VOA慢速英语--在喀布尔,一些人对经济崩溃的担忧超过了对塔利班统治的担忧

At a pizza restaurant in downtown Kabul, workers and customers are worried about Afghanistan's new Taliban rulers.

Some, however, say they are more worried about economic collapse¹ than things like being forced to grow long facial hair - a practice from the Taliban's earlier time in power. Others fear for the future of their children.

With the Taliban now in control, some in Kabul are thinking of ways to escape the country.

"I have to run away so I can feed my family," said Mustafa, a server at another nearby fast-food place. He had come to the pizzeria for tea and to talk with friends working there.

Mustafa told the Associated Press that he has a family of 11 to support. He is considering seeking work in neighboring Iran. He said his earnings² have been cut by 75 percent since the Taliban overran Kabul.

Pizzeria owner Mohammad Yaseen said daily sales have dropped sharply³. He has been looking through old emails, searching for a foreigner who might help him resettle overseas. "It's not for me I want to leave, but for my children," he said.

Still, there is a sense of a return to business as usual across much of the Afghan capital. It is a different feeling than what was taking place at the Kabul airport, where thousands pushed toward⁴ gates for days, hoping for a chance to leave.

In much of Kabul, the usual busy traffic is back. Markets have opened. On the streets, the same police who served in the Washington-allied government of President Ashraf Ghani are still waving their hands trying to control the busy activity.

Taliban fighters have taken up positions in front of most government ministries⁵. Some are in military clothes. Others wear the traditional Afghan clothes of loose pants and a long shirt called a tunic⁶.

Street sellers⁷ have even been able to make a profit by selling the Taliban's white flag.

Shah Mohammad makes up to $15 a day selling different sizes of the flag. He makes his way through traffic, waving the small flags at passing cars. He also has full-size flags on offer. Before the Taliban takeover, he sold cloths for cleaning cars. He said that would earn him only about $4 a day.

But financial problems are affecting many others in the city.

Salaries have gone unpaid⁸. Government ministries that employ hundreds of thousands of people are barely⁹ operating, even as the Taliban have urged some to return to work.

Outside the Afghan National Bank, thousands are lining¹⁰ up trying to take out money. The Taliban have limited weekly withdrawals¹¹ to $200.

Noorullah has been operating a small store for 11 years. He said he has not had a single customer since the Taliban arrived on August 15. He said he cannot pay the rent on his store.

"The banks are closed. All the people who have money are running away from this country," he said. "No one is bringing money here."

Noorullah said he has no chance to leave. He is not sure he would leave even if he could. He said if the economy improved, he would stay -- even with the Taliban in power.

"I was born here," he said. "I lived here all my life. I will die here."

Thinking about the 20-year U.S. military presence¹² in his country, Noorullah said, "America did not do a good job here. They let corruption¹³ grow until there was nothing left."

Words in This Story

customer - n. someone who buys goods or services from a business

practice - n. the action of doing or using something

salary - n. an amount of money that an employee is paid each year

1 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

2 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

3 sharply   

adj.锐利地，急速；adv.严厉地，鲜明地

参考例句：

• The plane dived sharply and rose again.飞机猛然俯冲而后又拉了起来。
• Demand for personal computers has risen sharply.对个人电脑的需求急剧增长。

4 toward   

prep.对于，关于，接近，将近，向，朝

参考例句：

• Suddenly I saw a tall figure approaching toward the policeman.突然间我看到一个高大的身影朝警察靠近。
• Upon seeing her,I smiled and ran toward her. 看到她我笑了，并跑了过去。

5 ministries   

（政府的）部( ministry的名词复数 )； 神职； 牧师职位； 神职任期

参考例句：

• Local authorities must refer everything to the central ministries. 地方管理机构应请示中央主管部门。
• The number of Ministries has been pared down by a third. 部委的数量已经减少了1/3。

6 tunic   

n.束腰外衣

参考例句：

• The light loose mantle was thrown over his tunic.一件轻质宽大的斗蓬披在上衣外面。
• Your tunic and hose match ill with that jewel,young man.你的外套和裤子跟你那首饰可不相称呢，年轻人。

7 sellers   

n.卖者( seller的名词复数 )；卖方；销售者；销售商

参考例句：

• buyers and sellers transacting business 进行交易的买方和卖方
• All manner of hawkers and street sellers were plying their trade. 形形色色的沿街小贩都在做着自己的买卖。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 unpaid   

adj.未付款的，无报酬的

参考例句：

• Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
• He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。

9 barely   

adv.仅仅，几乎没有，几乎不

参考例句：

• The male bird is barely distinguishable from the female.雄鸟和雌鸟几乎无法辨别。
• He took barely enough money to keep the children in bread.他赚很少的钱仅够孩子们勉强糊口。

10 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

11 withdrawals   

n.收回，取回，撤回( withdrawal的名词复数 )；撤退，撤走；收回[取回，撤回，撤退，撤走]的实例；推出（组织），提走（存款），戒除毒瘾，对说过的话收回，孤僻

参考例句：

• He has made several withdrawals from his bank account. 他从银行账户上提了几次款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It is not the bank's policy to deduct interest on withdrawals. 提款需扣除利息这并非是本银行的政策。 来自辞典例句

12 presence   

n.出席；到场；存在

参考例句：

• Her presence lent an air of respectability to the occasion.她的到场使那种场合增添了崇高的气氛。
• His presence is indicative of his willingness to help.他的出席表示他愿意帮忙。

13 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。