VOA慢速英语2015 担惊受怕的乌克兰难民试图在冲突中生存

 

AS IT IS 2015-02-05 Fearful¹ Ukrainian Refugees² Try to Survive Conflict 担惊受怕的乌克兰难民试图在冲突中生存

Hundreds of thousands of people in eastern Ukraine have fled their homes to escape fighting between government forces and Russian-supported rebels³. Most are in government-controlled parts of the two eastern districts that the rebels claim. Under international law, they are called “internally displaced⁴ persons.” But they call themselves “refugees.”

VOA visited a small group of these refugees in a church building in the city of Artemivsk, just 40 kilometers from the front lines of the conflict. The refugees believe the building is a safe place for them.

One of the refugees is named Paul. He is the leader of a different church. He fled the rebel-controlled Donetsk City early in the conflict.

“I left at the end of June because it was a quite strange situation. It was difficult to express -- a danger to express -- my point of view. It was a danger for my life.”

Many of the refugees in the church lived in small towns and villages before the Ukrainian revolution took place a year ago. Shortly after the revolution, Russian president Vladimir Putin supported an uprising in eastern Ukraine. Many people there feel closer to Russia and fear what will happen if Ukraine continues to become politically closer to Western nations.

Fleeing their homes

The people VOA interviewed all speak Russian and are from eastern Ukraine. But they do not feel close to Russia. We spoke⁵ to a woman named Nadezhda, a church worker.

She says she brought her 90-year-old mother to the church the day before we spoke to her. She says during the night an artillery⁶ shell landed near their home, causing great destruction⁷.

Galina is a social worker.

She says she saw the explosions⁸ and the shelling. She says she was afraid to sleep at night. She worried that if she slept, the house would blow up.

Fighting affects the children 

The fighting in eastern Ukraine has also affected⁹ the children who were forced to flee quickly with their families. They attend new schools and must try to make new friends. They say they miss the friends and family members they were once close to.

Anya is a student who fled the conflict.

She says she talks – when she can -- with her friends in the city she fled. But, she says, her friends often do not have telephone service or electricity. She says they struggle to recharge their phones. She says when she is able to talk with them they tell her there is shelling every day.

In the safety of Artemivsk, the refugees try to make new friends.

Galina, the social worker, says they are given food and clothes. She says they fled wearing only summer clothes, like shorts and tee shirts, but now they have winter clothes. She says it is nice that the world is thinking about them.

Olga is a music teacher.

She says the children are going to school and taking music lessons. She says the adults are trying to help the children live normal lives, similar to the ones they had before they fled the fighting.

The fighting continues

But they fear that the rebels will force them to flee again. The rebels are nearby. They are supported by Russian troops, supplies and training.

The church worker named Nadezhda says she cannot accept the idea of the rebels coming because, in her words, they are destroying our people and our land. It is not right, she says. It is not fair. 

The refugees say they hope to go home someday. But peace talks between Ukraine’s government and the rebels ended after just a few hours on Saturday. And each side criticizes¹⁰ the other. Pressure is also growing for the West to provide military weapons to the Ukrainian army.

So the refugees will probably stay where they are for a long time. If the fighting reaches Artemivsk they may be forced to flee even farther¹¹ west.

Words in This Story

displaced – adj. no longer in its original or regular location

front lines – n. area where soldiers are fighting

expressed – v. said or showed one’s thoughts or feelings

1 fearful   

adj.惧怕的，担心的；可怕的，吓人的

参考例句：

• What a fearful waste of time!简直太浪费时间了！
• They are fearful of another business depression.他们担心会再次发生商业萧条。

2 refugees   

n.避难者，难民( refugee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The UN has begun making airdrops of food to refugees. 联合国已开始向难民空投食物。
• They claimed they were political refugees and not economic migrants. 他们宣称自己是政治难民，不是经济移民。

3 rebels   

n.反政府的人( rebel的名词复数 )；反叛者；造反者；叛逆者v.反抗政府( rebel的第三人称单数 )；反抗权威

参考例句：

• Most of the rebels were captured and disarmed. 大部分叛乱分子被俘获并解除了武装。
• The rebels went on an orgy of killing. 叛乱者肆意杀人。

4 displaced   

移动( displace的过去式和过去分词 )； 替换； 移走； 撤职

参考例句：

• Gradually factory workers have been displaced by machines. 工厂的工人已逐渐被机器取代。
• He was displaced by another young man. 他已被另一个年轻人顶替。

5 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。

6 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

7 destruction   

n.破坏，毁灭，消灭

参考例句：

• The enemy bombs caused widespread destruction.敌人的炸弹造成大面积的破坏。
• Overconfidence was his destruction.自负是他垮台的原因。

8 explosions   

爆炸( explosion的名词复数 )； 爆发； 激增； （感情，尤指愤怒的）突然爆发

参考例句：

• Soon afterwards five explosions were heard from the area. 此后不久从那个地方传来五次爆炸声。
• They were monitoring the upper air to collect evidence of atomic explosions. 他们正在检测高空空气以收集原子爆炸的证据。

9 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

10 criticizes   

v.评论，批评( criticize的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Jacobson's group often criticizes at a variety of restaurant foods. 雅各布森所在的这个消费者组织常对餐馆提供的食物进行批评。 来自互联网
• The writer criticizes and suspects the fate from the tragedy of Mathilde. 文章从玛蒂尔德的悲剧中叩问命运、质疑命运。 来自互联网

11 farther   

adj.更远的，进一步的；adv.更远的，此外；far的比较级

参考例句：

• I can throw the ball farther than you can.这个球我能比你扔得远。
• The farther hill is five kilometres away.那座更远的小山在五公里以外。