2006年VOA标准英语-Israel Warns South Beirut Residents to Leave

By Margaret Besheer
Beirut
10 August 2006

Israeli war planes blanketed three Shi'ite suburbs of Beirut Thursday with leaflets warning of a painful and strong response to Hezbollah attacks, and urging residents to evacuate¹. Earlier, an Israeli missile hit an old lighthouse in West Beirut, injuring three people.

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Beirut's southern suburbs have been  target of repeated Israeli bombardments

The leaflets, signed, "the State of Israel," fell in the densely² populated suburbs of Hay El-Sollum, Burj El-Barajneh and Shiyah. They warned residents to immediately evacuate these areas for their own safety. Hundreds of families heeded³ the warning, and were leaving the southern suburbs, some in cars, and others on buses provided by the government. 

Lebanese officials say they are concerned about where they are going to house the additional displaced people, because schools that are being used as shelters are already over-crowded.  Mohammed Chattah, is a senior adviser⁴ to Prime Minister Fuad Siniora.

"The refugee problem is already extremely bad, so this will only make things worse," he said. 

		Israeli airstrike damaged old lighthouse in West Beirut Thursday

Meanwhile, an Israeli missile targeted an old lighthouse in West Beirut damaging the structure.

Police said three people were injured.  The mid-day strike was in a heavily guarded neighborhood that houses the Saudi Arabian Embassy, a university and the family home of slain⁵ former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

To the north of Beirut, Israeli planes dropped more leaflets, warning trucks to stay off the coastal⁶ highway after 8 p.m. local time (1700 UTC) or face attack. The road links northern Lebanon with Syria, and the leaflets said vehicles out after the curfew would be suspected of carrying rockets and supplies for Hezbollah.

In southern Lebanon, heavy fighting was reported between Israeli troops and Hezbollah guerrillas, as Israeli forces took control of the town of Marjayoun. The mostly Christian⁷ town sits about 10 kilometers from the Israel-Lebanon border.

As Israel pressed deeper into south Lebanon, Lebanese official Mohammed Chattah said diplomatic efforts to end the conflict are continuing around-the-clock.

"I think some constructive⁸ work has taken place, and I cannot say we have a clear path to a cease-fire, but, definitely, we are moving, and, hopefully, in the coming hours and few days, we will see real progress that we can report," he said.

In the meantime, the humanitarian⁹ situation is worsening. Officials say fuel shortages are becoming critical. The spokesman for the U.N. force in south Lebanon says its fuel supplies will run out within 48 hours. And the World Health Organization has warned that, if fuel is not delivered this week, 60 percent of all hospitals in Lebanon will cease to function.

1 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。

2 densely   

ad.密集地；浓厚地

参考例句：

• A grove of trees shadowed the house densely. 树丛把这幢房子遮蔽得很密实。
• We passed through miles of densely wooded country. 我们穿过好几英里茂密的林地。

3 heeded   

v.听某人的劝告，听从( heed的过去式和过去分词 )；变平，使（某物）变平( flatten的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She countered that her advice had not been heeded. 她反驳说她的建议未被重视。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I heeded my doctor's advice and stopped smoking. 我听从医生的劝告，把烟戒了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

5 slain   

杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词)

参考例句：

• The soldiers slain in the battle were burried that night. 在那天夜晚埋葬了在战斗中牺牲了的战士。
• His boy was dead, slain by the hand of the false Amulius. 他的儿子被奸诈的阿缪利乌斯杀死了。

6 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

7 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。

8 constructive   

adj.建设的，建设性的

参考例句：

• We welcome constructive criticism.我们乐意接受有建设性的批评。
• He is beginning to deal with his anger in a constructive way.他开始用建设性的方法处理自己的怒气。

9 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。