VOA标准英语2011--Battered Gadhafi Hometown Faces Long Recovery
时间：2018-12-08 作者：英语课 分类：VOA标准英语2011年(十月)
Battered 1 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 debris 2 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 civilians 4. I am a civilian 3. 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 wreaked 5 particular havoc 6 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.
- 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。
- 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。
- 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。
- 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。