VOA标准英语2010年-After War, Afghan Plain Begins to Flou

Nine years after the fall of the Taliban, one of the regions in Afghanistan most damaged by 30 years of war is slowly coming back to life. On Fridays many Kabulis pack into their cars and leave the traffic-jammed capital behind. They get on the Kabul-Mazar highway and head out about 20 kilometers to the Shomali Plain. Here they relax in vineyards, eat grapes, dried fruit and walnuts¹, and drink tea. The stretch of land from Kabul to Shomali is some of the most fertile in Afghanistan. But the plains saw heavy fighting over the past 30 years, serving as a frontline first after the Soviet² invasion and then under the Taliban years. Homes and farms were destroyed, large areas were littered with mines.
But things are changing. Back to lifeThe one-lane highway is now two. Farmers have come back and replanted their vines. Residents say in the past few years they have again been able to rely on their land for food. Ghyas, who works in Kabul, makes the commute³ from Shomali to the capital several times a week. His family has lived in the district of Gul Dara for generations. Gul Dara means "valley of flowers" in Dari. Ghyas remembers what the plain was like before the Taliban. He says it had everything: pears, apples, grapes, raisins⁴, figs⁵, apricots, peaches and cherries.
Taliban ruleGhyas' father was killed when the Soviets⁶ invaded. He says when the Taliban took over in 1996 there was no work. He was scared he would have to fight so Ghyas and his mother left for Pakistan, where he wove carpets for $4 a day.
Most Shomali residents left during the Taliban years. They went to Pakistan or Iran. Shopkeeper Mama Nasier was an exception; he decided⁷ to stay and then was jailed by the Taliban. Nasier remembers the day he was taken from the front of his shop. Two years and six months later he got out.
Nasier says after his release from jail the situation was so bad that if he had taken pictures, people would not have believed that this was the valley of flowers. There were no trees, no houses, everything had burned. Not even birds were here, and even the shop had burned down. This place, Nasier says, was crazy.
Blessing⁸ or curse?
The Shomali Plain's location and its vineyards seem to have been both a blessing and a curse. The Kabul-Mazar highway is the only road entering the capital from North and Central Asia. So whether it was the Soviet convoys⁹ lining¹⁰ the highway and the mujahideen attacking them from the vineyards or Taliban fighting the Northern Alliance from the capital, the area was prime for fighting. An estimated 200,000 residents left Shomali between 1998 and 2000. When the U.S.-led foreign forces came in 2001, the United Nations started returning displaced villagers. Ghyas says that was the hardest time. The return He says when they came back, they did not have a house, so they had to put up a tent and live in it. The economy was not good, so they could not afford a house, they had to build one, so they were living outside. It has taken nine years to get where they are.
After nine years, residents say things here are much better but there is still not enough water, the irrigation canals and roads are in poor condition. But there is a school and a clinic.
The fruit-stall sellers say they are back to selling their produce to the Kabul bazaar¹¹, though the market is not good and it is hard to get decent prices for their grapes and apples. As one seller speaks, another from the next stall says he can only sell fruit for 80 to 100 Afghanis a kilogram, roughly $2 -- much less than in previous years. Good old days The two talk back and forth¹² about how they used to export fruit to Pakistan and India and raisins to Russia. They say the government has promised to start exports again but many think those are empty promises. While many people in Shomali are optimistic about the future, they still fear that the Taliban may come back. They also complain that government corruption¹³ makes it harder for farmers who are bringing life back to the Shomali Plain.

1 walnuts   

胡桃（树）( walnut的名词复数 )； 胡桃木

参考例句：

• Are there walnuts in this sauce? 这沙司里面有核桃吗？
• We ate eggs and bacon, pickled walnuts and cheese. 我们吃鸡蛋，火腿，腌胡桃仁和干酪。

2 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

3 commute   

vi.乘车上下班；vt.减(刑)；折合；n.上下班交通

参考例句：

• I spend much less time on my commute to work now.我现在工作的往返时间要节省好多。
• Most office workers commute from the suburbs.很多公司的职员都是从郊外来上班的。

4 raisins   

n.葡萄干( raisin的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These raisins come from Xinjiang,they taste delicious. 这些葡萄干产自新疆，味道很甜。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mother put some raisins in the cake. 母亲在糕饼中放了一些葡萄干。 来自辞典例句

5 figs   

figures 数字，图形，外形

参考例句：

• The effect of ring dyeing is shown in Figs 10 and 11. 环形染色的影响如图10和图11所示。
• The results in Figs. 4 and 5 show the excellent agreement between simulation and experiment. 图4和图5的结果都表明模拟和实验是相当吻合的。

6 soviets   

苏维埃（Soviet的复数形式）

参考例句：

• A public challenge could provoke the Soviets to dig in. 公开挑战会促使苏联人一意孤行。
• The Soviets proposed the withdrawal of American ballistic-missile submarines from forward bases. 苏联人建议把美国的弹道导弹潜艇从前沿基地撤走。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

9 convoys   

n.（有护航的）船队( convoy的名词复数 )；车队；护航（队）；护送队

参考例句：

• Truck convoys often stop over for lunch here. 车队经常在这里停下来吃午饭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A UN official said aid programs will be suspended until there's adequate protection for relief convoys. 一名联合国官员说将会暂停援助项目，直到援助车队能够得到充分的保护为止。 来自辞典例句

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 bazaar   

n.集市，商店集中区

参考例句：

• Chickens,goats and rabbits were offered for barter at the bazaar.在集市上，鸡、山羊和兔子被摆出来作物物交换之用。
• We bargained for a beautiful rug in the bazaar.我们在集市通过讨价还价买到了一条很漂亮的地毯。

12 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

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。