VOA标准英语10月-Russians Pull Back in Georgia But Scars of War Re

Life is returning to normal in parts or northern Georgia - two months after open warfare¹ there between Georgian and Russian troops and Russian-backed separatists from the enclaves of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Russian troops pulled out of their self-declared buffer² zones in the area last week and Georgian families are moving back into their homes there. But as VOA's Sonja Pace reports from the village of Ergneti, the scars of war are still all too evident.
　

Column of Russian APCs moves along road near village of Rukhi at Inguri river, 08 Oct 2008

Until last week, few wanted to venture back into Ergneti, a small village in northeastern Georgia, caught in the midst of the war in early August and then part of a buffer zone under the control of Russian troops and their South Ossetian allies. But, the Russians have gone and Georgian families are coming back to their homes - Goderdzi Kasradze is one of them.

The men stand on the wide front porch, examining the damage: a mattress³ ripped and strewn on the floor, shattered glass, even a wooden window frame left dangling⁴. Goderdzi Kasradze looks on in dismay.

"The Russians destroyed my house and Ossetians looted it. They took everything we had," he said.

Nine family members call this home. They fled when the shooting and shelling started.

"The whole family was here when the shooting started. We evacuated⁵ the women and children. Then, I also had to flee," he explained.

They've just returned - to find this.

No room escaped damage. The children's bedroom - the living room. Kasradze's wife Lena tries a few keys on the once-prized piano. It too has been destroyed.

Whatever was left behind when the family fled was ransacked⁶ - even an old stove pipe ripped out of the ceiling to search for any hidden valuables. The family reacts with disbelief and despair.

PACE: What was your reaction when you came back here?

"I cry and that is my reaction," Kasradze responded.

The Kasradze home is just a kilometer from the dividing line with South Ossetia.

Until recently, the last checkpoint here was under Russian control, but now Georgian security forces have taken over. Across here is South Ossetia - its capital Tskhinvali less than two kilometers up the road. The soldiers say this is as far as we can go. It was events in Tskhinvali that sparked the fighting in August - when Georgian forces launched an attack to try to rein⁷ in Russian-backed separatists and regain⁸ control of the enclave. Russian forces moved in quickly, driving the Georgians back, pushing deep into Georgia and creating buffer zones around South Ossetia as well as the other breakaway region - Abkhazia in the northwest. Under a European Union-backed cease-fire accord Moscow promised to withdraw by October 10.

The Ergneti crossing is quiet - not much traffic either way - with the occasional exception. Ildizar Talibov slowly walks up the road toward the checkpoint. The soldiers quickly move to stop and query⁹ him. They let him pass.

Talibov says he regularly sold goods in the Tskhinvali market. He fell ill and was in the hospital when fighting broke out. He says he had to take shelter and could not leave until now.

"Tskhinvali is much destroyed," he said. "A friend who was in the hospital with me took me to his house. In those Georgian villages there is hardly any building left."

Thirty kilometers away - the Russians are still manning the Akhalgori checkpoint. They say they've received no orders so far to pull back any farther. A few hundred meters back is the Georgian checkpoint and on this occasion a European Union monitoring patrol has just stopped by.

"Do you know if there are any mines anywhere?" asks Fredrik Nylyn, part of an observer force sent here to monitor the cease-fire.

The Russians were to have moved back to pre-conflict positions on this day. There are differing views as to where those exact positions are and whether the Russians have fully¹⁰ complied.

"There is room for different interpretations¹¹ on both sides, actually," noted¹² Nylyn. "Yes, there will be different opinions on whether this agreement has been fulfilled from both parts or not."

The Russians have pulled out of their self-declared buffer zones, but they remain inside Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
But, back in Ergneti, Goderdzi Kasradze says there'll be no security until the Russians are really gone.

"We had fruits and flowers. It looked like people had lived here. It does not look like that now, but we hope we can change that and make it a home again," he said.

Making life normal again is what many Georgians hope, especially in these areas ravaged¹³ by fighting. Life is returning to normal, people are moving back to tend their orchards¹⁴ and farms and to rebuild. But for some, looking at their destroyed homes, it's hard to know just where to begin.

1 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

2 buffer   

n.起缓冲作用的人(或物)，缓冲器；vt.缓冲

参考例句：

• A little money can be a useful buffer in time of need.在急需时，很少一点钱就能解燃眉之急。
• Romantic love will buffer you against life's hardships.浪漫的爱会减轻生活的艰辛。

3 mattress   

n.床垫，床褥

参考例句：

• The straw mattress needs to be aired.草垫子该晾一晾了。
• The new mattress I bought sags in the middle.我买的新床垫中间陷了下去。

4 dangling   

悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口

参考例句：

• The tooth hung dangling by the bedpost, now. 结果，那颗牙就晃来晃去吊在床柱上了。
• The children sat on the high wall,their legs dangling. 孩子们坐在一堵高墙上，摇晃着他们的双腿。

5 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

6 ransacked   

v.彻底搜查( ransack的过去式和过去分词 )；抢劫，掠夺

参考例句：

• The house had been ransacked by burglars. 这房子遭到了盗贼的洗劫。
• The house had been ransacked of all that was worth anything. 屋子里所有值钱的东西都被抢去了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 rein   

n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治

参考例句：

• The horse answered to the slightest pull on the rein.只要缰绳轻轻一拉,马就作出反应。
• He never drew rein for a moment till he reached the river.他一刻不停地一直跑到河边。

8 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

9 query   

n.疑问，问号，质问；vt.询问，表示怀疑

参考例句：

• I query very much whether it is wise to act so hastily.我真怀疑如此操之过急地行动是否明智。
• They raised a query on his sincerity.他们对他是否真诚提出质疑。

10 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。

11 interpretations   

n.解释( interpretation的名词复数 )；表演；演绎；理解

参考例句：

• This passage is open to a variety of interpretations. 这篇文章可以有各种不同的解释。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The involved and abstruse passage makes several interpretations possible. 这段艰涩的文字可以作出好几种解释。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

13 ravaged   

毁坏( ravage的过去式和过去分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫

参考例句：

• a country ravaged by civil war 遭受内战重创的国家
• The whole area was ravaged by forest fires. 森林火灾使整个地区荒废了。

14 orchards   

（通常指围起来的）果园( orchard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They turned the hills into orchards and plains into granaries. 他们把山坡变成了果园，把平地变成了粮仓。
• Some of the new planted apple orchards have also begun to bear. 有些新开的苹果园也开始结苹果了。