
last April. The cold prospect of winter includes taxes. The
homeless have been told they will have to start paying
again. European funding could help.
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The earthquake in Italy’s Abruzzo region last April left hundreds of people dead, 1,500 injured and
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50,000 homeless. The city of L’Aquila was the most damaged. Rebuilding the 10,000 houses which
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were destroyed is projected to take at least 2 years and the historic centre 15 years. The rail yards of
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L’Aquila have been converted into temporary residential quarters for 160 people. Fiorino and his
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wife have put up in a train for the past five months. He’ll be 90 in December and wouldn’t like to be
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in this carriage through the winter.
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Fiorino : If our house isn’t too damaged we could go back to living in it but only after they have
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inspected the thousands like it. They need 60 days per house on average. So, you can figure that
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out. It will probably take all winter and maybe even part of the spring. But we mustn’t give up hope.
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People are fed up, can’t take it anymore. We’ve been living like this for too long.
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Wife : It’s ugly. When you get up in the morning everything’s broken. It’s ok for the young but it’s
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hard for the old people.
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Man with glasses : You can’t spend a winter here like this. It’s not only a heating problem. God, you
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can sleep inside but what do you do during the day? If you want to take a shower before going to
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work and it’s 11, 12 or 15 degrees below zero outside? It’s not humanly possible.
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The 150 camps set up in Abruzzo are sheltering 11,000 people. When the camps close for the
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winter, the residents will face new adjustments in other temporary housing. And starting in January,
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the government says they’ll have to start paying taxes again, people who have lost so much.
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Woman : There’s building going on just back here, San Antonio, we asked for a flat there. My girl’s
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school’s just in front but they’ve assigned me to the other end, outside the town. Until I get my
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house back in a year or two, I’m going to have to manage school and work, expenses.
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Man : Some people who have been in tents for 5 months have been told by the civil authorities they
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have to go to the coast because there’s no space left. Now, I don’t find that’s fair. I’ve been in a tent
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for 5 months and they should find me a place here in L’Aquila.
PHOTO AND SCRIPT : http://www.euronews.net/2009/10/02/italy-s-earthquake-homeless-await-winter