ESL Podcast 895 – Government Reactions to Protests

 　　Tom: Have you seen the news?

　　Marianne: No, what’s happening?

　　Tom: People in McQuillanland are rising up against the dictator and rallying against his government.

　　Marianne: Wow, this is big. I thought the dictator would order a media blackout and we wouldn’t hear any news out of McQuillanland.

　　Tom: There is a media blackout, but people are using social media to tell the world what’s going on. Hundreds of thousands of protesters are clashing with police, and the government is having no success putting down the protests.

　　Marianne: Has it been violent?

　　Tom: It’s early days yet, but the government has already used tear gas and fired into the crowd. It’s hard to say how many people have been hurt.

　　Marianne: So this may be the end of tyranny in McQuillanland.

　　Tom: Don’t bet on it. The dictator has ruled with an iron fist and won’t hesitate to use any means necessary to stay in power.

　　Marianne: Well, the protesters have a fighting chance and I’m betting that they’ll topple the government and that ruthless tyrant¹!

1 tyrant   

n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人

参考例句：

• The country was ruled by a despotic tyrant.该国处在一个专制暴君的统治之下。
• The tyrant was deaf to the entreaties of the slaves.暴君听不到奴隶们的哀鸣。