CNN 2011-02-10

The Cairo airport is a sea of humanity and confusion as people struggle to get out of the country. CNN's Arwa Damon is there. Arwa, describe what's happening right now.

Well, Isha, both at the arrival and departure lounges you have people who have basically been bracing¹ themselves for the night ahead. Trying to sleep on the floor. A few with sleeping bags curling up inside. Very difficult situation especially because things like food and water at the airport itself are really running down to very, very low stocks if any at all. We were struggling to find some ourselves. We spoke² with a number of people who are stuck there, an elderly couple from the United States who were saying they had been on a weeklong vacation in Egypt. Clearly had a lovely time. They were then at the airport trying to catch a connecting flight to their next destination only to be stuck there for two days in a row. Bearing in mind, though, that the majority of these passengers stuck at the airport not necessarily because of a delay in flights, although that is taking place, but also because of the fact that there is this curfew going on. We saw large tour operators, groups that were there, many of them saying that their tour guides were telling them that it just simply was not safe to leave the airport and go outside. We also spoke with a group of British artists. They had come over to be part of a high-profile VIP celebrity³. They were coming over with a party organizer. They were a group of musicians, artists. They was a magician amongst them. They were saying that the magician was putting on tricks at the airport trying to entertain others. But they also not knowing what they were doing, where they were going next. A lot of confusion, Isha, at this stage.

Arwa, we've been telling our viewers about the state of anxiety there in Cairo, in many neighborhoods. Tell me, is there a feeling of safety at least at the airport?

There is to a certain degree. You know, the conflict and the violence itself has not yet reached the airport. But there is fear of really just stepping outside beyond the doors of the airport. Transportation, for example, very tricky⁴ especially because of the curfew that is taking place overnight. To give you an idea, we were trying to leave the airport. We managed to find a young man who was willing to drive us to a nearby hotel. He was so frightened and so anxious, he took a wrong turn. We ended up at an army checkpoint where the troops that were there made us get out of the vehicle. They searched everything. They went through our belongings⁵, our IDs. They're also very tense. We just received reports that they had -- that other forces had managed to detain two Egyptian individuals who had a vehicle filled with weapons appearing to be preparing some sort of ambush⁶. When we finally arrived at the hotel, a fairly steady stream of people who had somehow managed to make it outside of the airport at least to find a more comfortable place to sleep. But it really gives you an idea of just how tense this city is. People don't know what is going to be happening in the morning. They don't know what is going to be happening next.

1 bracing   

adj.令人振奋的

参考例句：

• The country is bracing itself for the threatened enemy invasion. 这个国家正准备奋起抵抗敌人的入侵威胁。
• The atmosphere in the new government was bracing. 新政府的气氛是令人振奋的。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

4 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

5 belongings   

n.私人物品，私人财物

参考例句：

• I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
• Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。

6 ambush   

n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击

参考例句：

• Our soldiers lay in ambush in the jungle for the enemy.我方战士埋伏在丛林中等待敌人。
• Four men led by a sergeant lay in ambush at the crossroads.由一名中士率领的四名士兵埋伏在十字路口。