2006年VOA标准英语-Iraqi Christians Flee Fighting

By Margaret Besheer
Ainkawa, Iraq
18 July 2006

Caught up in the sectarian attacks claiming dozens of Iraqi lives each day is the country's small Christian¹ community. The Dora neighborhood of Baghdad has traditionally been home to many Iraqi Christians³, but many have fled to the calm of the northern city of Ainkawa, where they are trying to resume their lives.

--------

St. George Church in Ainkawa  
  
Hundreds of years ago, Christian missionaries⁴ brought their faith to parts of what is modern-day northern Iraq. A small community of mostly Chaldean Catholics and Assyrians has grown in cities across the north, as well as in the Dora neighborhood of Baghdad and to the south in the port city of Basra.

Today, Iraqi Christians account for between two and three percent of the country's nearly 27 million people.

As sectarian violence grows between Shi'ites and Sunni Arabs, the Christian community has stayed out of the conflict. But many Christians have become victims of the violence, some caught in random⁵ acts of terror, others targeted because they are not Muslim.

Many have fled the capital for the Christian town of Ainkawa, near the city of Irbil, in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq.

Youssef owned a restaurant in Baghdad's Dora district. Forced to flee the violence, he now works as a security guard at a church in Ainkawa. "I left my restaurant and brought my sons here because the terrorists kill everyone: the barber, the baker⁶, the supermarket owner.  They just kill indiscriminately," he said.

Firas also lived in the Dora neighborhood of Baghdad. He left two months ago and says very few of his neighbors are still there. He says he left because he feared for his life.  "If you are in a Shi'ite neighborhood and they see your identity is Christian, okay, you will at least suffer or they will kill you, easily. Same in Sunni places," said Firas.

 
St. Joseph's Church in Ainkawa 
  
Sometimes, those who have fled have experienced the worst horrors. A businessman we will call Fouad, to protect him and his family, was kidnapped in Baghdad. He is reluctant to recall his ordeal⁷. "I do not want to remember it. Leave it," he said. "What is the use of this story? Every day hundreds are kidnapped in Baghdad."

But after some prompting, he told VOA that gunmen abducted⁸ him and held him for five days. He does not know where they took him, as they covered his head with a hood² the entire time.

He says the first two days he was sure they would kill him. In the end, his family paid the kidnappers⁹ $170,000 for his safe return.

But Father Tariq from Saint George Church in Ainkawa says it is not just Baghdad Christians who are fleeing the violence. He says families came from Basra, Mosul and Kirkuk, as well as Baghdad. Altogether, about 700 families have come to the area.

Sally is a Christian from Kirkuk. She left the city about a year ago and came to Ainkawa. She says the situation in Kirkuk is very bad: there are bombs, explosions and kidnappings.

Randa is also from Kirkuk. She used to work at a church there, but fled two months ago. She says car bombers¹⁰ attacked three churches in the same day. "It was horrible, and we were afraid, so I left my job and my home," she said.

Many who have fled say they hope they will be able to return to their homes in a year or two. But others say they will stay in their Christian enclave in the north.

1 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。

2 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

3 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

4 missionaries   

n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some missionaries came from England in the Qing Dynasty. 清朝时，从英国来了一些传教士。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The missionaries rebuked the natives for worshipping images. 传教士指责当地人崇拜偶像。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

6 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

7 ordeal   

n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验

参考例句：

• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。
• Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me.在荒野里迷路一星期对我来说真是一场磨难。

8 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

9 kidnappers   

n.拐子，绑匪( kidnapper的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They were freed yesterday by their kidnappers unharmed. 他们昨天被绑架者释放了，没有受到伤害。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The kidnappers had threatened to behead all four unless their jailed comrades were released. 帮匪们曾经威胁说如果印度方面不释放他们的同伙，他们就要将这四名人质全部斩首。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》