2007年VOA标准英语-Israeli School Year to Begin Under Palestinian

By Robert Berger
Jerusalem
23 August 2007

Israeli border communities are facing the new school year under the threat of Palestinian rockets. As Robert Berger reports from VOA's Jerusalem bureau, residents are accusing the Israeli government of failing to protect them.

Parents in the Israeli border town of Sderot say five out of nine schools have not been fortified¹, even though Palestinian rockets fired from the nearby Gaza Strip land there nearly every day. Furious parents say they plan to strike and keep their children home when the school year begins in 10 days.

Alon Schuster, who heads the Gates of the Negev Regional Council in southern Israel, told Israel Radio that the government has not kept its promises to fortify² the schools in Sderot and collective farms known as kibbutzim and moshavim.

"And we will fight together, the people of Sderot and the kibbutzim and moshavim, in order to get the basic protection that each citizen of Israel deserves," said Schuster.

While some fortifications have been built in Sderot, residents say kibbutz schools have been totally neglected.

"We have two schools with about 800 students as well and we don't have any sheltering at all," says Uri Na'amati, who heads the Eshkol Regional Council..

Since Israel pulled all soldiers and settlers out of Gaza two years ago, the army says Palestinian militants³ have fired some 3,000 homemade Kassam rockets across the border. Angry residents have demanded harsh retaliation⁴, but they have not been encouraged by the government's response.

"I think everyone understands that there's not a magical military answer to the Kassam question," said Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev.  "I mean if it was an easy issue to solve militarily we would have done it already."

As a result, many frustrated⁵ parents are sending their children to schools outside of the range of Palestinian rockets.

1 fortified   

adj. 加强的

参考例句：

• He fortified himself against the cold with a hot drink. 他喝了一杯热饮御寒。
• The enemy drew back into a few fortified points. 敌人收缩到几个据点里。

2 fortify   

v.强化防御，为…设防；加强，强化

参考例句：

• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。
• This treaty forbade the United States to fortify the canal.此条约禁止美国对运河设防。

3 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。

4 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》

5 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》