VOA标准英语2015--Picking Up the Pieces in Garissa After Terror Attack

Picking Up the Pieces in Garissa After Terror Attack

GARISSA—

Victims of the devastating¹ terrorist attack that left 148 people dead last week in Garissa, Kenya, are trying to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives.

The Kenyan military is keeping a tight grip on the town of Garissa after the April 2 terror attack.

Garissa county is under a night-time curfew, along with three other counties frequently threatened by al-Shabab.

Garissa has seen sporadic² bomb and grenade attacks in recent years, blamed on the Somali militants³. But nothing of this magnitude.

At Garissa hospital, student survivors⁴ recount gruesome stories of a day of horror.

One student, Quintin Anyango, said she was just getting up for an early study session when the attack began.

“When I moved out, I saw other three strange people with their guns, I stood for a moment, then from there I decided⁵ not to go back to the hostel⁶, but to look for somewhere, where I could hide safely," she said.

She said she hid the entire day, listening to the gunshots as her classmates were executed in a nearby lecture hall.

Anyango said she would go back to school some day but just not here.

“If it is Garissa, I don’t see me coming back. If it is anywhere, apart from Garissa, I will continue with my education,” Anyango said.

Al-Shabab said the attack was retaliation⁷ for Kenya’s mistreatment of Muslims, as well as its role in Somalia.

But Muslim residents have been quick to condemn⁸ the terrorist group. Some local leaders have even called for Somali refugees living nearby to be sent back.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta in an address to the nation Saturday said terrorists were plotting their attacks from within Kenya, and promised a swift crackdown on those responsible.

“We will not allow them to continue their lives as normal. The full force of the law will be brought to bear with even greater intensity⁹ than has been the case in previous years,” Kenyatta said.

Meantime, victims of the attack are still looking for answers.

At an accounting¹⁰ center in Garissa, workers keep track of which students - out of more than 800 at Garissa University College - have been identified, dead or alive.

David Muciri, an instructor¹¹ at another nearby college, has been poring through the lists and fielding calls from the worried parents of students still missing.

“It’s traumatizing, I must say it is, even us as the neighbors of the university we are really feeling touched because we don’t know what will happen to us, maybe we are next, we don’t know,” Muciri said.

The trauma¹² of the attack will resonate in Garissa and towns across Kenya for a some time. And any future retaliation by the government may only add to the tension.

1 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

2 sporadic   

adj.偶尔发生的 [反]regular；分散的

参考例句：

• The sound of sporadic shooting could still be heard.仍能听见零星的枪声。
• You know this better than I.I received only sporadic news about it.你们比我更清楚，而我听到的只是零星消息。

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 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

5 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。

6 hostel   

n.（学生）宿舍，招待所

参考例句：

• I lived in a hostel while I was a student.我求学期间住在青年招待所里。
• He says he's staying at a Youth Hostel.他说他现住在一家青年招待所。

7 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

9 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

10 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

11 instructor   

n.指导者，教员，教练

参考例句：

• The college jumped him from instructor to full professor.大学突然把他从讲师提升为正教授。
• The skiing instructor was a tall,sunburnt man.滑雪教练是一个高高个子晒得黑黑的男子。

12 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。