[ti:US Donors Support Rebuilding of Notre Dame Cathedral] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]Rich French business people have promised hundreds of millions of euros [00:06.52]to rebuild Notre-Dame Cathedral, the Catholic religious building that partly burned. [00:15.12]But so far, most of the money to fix it, is coming from the U.S. [00:22.28]The fire on April 15 destroyed the roof, or top, and caused its famous spire to fall. [00:34.23]French President Emmanuel Macron promised to rebuild the cathedral. [00:41.80]However, Catholic Church and business officials say the big donors [00:48.20]have yet to pay anything toward repairing the famous building. [00:53.96]"The big donors haven't paid. Not a cent," said Andre Finot, an official at Notre-Dame. [01:03.36]"They want to know what exactly their money is being spent on [01:08.32]and if they agree to it before they hand it over." [01:13.44]He said they do not want it to go just to pay employee wages. [01:20.68]Instead, donations are coming mostly from Americans [01:26.44]through the aide group The Friends of Notre Dame de Paris. [01:32.22]This month, it is giving about four million dollars to rebuild the cathedral. [01:39.68]The money will help pay for wages for the 150 workers [01:45.64]who are helping to repair the building. [01:49.56]Some of France's richest and most powerful families and companies [01:56.04]promised nearly one billion dollars in the hours and days after the fire. [02:03.52]But Finot said that none of that money has been seen as the donors wait [02:10.92]to learn about the reconstruction plans and argue over contracts. [02:17.92]In fact, work has been continuing for weeks, day and night. [02:24.56]Workers are clearing poisonous dust from an estimated [02:29.36]300 tons of lead and other materials that made up the roof. [02:35.60]The French Parliament has been debating changes to laws and labor rules [02:42.12]to speed up the restoration and make it possible to pay the workers clearing the wreckage. [02:50.92]While they debate, charity groups are giving money to help pay workers' wages. [02:58.36]The Friends of Notre Dame de Paris was started in 2017. [03:05.88]Its president, Michel Picaud says that 90 percent [03:11.73]of the donations it has received have come from American donors. [03:18.56]Picaud just returned from a trip to New York to raise money. [03:24.76]"Americans are very generous toward Notre Dame [03:29.12]and the monument is very loved in America. [03:33.36]Six out of our 11 board members are residents in the U.S.," Picaud said. [03:41.56]French President Macron has said the work should be completed within five years. [03:48.92]But critics have said that time limit is too ambitious. [03:56.40]Olivier de Challus is one of the cathedral's top guides and architecture experts. [04:04.60]He said that one of the reasons the rich French donors have not given their money yet, [04:11.72]is that there is still so much that is unknown about the construction work. [04:19.44]He said experts are trying to find out how much damage [04:24.76]the fire did to the ancient stone, and whether the structure is safe. [04:31.96]"It doesn't matter that the big donors haven't yet paid because the choices about the spire [04:40.07]and the major architectural decisions will happen probably late in 2020," he said. [04:48.56]He added that large amounts of money will be needed at that time. [04:56.48]I'm Anne Ball. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM