VOA标准英语2011--Chernobyl Evacuees Re-Visit Former Home

Chernobyl Evacuees¹ Re-Visit Former Home

In Ukraine they call them ‘Chernobylites'. People affected² by the accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in then-Soviet Ukraine. Residents evacuated³ after the April 26, 1986 disaster lost their homes as well as their health. And the workers sent in to clean up also developed health problems.
Now that access to the Chernobyl Exclusion⁴ Zone has become possible, some evacuees are returning to visit their abandoned neighborhoods for the first time since those tragic⁵ events of 25 years ago.
Twenty-five-year-old Ivanna was just 6 months old when Reactor⁶ Number Four exploded at Chernobyl, and Pripyat - founded in 1970 to house workers for the plant - was evacuated. Over the years, she heard many stories from her parents about the city where she was born.
"I wanted to go there," she said. "I was drawn⁷ to that place. I would ask my mother - ‘Mama, when can we finally go?'"
At the time of the Chernobyl disaster, Ivanna's older brother Yevhen was seven years old. "My childhood was very happy there, in Pripyat. Then came the constant moves, visits to clinics," he said.
The Makarevych family now lives on the outskirts⁸ of the capital. Kyiv.? But mother Nadiya, who worked as a medical assistant in Pripyat ,and father Vasyl, who made cement blocks at the plant, still cannot forget the town where they were so happy.
It was paradise on earth. We had a river nearby, woods nearby, multitudes of children all around, all young. There were many flowers. It was so beautiful," she said.
This former paradise is now known as the Exclusion Zone. Scattered⁹ throughout the area, the family finds checkpoints, barbed wire and stations that measure radiation levels.
To get to their apartment, the Makarevych family needs a special pass. They will also need to overcome quite a few physical obstacles.
The family finally arrives at the apartment. The door easily gives in and memories come flooding back. "This is the frame of my crib. My father made it himself, by hand," she said.
Coming Home to Chernobyl's Desolation Zone, photo gallery by VOA's Diana Markosian
The morning of the accident, Ivanna's crib stood below an open window. No one knew of the explosion or the radiation leak, and no one said anything. That morning Nadiya had sent her son off to school and was set to wash the windows and paint the balcony in preparation for May Day celebrations.
Having visited their own apartment, the family goes next door. After the evacuation, they lost contact with their neighbors, so they scratch their telephone number in Kyiv on the wall - just in case.
Ivanna searches for her birth records in Pripyat's Maternity¹⁰ Ward¹¹ without success.. But her brother Yevhen finds his teacher's grade book in the building where he went to school.
"Here I am, here I am ! Makarevych: 3, 3, 3, 5," he said.
Even the date of the accident April 26, 1986 has been entered: Makarevych, Yevhen - present.
At the end of the day, these Pripyat evacuees stand alone among the abandoned buildings of a ghost town. They came here with the intention of leaving behind their fears. But it appears they only re-opened old wounds that have held them captive for a quarter of a century.

1 evacuees   

n.被疏散者( evacuee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Moreover, for multi-exits, evacuees select a exit based on game theory. 在有多个出口时，疏散人员根据对策论选择出口。 来自互联网
• Evacuees wade through flooded area following heavy monsoon rains in Peshawar on Saturday, July 31, 2010. 撤离灾区涉水通过后在白沙瓦沉重的季风降雨在周六，2010年7月31日。 来自互联网

2 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

3 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。

4 exclusion   

n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行

参考例句：

• Don't revise a few topics to the exclusion of all others.不要修改少数论题以致排除所有其他的。
• He plays golf to the exclusion of all other sports.他专打高尔夫球，其他运动一概不参加。

5 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

6 reactor   

n.反应器；反应堆

参考例句：

• The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules.在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

7 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

8 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

9 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

10 maternity   

n.母性，母道，妇产科病房；adj.孕妇的，母性的

参考例句：

• Women workers are entitled to maternity leave with full pay.女工产假期间工资照发。
• Trainee nurses have to work for some weeks in maternity.受训的护士必须在产科病房工作数周。

11 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。