联合国世界粮食计划署12月23日表示，如果得不到及时援助的话，南非将有数百万穷人面临一个忍饥挨饿的圣诞节。该机构需要筹集630万美元来缓解莱索托、马拉维、莫桑比克、斯威士兰和赞比亚等国明年第一季度的粮食短缺问题。新华社报道如下：Millions of people in Southern Africa are again confronted by the grim prospect² of not having enough to eat during the Christmas season and beyond unless donor³ countries respond quickly with generous cash donations, the World Food Pro¹ gram (WFP) warned on Wednesday.

In a statement issued here, the Rome-based UN agency said it needs an immediate⁴ 63 million US dollars to meet food aid needs for the first quarter of 2005 in Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, and Zambia, the five core countries affected⁵ by emergency food shortages over the last two years.

WFP appealed in October for 404 million dollars in aid to buy food for the five countries in the next three years, but so far ithas received only 2.5 percent of that amount -- about 10 million dollars.

The agency has been steadily⁶ cutting rations⁸ to more than 2.8 million people in Southern Africa over the last six months, many of them living with HIV/AIDS and many of them children. Most have been surviving on half a normal ration⁷, or less.

Ration表示“定量配给，给养”，尤指物资缺乏时期供给军队股役人员或平民的一定量的粮食。例如：an iron/operational ration（军用干粮）；food ration（食物定量；口粮）；on short rations（处于配给量不足的情况下）；put on rations（实行配给供应制）draw rations（领取给养）。

Ration还可用作动词，例如：We have to ration the water.（我们必须限量用水。）rationed⁹ out flour and sugar（按定量发放面粉和粮食）。