VOA标准英语2014--Outside Kobani, Cheap Passage from Turkey

 

Outside Kobani, Cheap Passage from Turkey

As Turkish tanks patrol the long and porous¹ border with Syria, things appear secure and quiet.

Then the military vehicles depart, and two men dash onto Turkish soil from the Syrian side of a loose barbed-wire barrier.

The embattled Syrian Kurdish city of Kobani, currently besieged² by Islamic State forces, is clearly visible through an unmonitored gap in the fence.

As the footage rolls, it becomes clear why smugglers in Turkey offer comparatively cheap passage to the war-torn regions to the south.

Ankara has stepped up efforts to stem the flow of foreign fighters who want to join Islamic State militants⁴ battling for control of the Syrian border city of Kobani.

But porous borders, guarded by those who are easily bribed⁵, make illegal crossings all too easy.

The border crossing of Oncupinar, an hour's drive from the Syrian city of Aleppo, teems⁶ with people trying to cross into one of the most violent regions in the world. Many are Turkish Kurds who want to help their Syrian brethren; others are supporters trying to join the militants.

A man identified as a former smuggler³ named Mustafa said anyone could enter and leave Turkey easily. He said it costs no more than 50 Turkish liras, equivalent to about $20, to illegally enter Syria.

The "smuggling⁷ process here is semi-open on the border," he said, estimating at least 25 smugglers operate along it.

Mustafa spoke⁸ to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity⁹, fearing arrest or retribution from criminals and militants. He said most of the people who want to cross are Turks or Syrians, but there are also foreigners.

"I saw three foreigners in September who spoke English with an American accent," he said. "They told me that they wanted to go to the region that is controlled by Islamic State group. I told them to go 15 kilometers farther to the refugee camp in Kilis and cross from there. They said they would give me money if I took them there, but they did not show up at the appointed time."

Other smugglers confirmed Mustafa's account of an Islamic State crossing point close to a refugee camp in Kilis, with another farther east near the Syrian city of Jarablus.

The Turkish government has stepped up border security to curb¹⁰, if not eliminate, illegal crossings, officials in Ankara said.

"The measures that have been enacted¹¹ right now would probably decrease all these activities," said Cemalettin Hasami, an adviser¹² to the Turkish prime minister. "Bringing it to zero level — that's almost impossible — but ... measures have been taken and we believe they have been quite effective."

Smugglers say a crackdown by authorities over the last year has made their work more dangerous, but the border remains¹³ porous because of their knowledge of its vulnerabilities and complicity among some guards.

1 porous   

adj.可渗透的，多孔的

参考例句：

• He added sand to the soil to make it more porous.他往土里掺沙子以提高渗水性能。
• The shell has to be slightly porous to enable oxygen to pass in.外壳不得不有些细小的孔以便能使氧气通过。

2 besieged   

包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Paris was besieged for four months and forced to surrender. 巴黎被围困了四个月后被迫投降。
• The community besieged the newspaper with letters about its recent editorial. 公众纷纷来信对报社新近发表的社论提出诘问，弄得报社应接不暇。

3 smuggler   

n.走私者

参考例句：

• The smuggler is in prison tonight, awaiting extradition to Britain. 这名走私犯今晚在监狱，等待引渡到英国。
• The smuggler was finally obliged to inform against his boss. 那个走私犯最后不得不告发他的首领。

4 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

5 bribed   

v.贿赂( bribe的过去式和过去分词 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂

参考例句：

• They bribed him with costly presents. 他们用贵重的礼物贿赂他。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He bribed himself onto the committee. 他暗通关节，钻营投机挤进了委员会。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 teems   

v.充满( teem的第三人称单数 )；到处都是；（指水、雨等）暴降；倾注

参考例句：

• The swamp teems with mosquitoes. 这片沼泽地蚊子多极了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• That book teems with blunders. 那本书错误不少。 来自辞典例句

7 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

8 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。

9 anonymity   

n.the condition of being anonymous

参考例句：

• Names of people in the book were changed to preserve anonymity. 为了姓名保密，书中的人用的都是化名。
• Our company promises to preserve the anonymity of all its clients. 我们公司承诺不公开客户的姓名。

10 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

11 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

12 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

13 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。