阿勒颇的生活能恢复正常吗？

Can Life Return to Normal in Aleppo?

The Syrian city of Aleppo’s main square is now filled with activity. There are people of all ages: young men dancing, children playing, others buying ice cream, popcorn¹, or peanuts. A large sign there said in English, “I love Aleppo.”

But nearly four years of warfare² has destroyed much of the city. The square stood near the front line dividing the government-held western half of Aleppo from the rebel-held eastern half.

Thirteen months after government forces captured the east there have been some improvements in Aleppo. The guns are silent and people have returned to the streets.

Water and electricity are improving. But the city has just begun to recover from destruction and a civilian³ flight so great that it is hard for citizens to believe the city could ever rebuild.

Aleppo’s eastern half remains⁴ in ruins. Much of the wreckage⁵ has been cleaned from its streets, but the many damaged buildings have not been rebuilt.

Though some citizens are back, hundreds of thousands still have not returned to their homes in the east. This is because their homes were destroyed or because they fear reprisals⁷ from opposition⁸ supporters.

After the victory by the forces of President Bashar al-Assad, there are few signs of agreement in Syria’s largest city.

No one speaks of how part of the city fought against Assad’s government. Residents express only pro-Assad opinions to reporters. They say the rebels were Islamic militants⁹ supported by foreign powers. Strongly anti-Assad residents have probably not returned or stay quiet. Most want to fix the destroyed city.

“I feel very sad, I cry. Sometimes I cry in the morning because this was a very good neighborhood,” said Adnan Sabbagh who lives in the Sukkari area. It was once held by rebels.

Sabbagh’s six-story building continues to stand, but it is badly damaged. The top three floors have no walls.

The 47-year-old construction worker fled to live in the coastal¹⁰ town of Jableh five years ago when the rebels captured Aleppo’s east.

All three of his daughters are married to soldiers in the army. So, he feared the fighters would not let him remain in the city.

In the fall of last year, he returned home and fixed¹¹ up his apartment on the second floor where he now lives with his wife and youngest son.

He uses generators¹³ set up in the streets because there is no electricity in Sukkari — the government is still working to rebuild it. But there is running water, although it is only available every other day on both sides of the city.

Before the war, Aleppo had a population of 2.3 million people and was Syria’s largest city and its business center. It also had its own culture in Syria.

Aleppans are proud of their Syrian Arabic accent and of their famous food. The city’s history is more than a thousand years old, and tourists used to visit its historic places. However, the most violent battles of Syria’s war have taken place in the city.

In 2016, government forces backed by Russian airstrikes surrounded the city hitting it with bombs for months.

The rebels surrendered in December of 2016. Many fled to other places. Eastern Aleppo was once home to over 1 million people. Now, it is empty and destroyed.

Life returning to the city

Since that time, some people have returned. The top United Nations official in Syria, Ali Al-Za’tari, said estimates are difficult to make. But, the U.N says about 200,000 people now live in the east.

Most of the factories in Aleppo’s 15 industrial districts are closed, many of them damaged from the bombs dropped by Assad’s forces.

In western Aleppo, there is less damage. People show a feeling of freedom from life under warfare. Electricity comes on several hours a day and soon will be available all day.

Sand blockades that had been set up on many streets have been removed.

Im el-Nour, a 51-year-old woman who drives a taxi, says she is the only female cab driver in the city. She says she has seen an increase in work. She can drive in the east, where conservative women call her for rides to avoid riding with a male driver.

She also works playing music at weddings or at women-only parties.

El-Nour is divorced. Her son died while fighting in Assad’s army. Now, between two jobs, she makes more than $100 a month. That is a little more than a civil servant earns.

Besides increasing business, there are other signs that life is returning to Aleppo.

In the main square, Abdullatif Maslawi, a 21-year-old student, performed a traditional dance with a group of his friends.

“Aleppo was wounded and now it is being cured,” he said.

I’m Susan Shand and I’m Pete Musto.

Words in This Story

Square – n. an open area in a village, city, etc., where two or more streets meet

Reprisal⁶ – n. something that is done to hurt or punish someone who has hurt you or done something bad to you

Generator¹² – n. a machine for converting mechanical energy into electricity

Tourist – n. a person who travels to a place for pleasure

District – n. an area or section of a country, city, or town

Divorce – v. the ending of a marriage by a legal process

1 popcorn   

n.爆米花

参考例句：

• I like to eat popcorn when I am watching TV play at home.当我在家观看电视剧时，喜欢吃爆米花。
• He still stood behind his cash register stuffing his mouth with popcorn.他仍站在收银机后，嘴里塞满了爆米花。

2 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

3 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

6 reprisal   

n.报复，报仇，报复性劫掠

参考例句：

• There is no political alternative but a big reprisal.政治上没有旁的选择只能是大规模报复。
• They bombed civilian targets in reprisal.他们炮轰平民目标作为报复。

7 reprisals   

n.报复（行为）( reprisal的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They did not want to give evidence for fear of reprisals. 他们因为害怕报复而不想作证。
• They took bloody reprisals against the leaders. 他们对领导进行了血腥的报复。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 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。

9 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

10 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

11 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。

12 generator   

n.发电机，发生器

参考例句：

• All the while the giant generator poured out its power.巨大的发电机一刻不停地发出电力。
• This is an alternating current generator.这是一台交流发电机。

13 generators   

n.发电机，发生器( generator的名词复数 )；电力公司

参考例句：

• The factory's emergency generators were used during the power cut. 工厂应急发电机在停电期间用上了。
• Power can be fed from wind generators into the electricity grid system. 电力可以从风力发电机流入输电网。 来自《简明英汉词典》