VOA标准英语2011--Life for Residents in Opposition-Held Li

Life for Residents in Opposition¹-Held Libya Calm But Anxious

The fighting in Libya has devastated² coastal³ cities in the central part of the country, but life in parts of the rebel-controlled east has settled into some measure of uneasy calm.
It is market day at Findiq Market, Benghazi's largest vegetable market. Business is good despite fighting a few hundred kilometers away.
Raja Salem has come shopping with her husband, Ahmed. She says tensions here have eased considerably⁴ since opposition forces consolidated⁵ control of this city of 800,000 people.
She says most things are available in the market, but some things are missing. There is a shortage of fruit and the prices are higher.
Abdullah Mohamed owns a tire shop. He says almost everything is available nowadays. But with pro-Gadhafi forces attacking cities less than 200 kilometers away, security is the biggest concern.
"Just the threat, because people are afraid of any attack from... you know [pro-Gadhafi forces]," Mohamed explained.
A few weeks ago, the mood was desperate as troops loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi entered the city.
Fearing a possible massacre⁶, Western governments launched air strikes against pro-Gadhafi planes and tanks. And the opposition forces pushed the Gadhafi troops out of the city.
The fighting caused hundreds of thousands of foreign workers to flee Libya. Shop owner Majdi Abdelmonem is from Egypt. He has stayed on but, he says, everyone is afraid.
He says all foreign nationals, not just the Egyptians, were scared after Gadhafi said in a speech that the foreigners were nothing. They were not human. So we were all afraid that we would be massacred.
The estimated two million foreign workers provide a great deal of the manpower in Libya whose population totals only six million. Because of their flight, many shops and factories are now closed.
Ulrich Reuter is part owner of an engineering firm that was building a water reservoir and cell phone towers in Libya.
"For us, our business is stopped at the moment," noted⁷ Reuter. "Most of our young people are involved in the fighting and actually we cannot operate any business now."
Despite the uncertainty⁸, life goes on. The markets are stocked mostly with products from neighboring Egypt. And businessmen like Reuter plan to stay.
"We have to see now how this will come to an end," added Reuter. "And I think after this there will be a lot of work to rebuild country. You have seen the streets here, you have seen the infrastructure⁹. There is a lot of need."
He says first the new government and institutions must be established.
The interim¹⁰ council governing eastern Libya has exported its first tanker¹¹ of 100,000 barrels of crude oil.
It has announced the heads of its petroleum¹² company and central bank. And it says it is consulting with local businessmen on establishing letters of credit so they can resume importing goods.
But with the fighting still raging a few hundred kilometers away, local businessmen say it will be some time before they can re-open their shuttered enterprises and start to revive the economy and put people back to work.

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

3 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。

4 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

5 consolidated   

a.联合的

参考例句：

• With this new movie he has consolidated his position as the country's leading director. 他新执导的影片巩固了他作为全国最佳导演的地位。
• Those two banks have consolidated and formed a single large bank. 那两家银行已合并成一家大银行。

6 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

7 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。

8 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

9 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

10 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

11 tanker   

n.油轮

参考例句：

• The tanker took on 200,000 barrels of crude oil.油轮装载了二十万桶原油。
• Heavy seas had pounded the tanker into three parts.汹涌的巨浪把油轮撞成三载。

12 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。