2007年VOA标准英语-Baghdad Residents Say Electricity, Water as Imp

By Margaret Besheer
Baghdad
26 June 2007

The deployment¹ of 28,000 additional U.S. troops to secure Baghdad is now complete. The troops began arriving in February, and have been focusing their mission on clearing troubled neighborhoods of al-Qaida and illegal militias². From Baghdad, VOA's Margaret Besheer reports on one area where U.S. and Iraqi forces are working to bring security and return basic services to residents.

The streets of Yarmouk are quiet in the searing mid-day heat. This western Baghdad neighborhood is one of the wealthiest in the capital and many of its residents have fled the sectarian killings³, kidnappings, and bombings that have been gripping the capital during the past 16 months.

But after four years of war, residents here complain as much about the lack of electricity and water as they do about security.

An Iraqi woman cooks on a gas stove in the outdoor yard of her house during an electricity power cut, 27 May 2007

Standing⁴ in her garden, as the generator⁵ hums in the background, a middle aged⁶ mother who identifies herself as Mrs. Samir says the municipality provides only one hour of electricity each day, there is trash everywhere, and cooking gas has become very expensive. She says the long lines at gasoline stations are particularly frustrating⁷.

"One night my son goes from five o'clock in the morning, and he is still in the station at seven [in the] evening and he did not get anything," said Mrs. Samir.

Next door at Abdul Melhem's house, his family is in mourning for his brother who gunmen shot dead two days before. He agrees basic services are in shambles⁸.

As his eyes fill with tears he says, it is one thing to lose services, but to lose people is a different issue. He says no one is safe at home or on the street.

But Iraqi Army Colonel Ali al-Obeidi, whose unit is responsible for security in the area, along with the U.S. Army's 2nd Battalion⁹, 32nd Field Artillery¹⁰, 1st Infantry¹¹ Division, says in recent weeks about 100 families have returned to the area, a sign their confidence is rising.

He says the biggest problem security forces in this area faced was from al-Qaida. But in his view, all the al-Qaida members in Yarmouk have been now been apprehended¹² and the area is relatively¹³ quiet.

improvised14 explosive device exploded simultaneously15 at Kahtan square in Baghdad's Yarmouk area (Sep 2006)" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070703/1634331.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

An Iraqi walks away from the site where a car Bomb and an improvised explosive device exploded simultaneously at Kahtan square in Baghdad's Yarmouk area (Sep 2006)

Before the surge began in February, about 1,200 U.S. soldiers patrolled the Karkh security area, which includes Yarmouk. This 107 kilometer area of Baghdad now has about 3,000 U.S. soldiers. Working alongside them are 10,000 Iraqi soldiers and police.

Captain Jason Morgan of the 32nd Field Artillery says when his unit arrived four months ago there was one road in Yarmouk where they regularly found dead bodies.

"In past three months, we have had zero body drops on that road," he said. "I would say that is a pretty good metric for success."

Yarmouk's biggest problem appears to be the neighborhoods to the west and north of it, where problems still abound¹⁶.

On a recent afternoon VOA visited the local police station, which also has responsibility slightly north of Yarmouk. A few hours later, the police captain in charge was killed.

He and other officers responded to a call about two dead bodies on a street in the northern area. When they arrived the booby-trapped bodies exploded and small arms fire rang out. The captain was killed and one of his men was injured.

When VOA visited the same police station about two months ago, the captain's uncle had just been kidnapped and killed.

Yet despite the violence, Yarmouk is safer than most Baghdad neighborhoods for locals and U.S. troops. Since American forces arrived in the area in February, not one U.S. soldier has been killed.

1 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

2 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

3 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

4 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。

5 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。

6 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

7 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 shambles   

n.混乱之处；废墟

参考例句：

• My room is a shambles.我房间里乱七八糟。
• The fighting reduced the city to a shambles.这场战斗使这座城市成了一片废墟。

9 battalion   

n.营；部队；大队(的人)

参考例句：

• The town was garrisoned by a battalion.该镇由一营士兵驻守。
• At the end of the drill parade,the battalion fell out.操练之后，队伍解散了。

10 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。

11 infantry   

n.[总称]步兵(部队)

参考例句：

• The infantry were equipped with flame throwers.步兵都装备有喷火器。
• We have less infantry than the enemy.我们的步兵比敌人少。

12 apprehended   

逮捕，拘押( apprehend的过去式和过去分词 )； 理解

参考例句：

• She apprehended the complicated law very quickly. 她很快理解了复杂的法律。
• The police apprehended the criminal. 警察逮捕了罪犯。

13 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

14 improvised   

a.即席而作的,即兴的

参考例句：

• He improvised a song about the football team's victory. 他即席创作了一首足球队胜利之歌。
• We improvised a tent out of two blankets and some long poles. 我们用两条毛毯和几根长竿搭成一个临时帐蓬。

15 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

16 abound   

vi.大量存在；(in，with)充满，富于

参考例句：

• Oranges abound here all the year round.这里一年到头都有很多橙子。
• But problems abound in the management of State-owned companies.但是在国有企业的管理中仍然存在不少问题。