VOA标准英语2009年-At Least 30 Killed in Israeli Attack on UN Scho

Medical officials in Gaza say dozens of Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks Tuesday, including at least 30 in one attack when Israeli troops fired on a U.N. school. The Israeli military offensive is now in its second week and it is estimated the Palestinian death toll¹ is more than 600. Israel says it has agreed to set up a "humanitarian² corridor" to allow residents of the Gaza Strip to stock up on vital goods and prevent what it calls a humanitarian crisis during the military offensive against Hamas militants³.
　

Smoke from Israeli operations rises near Gaza City, 6 Jan 2009

It was day 11 of the Israeli military offensive in Gaza. Israeli war planes, tanks and artillery⁴ struck at targets throughout the densely⁵ populated strip of land and in several instances hit U.N. run schools.
　

A Palestinian woman reacts outside Shifa hospital in Gaza City, 06 Jan 2009

Local medics say artillery or tank shells hit a school in the Jabiliya refugee camp.

John Ging from the U.N. Relief and Works Agency in Gaza said the school was clearly marked as a U.N. compound. "The school in Jebaliya is a preparatory girls' school in normal circumstances. Again, very visible, clearly marked building - as all of our buildings are. And as I said already, we provided the GPS coordinates⁶ to the Israeli military and updated regularly with them and this year again, so they are fully⁷ familiar with where our locations are, and again, flag flying there," he said.

Several hundred people had taken shelter in the school to try to escape the Israeli attacks. Israeli military officials say they believe militants were using the school to fire upon Israeli troops. U.N. officials say thousands of Palestinians have been seeking shelter in schools throughout Gaza from the ongoing⁸ shelling, air strikes and bombardments.

In Gaza, international Red Cross spokesman Iyad Nasr says the situation is dire⁹. "The situation is becoming unbearable¹⁰ and more casualties are being seen among the population, the civilian¹¹ population, including paramedics, including hospitals and ambulances," he said.

But, there is no indication Israel is ready to call off its campaign, despite growing international pressure to do so.

Israeli leaders say their offensive is aimed at stopping Hamas rocket attacks on southern Israel. Hamas military leaders say they will fight the Israeli forces in every street, alley¹² and house.

1 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

2 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。

3 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。

4 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。

5 densely   

ad.密集地；浓厚地

参考例句：

• A grove of trees shadowed the house densely. 树丛把这幢房子遮蔽得很密实。
• We passed through miles of densely wooded country. 我们穿过好几英里茂密的林地。

6 coordinates   

n.相配之衣物；坐标( coordinate的名词复数 )；（颜色协调的）配套服装；[复数]女套服；同等重要的人（或物）v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的第三人称单数 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• The town coordinates on this map are 695037. 该镇在这幅地图上的坐标是695037。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

8 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

9 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

10 unbearable   

adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的

参考例句：

• It is unbearable to be always on thorns.老是处于焦虑不安的情况中是受不了的。
• The more he thought of it the more unbearable it became.他越想越觉得无法忍受。

11 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。

12 alley   

n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路

参考例句：

• We live in the same alley.我们住在同一条小巷里。
• The blind alley ended in a brick wall.这条死胡同的尽头是砖墙。