2006年VOA标准英语-Bombardment in Southern Lebanon Cuts Off Last R

By Challiss McDonough
Tyre, Lebanon
07 August 2006

In south Lebanon, the last road leading out of the city of Tyre has been cut by Israeli airstrikes. That means that aid workers may no longer be able to get vital supplies into town from the north. Israeli aircraft and warships¹ have pummeled the surrounding villages with heavy artillery² fire.

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On Monday morning, residents of Tyre awoke to learn that the last remaining road connecting this city to the outside world had been bombed out.

 
Members of Doctors Without Borders(MSF) and other Lebanese volunteers carry boxes of aid supplies through a river in Tyre after the road was destroyed 
  
The main bridge over the Litani River north of here was destroyed weeks ago, but cars and trucks had been using a makeshift crossing to get from Tyre to Beirut and back. The detour³ was a dirt road that led through banana fields, orange orchards⁴ and a graveyard⁵.

With that route obliterated⁶, Tyre is isolated⁷.

The Lebanese army was working hard to repair the road, but the Israeli Defense⁸ Force reportedly warned them that their heavy machinery⁹ could be targeted, forcing the army to curtail¹⁰ repair efforts.

Red Cross Volunteer Kassim Shalaan said severing¹¹ that last link to the north could lead to an even greater humanitarian¹² crisis. "Yes, for sure, 100 percent, because all our supplies are coming from Beirut, which means there is no way for any medical equipment, or for food and bread and water for the people in the villages," said Shalaan. "At the same time, it's a big problem for us as Red Cross, because we transfer casualties from this hospital here to another hospital in Beirut and in Sidon.... So I don't know what the situation is going to be if this road is still closed. But I can tell you it's going to be very, very, very bad. So I hope they can fix it soon."

Because Tyre is a gateway¹³ to the rest of south Lebanon, that means the entire region is now cut off.

Even before the road was bombed, Ali Najem, a medical student working at a local hospital, said supplies were running out. "We are running out of the medications for the chronic¹⁴ diseases - diabetes¹⁵, asthma¹⁶, for the babies, antibiotics," said Najem. "That's it. We called the International Red Cross and Doctors [Without Borders] and they are not reaching us. They took the list of medications, but they couldn't supply us."

Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières) went north to the river to meet colleagues who were headed down from the city of Sidon with medicines and supplies. The plan was to transfer the boxes over the impact crater¹⁷ by hand, and then bring them back to Tyre.

A television crew that tried to follow the convoy¹⁸ turned around after several rockets struck nearby.

Even United Nations peacekeepers found themselves stuck in Tyre. A convoy of eight U.N. trucks and three armored vehicles sat by the roadside, unable to head north or south.

The convoy's commander, French Staff Sergeant¹⁹ Jimmy Gobe, said the trucks were empty. They had been headed to Beirut to resupply and refuel, but with the road to Beirut impassible, they were turning around and heading back. He said they were still waiting for clearance²⁰ from the Israeli military to return to their base in Naqoura, near the border.

The road leading south was heavily shelled all day, and was also largely impassible. Several buildings just south of Tyre were hit, and casualties were reported, but the Red Cross ambulance trying to reach the area had to turn back because of continued bombardment.

The Israeli bombardment of south Lebanon has intensified²¹ as negotiations²² at the United Nations neared a deal aimed at ending the conflict. Hezbollah has also fired large numbers of rockets into northern Israel over the last several days. Both sides seem intent on inflicting²³ as much damage as possible, before any possible cease-fire agreement comes out of the U.N.

The Israeli military has now warned everyone living south of the Litani River not to go outside after 10 p.m. local time Monday.

And so this southern port city is truly in lockdown.

1 warships   

军舰，战舰( warship的名词复数 )； 舰只

参考例句：

• The enemy warships were disengaged from the battle after suffering heavy casualties. 在遭受惨重伤亡后，敌舰退出了海战。
• The government fitted out warships and sailors for them. 政府给他们配备了战舰和水手。

2 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。

3 detour   

n.绕行的路，迂回路；v.迂回，绕道

参考例句：

• We made a detour to avoid the heavy traffic.我们绕道走，避开繁忙的交通。
• He did not take the direct route to his home,but made a detour around the outskirts of the city.他没有直接回家，而是绕到市郊兜了个圈子。

4 orchards   

（通常指围起来的）果园( orchard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They turned the hills into orchards and plains into granaries. 他们把山坡变成了果园，把平地变成了粮仓。
• Some of the new planted apple orchards have also begun to bear. 有些新开的苹果园也开始结苹果了。

5 graveyard   

n.坟场

参考例句：

• All the town was drifting toward the graveyard.全镇的人都象流水似地向那坟场涌过去。
• Living next to a graveyard would give me the creeps.居住在墓地旁边会使我毛骨悚然。

6 obliterated   

v.除去( obliterate的过去式和过去分词 )；涂去；擦掉；彻底破坏或毁灭

参考例句：

• The building was completely obliterated by the bomb. 炸弹把那座建筑物彻底摧毁了。
• He began to drink, drank himself to intoxication, till he slept obliterated. 他一直喝，喝到他快要迷糊地睡着了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

8 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

9 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

10 curtail   

vt.截短，缩短；削减

参考例句：

• The government hopes to curtail public spending.政府希望缩减公共事业开支。
• The minister had to curtail his visit.部长不得不缩短访问日期。

11 severing   

v.切断，断绝( sever的现在分词 )；断，裂

参考例句：

• The death of a second parent is like severing an umbilical cord to our past. 父母当中第二个人去世，就象斩断了把我们同过去联在一起的纽带。 来自辞典例句
• The severing theory and severing method for brittle block are studied. 研究裂纹技术应用于分离脆性块体的分离理论和分离方法。 来自互联网

12 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

13 gateway   

n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法

参考例句：

• Hard work is the gateway to success.努力工作是通往成功之路。
• A man collected tolls at the gateway.一个人在大门口收通行费。

14 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

15 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

16 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。

17 crater   

n.火山口，弹坑

参考例句：

• With a telescope you can see the huge crater of Ve-suvius.用望远镜你能看到巨大的维苏威火山口。
• They came to the lip of a dead crater.他们来到了一个死火山口。

18 convoy   

vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队

参考例句：

• The convoy was snowed up on the main road.护送队被大雪困在干路上了。
• Warships will accompany the convoy across the Atlantic.战舰将护送该船队过大西洋。

19 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

20 clearance   

n.净空；许可(证)；清算；清除，清理

参考例句：

• There was a clearance of only ten centimetres between the two walls.两堵墙之间只有十厘米的空隙。
• The ship sailed as soon as it got clearance. 那艘船一办好离港手续立刻启航了。

21 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

23 inflicting   

把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was charged with maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm. 他被控蓄意严重伤害他人身体。
• It's impossible to do research without inflicting some pain on animals. 搞研究不让动物遭点罪是不可能的。