2006年VOA标准英语-Lebanese PM Calls for Ceasefire; Israeli Air St

By Challiss McDonough
Beirut
16 July 2006
 
Israeli air strikes in Lebanon killed at least 32 people on Saturday, and residents in the heavily targeted south were trying desperately¹ to flee. The Lebanese prime minister declared his country a disaster zone, and pleaded for a U.N.-brokered ceasefire.

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Lebanon's Prime Minister Fuad Saniora speaks to the media following an emergency cabinet meeting, in dowtown Beirut   
  
As Israeli bombs and missiles pounded the country for the fourth day, Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora made an impassioned plea for help in a televised address to the nation and the world. He said, "We call for an immediate² ceasefire, backed by the United Nations." He declared Lebanon a disaster zone and pleaded with the country's friends in the international community for help.

The Lebanese prime minister acknowledged that his government has been too weak to fully³ control the entire country, especially the Shi'ite-dominated south, where the militant⁴ group Hezbollah has been the defacto authority. He called for work to extend the state's authority over all its territories, in cooperation with the United Nations in southern Lebanon.

Israeli airstrikes have been heaviest in the south. Israeli leaders have vowed⁵ to continue the military offensive in Lebanon, until Hezbollah no longer has the capacity to attack Israel. Hezbollah has continued to fire rockets from Lebanon into Israel, which began its offensive after Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers Wednesday in a cross-border raid. 

Smoke drifts across Beirut following a nighttime Israeli airstrike on the Hezbollah stronghold in the densely-populated southern suburbs  
  
Many of southern Lebanon's residents have been trying to make their way north to Beirut, or east into the mountains to escape the artillery⁶ barrages⁷. But the journey has been arduous⁸, since most of the bridges and roads leading out of the southern region have been bombed out.

Even so, several hundred people found their way to a small park in a mainly Sunni district of central Beirut. It has become a combination transit⁹ center and refugee camp.

The police repeatedly tried to convince people to move out of the park and into nearby schools, where the government has been providing some supplies, like food, water and mattresses¹⁰ to sleep on. Some families did leave in large military trucks, but others refused.

Volunteer aid worker Jihad Nammour said the frustration¹¹ level was running high. "The police just came in, and they told them they should go to schools," he said. "The problem with the schools is, some of them are closed, and some of them are full. So, some people now are complaining, because they have twice been sent to schools that were closed."

Some Beirut residents and political groups were volunteering to help the new arrivals. A member of a small pro-Syrian political party, Wissam Abou-Sleiman, brought large jugs¹² of drinking water, and used his own car to take some refugees to schools, if they wanted to go. "Well, they think it's safer here, but any location is a target. We thought of setting up tents here. But if we were to set up tents it would be a target for airstrikes, because it's visible from the air," he said.

So, some families were planning to spend another night sleeping outside in the park. A few had brought with them foam¹³ mattresses that quickly got soggy in the midsummer humidity. Most people just spread blankets on the grass.

They glanced nervously¹⁴ at the sky as a new round of air strikes echoed through the city and an Israeli military jet raced by high overhead.

The Israeli army appeared to widen its target list on Saturday, hitting a lighthouse on the seafront in central Beirut and all three of the country's ports, in apparent retaliation¹⁵ for a deadly rocket attack on an Israeli ship on Friday. One of those ports is in a mainly Christian¹⁶ town just north of Beirut, and it marks the first time that a Christian area has been targeted. The eastern border post between Syria and Lebanon was struck, as well.

Foreign embassies are crafting plans to evacuate¹⁷ their citizens. The U.S. and French embassies intend to move people by boat to the nearby island of Cyprus. Italy and several other European nations on Saturday put together a convoy¹⁸ that traveled by road to the northern border with Syria.

1 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

2 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

3 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

4 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。

5 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

6 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

7 barrages   

n.弹幕射击( barrage的名词复数 )；火力网；猛烈炮火；河上的堰坝v.火力攻击（或阻击）( barrage的第三人称单数 )；以密集火力攻击（或阻击）

参考例句：

• In many Basidiomycetes barrages develop. 在许多担子菌中也发生一些栅栏。 来自辞典例句
• It's fun to be able to run around and do instant Barrages. 一边瞬发奥术弹幕一边四处跑确实很有趣。 来自互联网

8 arduous   

adj.艰苦的，费力的，陡峭的

参考例句：

• We must have patience in doing arduous work.我们做艰苦的工作要有耐性。
• The task was more arduous than he had calculated.这项任务比他所估计的要艰巨得多。

9 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

10 mattresses   

褥垫，床垫( mattress的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The straw mattresses are airing there. 草垫子正在那里晾着。
• The researchers tested more than 20 mattresses of various materials. 研究人员试验了二十多个不同材料的床垫。

11 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

12 jugs   

（有柄及小口的）水壶( jug的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Two china jugs held steaming gravy. 两个瓷罐子装着热气腾腾的肉卤。
• Jugs-Big wall lingo for Jumars or any other type of ascenders. 大岩壁术语，祝玛式上升器或其它种类的上升器。

13 foam   

v./n.泡沫，起泡沫

参考例句：

• The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
• The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。

14 nervously   

adv.神情激动地，不安地

参考例句：

• He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
• He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。

15 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》

16 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

17 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

18 convoy   

vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队

参考例句：

• The convoy was snowed up on the main road.护送队被大雪困在干路上了。
• Warships will accompany the convoy across the Atlantic.战舰将护送该船队过大西洋。