常春藤生活英语【119】Hometown Baghdad 我的家在巴格达

Hometown Baghdad 我的家在巴格达

This month, National Geographic Channel's "Hometown Baghdad" shows rarely seen images of the homes and lives of regular people in Iraq. This two-part documentary series is about three college students who were living in a war zone. In the summer of 2006, NGC interviewed these students. They talked about their daily struggles to stay alive in a place where "there is nothing fair..." and "innocent people die every day."

Adel, Ausama, and Saif were attending schools in Baghdad, Iraq, when the documentary was made. At the time, Adel was in engineering school. He shared with NGC the dangers of simply going to class because students were being killed just for being students. He also took a big risk to share the truth about his home country when he carried a hidden camera around his neighborhood. Adel knew that if he was caught, he would be killed. However, this did not hold him back, nor did it stop him from informing US troops of who had weapons and who was doing the killings. Despite the hardships, Adel still wants to help rebuild his country when peace returns.

本月份，国家地理频道的《我的家在巴格达》将呈现难得一见的伊拉克平民百姓的家庭和生活景象。这个分为两集的纪录片是关于住在战区的三名大学生。国家地理频道在2006年夏天访问了这些学生。他们谈及身在一个『没有什么是公平的……』且『天天都有无辜的人们死去』的地方，每日挣扎求生的奋斗历程。

在记录片拍摄之时，阿德尔，奥萨玛，以及扎伊尔夫在伊拉克的巴格达就学。阿德尔当时于工学院就读。他和国家地理频道谈到光是去上课就会遭到危险，因为学生仅因身为学生之故就被杀害。他也冒险带着隐藏式摄影机拍摄他的住家周围，以告诉世人他祖国的真实面貌。阿德尔知道要是他被逮到，就会惹来杀身之祸。不过这并没有使他却步，更没有阻碍他通知美军是谁握有武器和谁在屠杀生灵。尽管困难重重，阿德尔仍希望待和平重返之时能帮助重建他的国家。

Building Your Vocabulary

1. interview　vt. 采访
Reporters competed to interview the mayor.
记者们争相采访市长。
2. struggle　n. 挣扎；奋斗
This movie is about a man's struggle to become a successful businessman.
这部电影是关于一名男子成为成功企业家的奋斗故事。
3. innocent　a. 无辜的
No one should mistreat innocent kids.
没有人该虐待无辜的孩子。
4. despite　prep. 尽管，任凭
Rita bought the ring despite the high price.
尽管价格高昂，莉塔还是买下了这枚戒指。
5. hardship　n. 艰苦，贫困
Ted overcame the hardships on his own.
泰德独力克服了千辛万苦。

Phrases for Learning

1. at the time　　当时
At the time, no one thought Ben was lying.
当时没有人认为阿班在说谎。
2. hold + 人 + back　　阻碍某人
Sal's illness held him back at school.
沙尔的病阻碍了他的学业发展。
3. inform + 人 + of/about...　　通知某人……
Lucy was informed of her test scores.
露西收到了考试成绩的通知。

Extra Words

1. documentary　n. 纪录片（本文中亦作形容词用）
2. zone　n. 地区，地带
3. engineering　n. 工程设计（本文中作形容词用）
4. neighborhood　n. 街坊，小区
5. killing　n. 杀戮；谋杀

Tips In Use

...who was doing the killings.
（……谁在屠杀生灵。）
do + the/some/a lot of + 动名词　　从事……活动
注意:
上述用法中的动名词并非任何动词均可适用，而只限于表工作或活动方面，且具有可分配或替代性质的动词，如 shop, clean 等表工作的动词及 dance, sing 等表活动的动词；至于 eat, sleep 等动词既非工作，亦非他人可以代替我们进行的活动，故不可用于本词组中。另外，此处的 the, some, a lot of 均不可省略，亦即不可直接写出"do + 动名词"之用法。
Anna will do some cleaning tonight.
（安娜今晚会做些打扫工作。）

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