VOA标准英语2012--Syrian Smugglers' Operations Booming in Jordan

 

Syrian Smugglers' Operations Booming² in Jordan

Overlooking³ Syria's southern border from Jordan, Ahmed Al-Masri is making plans to cross it. He leads a group of Syrian smugglers who risk everything on a daily basis to bring supplies into the country. From an undisclosed safe house on the Jordanian side of the border, Ahmed explains why they take the risk.

"Everybody inside Syria needs everything from outside. They need food. They need medication. They need some communication machine like a satellite phone," he said.

Clothing, food, medicine needed

This storage facility is filled with donated clothing. Some will be sent across the border to Deraa, just a few kilometers away.

In another safe house, rooms are full of medical supplies. This doctor, who chose not to show his face, fled from Syria two months ago. Now he works with smugglers to supply doctors inside the country with life-saving tools and medicines.

"So in this, three small packages, we put in one big package, and we smuggle¹ it through the border," he said.

The group supplies three field hospitals inside Deraa and a few others elsewhere in Syria. They send items ranging from gloves and bandages to tools for surgery.

"Everything for three small surgeries and about 20 patients is found in this package, and it is not heavy, and it's easy to carry," said the doctor.

High stakes, dangerous conditions

In one of the safe houses, Ahmed's boss, who asked to remain anonymous⁴, is arranging to smuggle more supplies north, and people south. If they are caught in Syria, he said, they will be arrested and maybe killed immediately.

In the few kilometers from the Jordanian border, they face snipers and land mines placed by Syrian forces.

"We have so many friends killed in his job, and so many arrested - maybe 35 or 36 now," said Ahmed.

Ahmed was in Deraa when recent uprisings took place. His activism got him arrested, and his family has been threatened, but he continues the work.

"If I were scared, and my friends were scared, nobody would do this thing. We must do it," he said. 

1 smuggle   

vt.私运；vi.走私

参考例句：

• Friends managed to smuggle him secretly out of the country.朋友们想方设法将他秘密送出国了。
• She has managed to smuggle out the antiques without getting caught.她成功将古董走私出境，没有被逮捕。

2 booming   

adj.急速发展的v.激增( boom的现在分词 )；猛涨；发出隆隆声；以低沉有力的声音说话

参考例句：

• The opera singer has a deep, booming, masculine voice. 这位歌剧演唱家有一副深沉而又浑厚有力的嗓音。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He is booming as a teacher. 作为一位教师，他日趋成功。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 overlooking   

v.忽视( overlook的现在分词 )；监督；俯视；（对不良现象等）不予理会

参考例句：

• The house is in an elevated position, overlooking the town. 这栋房子地势较高，可以俯瞰全城。
• The house sits high on a hill overlooking a lake. 房子高高地坐落在可以俯瞰湖水的小山上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。