VOA标准英语2014--Kobani Fighting Sends 400,000 Refugees to Turkey

 

Kobani Fighting Sends 400,000 Refugees to Turkey

SURUC— 

The offensive by Islamic State militants² against the northern Syrian city of Kobani has caused hundreds of thousands of residents to flee to Turkey. They receive help from Turkish authorities and individuals, but say much more is needed.

Morning in Suruc, southeastern Turkey. Rojava camp - one of several in this town of 20,000 - is a new neighborhood of refugees who arrived following the seizure³ of parts of Kobani by the Islamic State, or IS.

Some 400,000 people from Kobani and its surrounding villages, mostly Kurds, fled after IS militants executed hundreds of local residents saying they were infidels, according to Shaheen, a farmer who will give only his first name out of fear of reprisals⁴ against relatives still inside.

“They bombed and destroyed everything. They executed my cousin then they shared the photo of his head on Facebook. His name was Zuhir,” he said.

Families like this fled with only the clothes on their backs. The father said local aid groups helped them a lot but they had no money to supplement these basic rations⁵.

Winter was coming and the weather on this high plain was turning cold, especially at night, said Fadela, a mother of five.

“My children need clothes, underwear, pajamas⁶ and winter clothes. We need gas and electricity, and kitchen utensils⁷. They give us food, but not enough [of it],” she said.

Camp coordinator⁸ Azad, also from Kobani, said more services were needed at the three week-old facility.

“Medical services, toilets, water, no electricity. We give them what we can of food and some health services,” said Azad.

He hoped temporary houses could be built before winter because children and the elderly were getting sick.

“We need help. There are some people still sleeping in the streets. They don’t have tents, food or medicine. We need more help from the West and the United Nations,” said farner Shaheen.

The refugees said the U.S.-led air strikes against Islamic State positions have helped. But they said Kurdish forces fighting IS would need heavier weapons on the ground in order to prevent the militant¹ group from taking full control of Kobani.

1 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

2 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。

3 seizure   

n.没收；占有；抵押

参考例句：

• The seizure of contraband is made by customs.那些走私品是被海关没收的。
• The courts ordered the seizure of all her property.法院下令查封她所有的财产。

4 reprisals   

n.报复（行为）( reprisal的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They did not want to give evidence for fear of reprisals. 他们因为害怕报复而不想作证。
• They took bloody reprisals against the leaders. 他们对领导进行了血腥的报复。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 rations   

定量( ration的名词复数 )； 配给量； 正常量； 合理的量

参考例句：

• They are provisioned with seven days' rations. 他们得到了7天的给养。
• The soldiers complained that they were getting short rations. 士兵们抱怨他们得到的配给不够数。

6 pajamas   

n.睡衣裤

参考例句：

• At bedtime,I take off my clothes and put on my pajamas.睡觉时，我脱去衣服，换上睡衣。
• He was wearing striped pajamas.他穿着带条纹的睡衣裤。

7 utensils   

器具，用具，器皿( utensil的名词复数 )； 器物

参考例句：

• Formerly most of our household utensils were made of brass. 以前我们家庭用的器皿多数是用黄铜做的。
• Some utensils were in a state of decay when they were unearthed. 有些器皿在出土时已经残破。

8 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• 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。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？