VOA标准英语2015--Displaced Nigerians Return Home to Find Ruin

Displaced Nigerians Return Home to Find Ruin

MICHIKA, NIGERIA—

In the wake of advances by Nigeria’s military against Boko Haram insurgents¹ in the country’s northeast, people displaced during years of violence are trickling² back home to find their lives in ruin.

Homa Luka returned home to Michika to a backyard full of dead people. 

Like most Michika residents, he fled the northeastern town when Boko Haram took it over in September. When he came back, he saw that the insurgents had turned his land into a cemetery³.

“When we came back we discovered the house has been destroyed, all of our things had been moved around and we weren't able to stay here because the house was smelling very bad.  So we started looking around to see what the source of the smell was, and we checked in back and saw there was a graveyard⁴ over there where they did a mass burial of their fighters,” said Luka.

Michika was one of many towns Nigeria’s military lost control of last year as Boko Haram started seizing territory across the northeast. It was recaptured in January as the military, aided by regional troops and foreign mercenaries, pushed the insurgents out of most of the territory they had taken. People are trickling back to see what’s left of their livelihoods⁵ and loved ones.

Mary Yohanna Kwatri doesn’t know where her husband is.  He was home when the militants⁶ attacked, and she was at church. She managed to flee the town, then kept moving as far south as the Adamawa state capital, Yola, then back to Michika.

With nowhere else to go, she now sleeps on the dirt floor of her burnt-out home.  

“So far, I don’t have anything to do. All I do is just find food to cook, and after I’m finished eating, I just go under this tree to lie down, in order to survive. I’m trying to make a round hut where I’ll be able to stay,” said Kwatri.

The road to Michika is lined with the evidence of battle between the military and Boko Haram, such as buildings obliterated⁷ by an air raid, or a bridge destroyed by the militants to stop the military’s advance. Locals who assist cars fording a nearby stream, like Paulie Cap, say the area’s shallow creeks⁸ will turn to torrents⁹ when the rainy season comes, cutting off towns like Michika.

“This is the only road we have so far in this place. If this road is not fixed¹⁰ up then definitely, we’re going to face so many challenges. Things will become very difficult for us, because there is only one way,” said Cap.

Dozens of towns and villages across the northeast have been damaged as badly as Michika, or worse.  A new government is coming in at the end of the month.  People here have high expectations that the new administration will do what’s necessary to rebuild their lives.

1 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

2 trickling   

n.油画底色含油太多而成泡沫状突起v.滴( trickle的现在分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动

参考例句：

• Tears were trickling down her cheeks. 眼泪顺着她的面颊流了下来。
• The engine was trickling oil. 发动机在滴油。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

4 graveyard   

n.坟场

参考例句：

• All the town was drifting toward the graveyard.全镇的人都象流水似地向那坟场涌过去。
• Living next to a graveyard would give me the creeps.居住在墓地旁边会使我毛骨悚然。

5 livelihoods   

生计，谋生之道( livelihood的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• First came the earliest individualistic pioneers who depended on hunting and fishing for their livelihoods. 走在最前面的是早期的个人主义先驱者，他们靠狩猎捕鱼为生。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• With little influence over policies, their traditional livelihoods are threatened. 因为马赛族人对政策的影响力太小，他们的传统生计受到了威胁。

6 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。

7 obliterated   

v.除去( obliterate的过去式和过去分词 )；涂去；擦掉；彻底破坏或毁灭

参考例句：

• The building was completely obliterated by the bomb. 炸弹把那座建筑物彻底摧毁了。
• He began to drink, drank himself to intoxication, till he slept obliterated. 他一直喝，喝到他快要迷糊地睡着了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 creeks   

n.小湾( creek的名词复数 )；小港；小河；小溪

参考例句：

• The prospect lies between two creeks. 矿区位于两条溪流之间。 来自辞典例句
• There was the excitement of fishing in country creeks with my grandpa on cloudy days. 有在阴雨天和姥爷一起到乡村河湾钓鱼的喜悦。 来自辞典例句

9 torrents   

n.倾注；奔流( torrent的名词复数 )；急流；爆发；连续不断

参考例句：

• The torrents scoured out a channel down the hill side. 急流沿着山腰冲刷出一条水沟。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Sudden rainstorms would bring the mountain torrents rushing down. 突然的暴雨会使山洪暴发。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。