VOA标准英语2011--Battered Gadhafi Hometown Faces Long Recovery

Battered¹ Gadhafi Hometown Faces Long Recovery

In former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's hometown, the process of cleaning up from weeks of fierce fighting has begun. Sirte was the last battleground in the uprising that led to Gadhafi's ouster and death. Sirte, which until recently was something of a showplace, has a long road back.

You have to start somewhere. And these volunteers are starting here, on the city's main street, where it is all too clear that a few days ago this was a battlefield.

For these men it's personal. Whichever side they supported in the uprising, it was their town, once home to 80,000 people, that got destroyed. Volunteers are working day in and day out in the blazing sun.

"We have come together to clean up our country and protect it and to stand up for our city. The city was destroyed by both the rebels and the Gadhafi forces. It was destroyed by both sides," said Ali Saleh az-Zargah, a local merchant. He lost a lot in the fighting.

There is debris² from inside his house, which was hit by multiple explosive weapons. It is vacant because his wife and his four children left before the worst of the fighting, and now he can't bear to let her come and see what happened.

"No, no, no, she (his wife) hasn't seen this," added az-Zargah. "If she saw it, she might faint. I can't let her come and see this until I fix it up and paint it."

Az-Zargah's store fared no better. It was once a high-end paint and home decorating shop. Now, it's a total loss. He estimates the damage at nearly half a million U.S. dollars. He has no income and no way to finance the rebuilding of his life.

"The United Nations said in its resolution that they want to protect civilians⁴. I am a civilian³. I'm asking the United Nations and the National Transitional Council for help for the civilians of Sirte," he added.

Az-Zargah's shop and house are in what was once a beautiful seaside neighborhood. Some say the transitional forces wreaked⁵ particular havoc⁶ in Sirte because they considered the residents to be Gadhafi supporters.

Those who live here don't like to talk politics. They express optimism about the future but they're short on details. These men don't know how their city can possibly be rebuilt. But they do know the first step is to clean up, so they're making a start on that.

1 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

2 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

3 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。

4 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

5 wreaked   

诉诸（武力），施行（暴力），发（脾气）( wreak的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The earthquake wreaked havoc on the city. 地震对这个城市造成了大破坏。
• They have wreaked dreadful havoc among the wildlife by shooting and trapping. 他们射杀和诱捕野生动物，造成了严重的破坏。

6 havoc   

n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱

参考例句：

• The earthquake wreaked havoc on the city.地震对这个城市造成了大破坏。
• This concentration of airborne firepower wrought havoc with the enemy forces.这次机载火力的集中攻击给敌军造成很大破坏。