美国国家公共电台 NPR--Hundreds of quake survivors are living in a structure dating back more than 400 years

Hundreds of quake survivors¹ are living in a structure dating back more than 400 years

Transcript²

Housing is still scarce for thousands of people who lost their homes in last month's earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. A 16th-century Ottoman complex is now home to some families in Turkey.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

People in Turkey and Syria who lost their homes in an earthquake need somewhere to stay for months. We heard last week on the program about people living in temporary homes - little portable houses dropped down in rows amid the ruins of their neighborhoods. That's the 21st century solution. NPR's Peter Kenyon reports on the old-school solution - people living in a centuries-old trading post for travelers.

PETER KENYON, BYLINE³: Near the Turkish harbor town of Payas stands the Sokollu Mehmed Pasha complex. It was designed by the most renowned⁴ architect of the Ottoman period, Mimar Sinan. Although built in the 16th century as a caravanserai - a waystation for passing caravans⁵ - it's made out of stone and built like a fortress⁶. And the powerful earthquake and aftershocks that rumbled⁷ through last month caused only minor⁸ damage. Its rooms are now full of families who either have no home left standing⁹ or are afraid to sleep there, and many more live in tents outside the complex.

Fourteen-year-old Nisa Aydin, with her mother and others from her family of seven, says they're sharing one room in the complex. She says they were lucky to find someone leaving just as they arrived five days earlier. She spoke¹⁰ through an interpreter.

NISA AYDIN: (Speaking Turkish).

UNIDENTIFIED INTERPRETER: No one really told them to come have shelter here. They guessed that because it's, like, an old structure that might be still standing and safe.

KENYON: When Aydin mentions the family home, her 5-year-old brother Mehmet chimes in, perhaps feeling that his sister wasn't conveying just how scary the earthquake was.

MEHMET AYDIN: (Speaking Turkish).

KENYON: He says the earthquake was very strong, and his mom cried out, the walls are coming down, before they ran out to safety. When asked how long they might be here, Nisa shrugs¹¹ and says, maybe a month or two. And Mehmet says, until our house is fixed¹².

MEHMET: Bye-bye.

KENYON: Bye-bye.

With water, electricity, food and sanitation¹³, families here feel relatively¹⁴ fortunate. For all the heat the government has taken for its initial slow response to the disaster, it did open this 140,000-square-foot space to those displaced by the earthquake.

Not far from the town of Samandag, an ad hoc aid distribution center is being run by volunteers from the area. I meet one of them just as he tells a family of five that if he can't find a tent for them, he'll give them his own. His name is Burc. He asked that his family name not be used, saying he doesn't want either help or trouble from the government. He says so far, they've been able to get tents and other aid out to the surrounding villages, which he says mostly haven't received official help yet.

BURC: (Through interpreter) We are an independent group. We met on the way here and agreed to work together. We try to keep ourselves healthy. This is my 18th day. It's way beyond the danger limit.

KENYON: There are some aid groups here, but no sign of AFAD, the government emergency disaster response agency. AFAD has been accused of confiscating¹⁵ aid from NGOs and opposition¹⁶ political parties. Burc says their priorities have shifted as the weeks passed, from basics like sleeping bags and food to more permanent solutions for shelter so that greenhouses, for instance, can stop being sleeping areas, and farmers can go back to producing crops and milk.

BURC: (Through interpreter) Because all the farmers are sleeping in their greenhouses that are normally for production. The tent complexes are useless. Because the farmers have cows, they can't leave them. Once the electricity is back, they will put on the cow-milking machines.

KENYON: Similar unofficial aid groups have sprung up around the earthquake zone, distributing tents and other supplies people will need to get through the coming weeks and months.

Peter Kenyon, NPR News, Samandag, Turkey.

1 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 renowned   

adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的

参考例句：

• He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。
• She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。

5 caravans   

（可供居住的）拖车（通常由机动车拖行）( caravan的名词复数 )； 篷车； （穿过沙漠地带的）旅行队（如商队）

参考例句：

• Old-fashioned gypsy caravans are painted wooden vehicles that are pulled by horses. 旧式的吉卜赛大篷车是由马拉的涂了颜色的木质车辆。
• Old-fashioned gypsy caravans are painted wooden vehicles. 旧时的吉普赛大篷车是涂了颜色的木质车辆。

6 fortress   

n.堡垒，防御工事

参考例句：

• They made an attempt on a fortress.他们试图夺取这一要塞。
• The soldier scaled the wall of the fortress by turret.士兵通过塔车攀登上了要塞的城墙。

7 rumbled   

发出隆隆声，发出辘辘声( rumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 轰鸣着缓慢行进； 发现…的真相； 看穿（阴谋）

参考例句：

• The machine rumbled as it started up. 机器轰鸣着发动起来。
• Things rapidly became calm, though beneath the surface the argument rumbled on. 事情迅速平静下来了，然而，在这种平静的表面背后争论如隆隆雷声，持续不断。

8 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

9 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

10 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

11 shrugs   

n.耸肩（以表示冷淡，怀疑等）( shrug的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany shrugs off this criticism. 匈牙利总理久尔恰尼对这个批评不以为然。 来自互联网
• She shrugs expressively and takes a sip of her latte. 她表达地耸肩而且拿她的拿铁的啜饮。 来自互联网

12 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

13 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

14 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

15 confiscating   

没收（confiscate的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• There was Mame by my side confiscating my intellects and attention. 有玛米坐在我身边，害得我心不在焉。
• Intimidate book sellers by confiscating books deemed unfavourable to the Barisan government. 充公被视为对国阵不利的书籍，威胁书商。

16 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。