2006年VOA标准英语-Reporter's Notebook: South Lebanon Faces Monume

By Margaret Besheer
Tyre, Lebanon
01 September 2006
 
The recent fighting between Israeli troops and Hezbollah militants¹ devastated² large areas of Lebanon.  For the past month, VOA correspondent Margaret Besheer has been reporting on the conflict and the impact it has had on the Lebanese people.  In this reporter's notebook, she shares impressions from her first visit to some of the towns in south Lebanon that were at the heart of the fighting, starting from the southern coastal³ city of Tyre.

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Lebanese women take a break from salvaging⁴ belongings⁵ from a building in the southern suburbs of Beirut, which was destroyed by an attack by Israeli forces
  
My route took me southeast through Qana to Bint Jbeil, and ended in Maroun al Ras, very close to the southern border with Israel.

More than a month of air strikes and ground fighting has left these villages looking like an earthquake zone. The scene is much the same in village after village: houses and shops collapsed⁶ like a stack of pancakes, with twisted steel rods protruding⁷ from the rubble⁸ like the tentacles⁹ of an octopus¹⁰. The olive trees that are so prevalent in this part of the country are coated in white dust that looks like a strange snow.

At Qana, a makeshift cemetery¹¹ holds the remains¹² of 27 people, mostly women and children, who were killed in the basement of a house during an Israeli air strike.  Their graves are marked with wooden signs that bear the pictures of many smiling children.

A man named Mohammed, who is wearing a baseball hat with the Hezbollah logo on it, says somberly that many residents have not come back. 

Social workers from Hezbollah wearing yellow bibs are surrounded by residents of Beirut, Lebanon to register their names in order to receive compensation  
  
Passing among the towns, I see a new site in south Lebanon: Lebanese soldiers. It is the first time the army has been deployed¹³ in this area in more than 30 years.  But at every checkpoint, the yellow and green flag of Hezbollah flies next to the flag of the Lebanese state.

At the town of Siddiqine, where there is hardly a house still standing¹⁴ on the main road, I find Abdullah Balhas and some of his friends.

He says he does not mind that the army is here, but he says Hezbollah is also still present, and he is one of them.  He adds that he has put away his gun, but will get it out again, if the Israelis return.

On the outskirts¹⁵ of Siddiqine, children are chasing after the ice cream truck, as it bounces along the broken roads. For them, at least one summer pleasure has returned.
 
At Bint Jbeil, residents are out in force trying to clean up the crumbled¹⁶ concrete that used to be their town.  It is a monumental task. The main market was destroyed, as were many homes.  Bint Jbeil's two schools were both badly damaged.  The fa?ade of one has been completely sheared¹⁷ off, giving it the appearance of a doll's house displaying the children's desks.  The start of the school year has been delayed until October, but it is not clear yet what exactly will be used as a school building.

Walking down the street, I nearly trip over the remnant of an Israeli missile lying on the sidewalk. It is not the only one I come across this day.

Arriving to Maroun al Ras, I am struck by how quiet it is. There are no people, no animals, not even a bird. In a word, there is no life.

But despite the devastation¹⁸, south Lebanon's beauty shines through. There are rolling hills with sweeping¹⁹ vistas²⁰ of olive and citrus orchards²¹, crowned by a perfect blue sky.  Closer to Tyre, over the top of the hills, the Mediterranean²² shimmers²³ in the distance.  I begin to understand why the residents of the south rushed home as soon as the fighting stopped.

1 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。

2 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

3 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。

4 salvaging   

（从火灾、海难等中）抢救（某物）( salvage的现在分词 )； 回收利用（某物）

参考例句：

• A shipping company has made a claim for the cost of salvaging a sunken ship. 某轮船公司要求赔赏打捞沉船的费用。（make a claim 要求）
• It is not uncommon to hear that a shipping company has made a claim for the cost of salvaging a sunken ship. 航运公司为打捞沉船的费用而提出要求，这并非奇闻。

5 belongings   

n.私人物品，私人财物

参考例句：

• I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
• Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。

6 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

7 protruding   

v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的现在分词 )；凸

参考例句：

• He hung his coat on a nail protruding from the wall. 他把上衣挂在凸出墙面的一根钉子上。
• There is a protruding shelf over a fireplace. 壁炉上方有个突出的架子。 来自辞典例句

8 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

9 tentacles   

n.触手( tentacle的名词复数 )；触角；触须；触毛

参考例句：

• Tentacles of fear closed around her body. 恐惧的阴影笼罩着她。
• Many molluscs have tentacles. 很多软体动物有触角。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 octopus   

n.章鱼

参考例句：

• He experienced nausea after eating octopus.吃了章鱼后他感到恶心。
• One octopus has eight tentacles.一条章鱼有八根触角。

11 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

12 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。

13 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

14 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。

15 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

16 crumbled   

（把…）弄碎， （使）碎成细屑( crumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 衰落； 坍塌； 损坏

参考例句：

• He crumbled the bread in his fingers. 他用手指把面包捻碎。
• Our hopes crumbled when the business went bankrupt. 商行破产了，我们的希望也破灭了。

17 sheared   

v.剪羊毛( shear的过去式和过去分词 )；切断；剪切

参考例句：

• A jet plane sheared the blue sky. 一架喷气式飞机划破蓝空。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The pedal had sheared off at the pivot. 踏板在枢轴处断裂了。 来自辞典例句

18 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

20 vistas   

长条形景色( vista的名词复数 )； 回顾； 展望； （未来可能发生的）一系列情景

参考例句：

• This new job could open up whole new vistas for her. 这项新工作可能给她开辟全新的前景。
• The picture is small but It'shows broad vistas. 画幅虽然不大，所表现的天地却十分广阔。

21 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。

22 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

23 shimmers   

n.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的名词复数 )v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The hot pavement sent up shimmers. 晒热的道路浮起热气晃动的景象。 来自辞典例句
• Sunlight shimmers on the waters of the bay. 阳光在海湾的水面上闪烁。 来自辞典例句