美国国家公共电台 NPR--How are Syrians finding shelter in an earthquake zone that's also a war zone?

How are Syrians finding shelter in an earthquake zone that's also a war zone?

Transcript¹

A visit to northwestern Syria — where a rebel-held area has been needing for help for years — shows residents struggling to survive after the massive earthquake last week.

ASMA KHALID, HOST:

We now visit a war zone that's also an earthquake zone.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

We're going to hear from people from northern Syria, where many buildings toppled last week. In that region, many buildings were already down after more than a decade of civil war. The earthquake has now killed more than 2,000 people and left tens of thousands homeless, including many children.

KHALID: Our colleague Ruth Sherlock has covered the unnatural² disaster of Syria's civil war for years. Now she's covering Syria's natural disaster and visits a place where people are finding shelter.

RUTH SHERLOCK, BYLINE³: So we're in a gym. It's a basketball pitch, actually, with some chairs around the edges. And around those chairs, people have set up these makeshift tents made out of blankets. And somebody's used a table-tennis table and strung up a string to a hook in the wall and strung up a blanket on it to try to create some privacy.

SHADIA AFRA: (Speaking Arabic).

SHERLOCK: Shadia Afra has four children, twin boys, who are 2, and two little girls. They're 6 and 8. The twins stand beside her as, through an interpreter, she tells me about the night of the earthquake.

AFRA: (Through interpreter) The amount of terror and fright - and they saying were it was judgment⁴ day. Like, I can't even describe to you in words what they felt. There are some people the blankets, some people on these many little mattresses⁵, some people on chairs.

SHERLOCK: There are no bathrooms. To wash, they knock on the doors of strangers' homes. And they're also dealing⁶ with the deaths of relatives and friends, something they've had to cope with for years in a country that's still in a state of civil war.

AFRA: (Through interpreter) Outside of here, they've been in funerals ever since the earthquake.

SHERLOCK: What stories is she telling her kids? What tricks is she using to try to make this normal somehow for them?

AFRA: (Through interpreter) Yeah. In Syria - wherever you are in Syria, the small kids - they get way older way too quick from the realities that they...

SHERLOCK: Yes.

AFRA: ... (Through interpreter) Witness every single day. And there's nothing that they haven't seen yet.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: (Speaking Arabic).

SHERLOCK: We leave the gym-turned-shelter and drive a few minutes down the road.

(SOUNDBITE OF VEHICLE DOORS CLOSING)

SHERLOCK: OK. We've arrived at the hospital in Afrin.

Inside, a photographer tries to show me pictures of eight dead children. Their bodies are lying unclaimed in the hospital morgue.

UNIDENTIFIED PHOTOGRAPHER: (Speaking Arabic).

SHERLOCK: He says he'll put the photos in the local police station in case anyone's looking for them.

UNIDENTIFIED DOCTOR: (Through interpreter) Right now we're trying to just stabilize⁷ her, treat her. Hopefully she'll be OK.

SHERLOCK: A small little with curly brown hair lying in bed - somebody's blown up a surgical⁸ glove, and she's holding it as if she was holding somebody's hand. It's heartbreaking.

Nour is 3. She has cuts all over her face and is missing her right leg.

UNIDENTIFIED DOCTOR: (Through interpreter) So she was under the rubble⁹ after the earthquake. They had to amputate her leg while she's there.

(Speaking Arabic).

UNIDENTITIED PERSON: (Speaking Arabic).

UNIDENTIFIED DOCTOR: (Speaking Arabic).

SHERLOCK: Nour's father is the only other survivor¹⁰ in her immediate¹¹ family. Doctors say he visits, but he hasn't yet built up the courage to tell her that her mom is gone.

(SOUNDBITE OF FOOTSTEPS)

SHERLOCK: In another room, we meet Mohammed. He's 8, and his left arm and leg are in casts. There's a plastic toy car next to him. His great-aunt, Yasmine Marjian, sits beside him.

YASMINE MARJIAN: (Speaking Arabic).

UNIDENTIFIED INTERPRETER: (Speaking Arabic).

MARJIAN: (Speaking Arabic).

UNIDENTIFIED INTERPRETER: (Speaking Arabic).

They stayed for three days till they could, like, take them out of the rubble.

SHERLOCK: Who's they? Him and...

UNIDENTIFIED INTERPRETER: The parent - the father and the mother of the kid.

SHERLOCK: Are they alive, his parents?

UNIDENTIFIED INTERPRETER: No, they all passed away.

SHERLOCK: He's got a sister as well?

UNIDENTIFIED INTERPRETER: Yeah. All of them died. He used to have sisters.

SHERLOCK: Marjian is his closest surviving relative now. She says she'll take care of him, but she's not sure how, because her home is also destroyed.

Ruth Sherlock, NPR News, Afrin.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 unnatural   

adj.不自然的；反常的

参考例句：

• Did her behaviour seem unnatural in any way?她有任何反常表现吗？
• She has an unnatural smile on her face.她脸上挂着做作的微笑。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

5 mattresses   

褥垫，床垫( mattress的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The straw mattresses are airing there. 草垫子正在那里晾着。
• The researchers tested more than 20 mattresses of various materials. 研究人员试验了二十多个不同材料的床垫。

6 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

7 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

8 surgical   

adj.外科的，外科医生的，手术上的

参考例句：

• He performs the surgical operations at the Red Cross Hospital.他在红十字会医院做外科手术。
• All surgical instruments must be sterilised before use.所有的外科手术器械在使用之前，必须消毒。

9 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

10 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

11 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。