胡姆斯是距离首都大马士革以北160公里的叙利亚第三大城市，当你驾车通过主要检查关卡并开进其市中心时，会轻易相信这里很平静。

As YOU drive past the main checkpoint and on into the centre of Homs, Syria's third-largest city, about 160km (100 miles) north of the capital, Damascus, it is easy to be lulled into a sense of calm.

youdao