纽约时报 斯里兰卡发生连环自杀式爆炸案(1)

Bomb Attacks Rock Sri Lanka

斯里兰卡发生连环自杀式爆炸案

The clock hands on the steeple of St. Anthony’s Shrine¹ were stuck at 8:45 a.m.,

圣安东尼教堂尖顶上的时钟指针停在了上午8点45分的位置，

the exact moment when the first suicide bomber’s explosion ripped through the wooden pews as Easter Sunday worshipers were praying.

也就是在那一刻，第一起自杀式炸弹袭击炸穿了教堂里的木头长椅，当时，礼拜人群正在参加复活节礼拜。

Minutes later, a second suicide blast shattered the Sunday brunch² tranquillity³ at the Shangri-La Hotel’s Table One Restaurant, a favorite of foreign tourists.

几分钟后，第二起自杀式爆炸又打破了深受外国游客喜爱的香格里拉酒店一号餐厅周日早午餐的宁静时光。

Within a few hours on Sunday,

短短几个小时之内，

suicide bombings hit three Catholic churches and three upscale hotels in the Indian Ocean island nation of Sri Lanka,

斯里兰卡这个印度洋岛国就有三座天主教堂和三家高档酒店遇袭，

still recovering from a quarter-century civil war in which the suicide bomb was pioneered.

而这种袭击方式首创于那场持续了四分之一个世纪，直到现在他们都没能从中恢复过来的内战。

The death toll⁴ in the attacks rose to 290, with about 500 people wounded, a police spokesman, Ruwan Gunasekera, said,

据警方发言人鲁万·古纳塞克拉透露，袭击造成的死亡人数已上升至290人，另有近500人受伤，

although he would not give a breakdown⁵ of where the fatalities⁶ occurred.

不过他不愿透露具体的事故地点。

The finance minister, Mangala Samaraweera, called the attacks “a well-coordinated attempt to create murder, mayhem and anarchy⁷.”

财政部长曼加拉·萨马拉维拉称这些袭击是“一起精心策划的谋杀、破坏和制造混乱的活动”。

By day’s end, the police said at least 13 people had been arrested

截至当天傍晚，警方表示，至少有13人

in connection with the attacks in the capital, Colombo, and the cities of Negombo and Batticaloa.

因涉嫌在首都科伦坡以及尼贡博和巴蒂卡洛亚两座城市发动袭击被捕。

Seven of them were seized at a hide-out after one suspect blew himself up, killing⁸ three officers.

其中有7人是继一名嫌疑人引爆身上的炸弹，炸死了3名警察后，在一个藏身处被抓获的。

There was no immediate⁹ claim of responsibility.

目前还没有人承认对此事负有直接责任。

The police said they believed the bombings were the work of one group but declined to identify it.

警方表示，他们认为此次连环爆炸案是某个组织所为，但拒绝透露其具体身份。

At least 36 of the victims were believed to be foreigners, including several Americans.

据说，至少有36名遇难者是外国人，其中还包括几名美国人。

For years, as Sri Lanka has climbed away from war, it has been building a robust¹⁰ tourism industry.

多年来，已经逐步摆脱战争阴影的斯里兰卡一直在努力强大其旅游业。

The bombings were the deadliest attack on Christians¹¹ in South Asia in recent memory

这次的连环爆炸事件是近年来发生在南亚地区的针对基督徒的袭击中最致命的一次，

and punctuated¹² a rising trend of religious-based violence in the region.

凸显了该地区宗教暴力活动正在不断上升的趋势。

The St. Anthony’s Shrine blast left a scene of broken bodies, billowing black smoke and splintered wood.

圣安东尼教堂爆炸案留下的是一幅满目是残缺的尸体，滚滚的黑烟和破碎的木头的景象。

“It was a river of blood,” said N. A. Sumanapala, a shopkeeper near the church who said he had run inside to help.

“血都流成河了，”教堂附近的一位店主，称自己曾冲进教堂救人的N.A.苏马纳帕拉说道。

“Ash was falling like snow,” he said. “I saw limbs and heads. There were children, too.”

“烧焦的灰烬像雪一样飘落下来，”他说。“我看到了被炸飞的胳膊，腿还有头。里面还有孩子。”

The shock of the bombings and the anger they generated

在某高级警官10天前就警告安全官员，

was compounded by news that a top police official had alerted security officials 10 days earlier

伊斯兰极端组织“全国伊斯兰祈祷者”已经对教堂构成威胁这一消息传出后，

about a threat to churches from a radical¹³ Islamist group, National Thowheeth Jama’ath.

爆炸案带来的民众的震惊和愤怒情绪变得更加强烈。

It was unclear what precautions, if any, had been taken,

目前尚不清楚他们采取了怎样的预防措施(如果真有采取的话)，

or whether that group had played any role in the assaults.

也不清楚该组织是否真的参与到了袭击之中。

Sri Lanka’s prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, pointedly¹⁴ said he and other ministers had not been warned,

斯里兰卡总理拉尼尔·维克勒马辛哈明确表示，他和其他部长都没有收到警告信息，

in what appeared to be a sign of the recent frictions¹⁵ within the government hierarchy¹⁶.

这似乎也是斯里兰卡政府领导层最近在发生摩擦的一个迹象。

“We must look into why adequate precautions were not taken,” he said at a news conference.

“我们必须调查清楚有关方没有采取足够的预防措施的原因，”他在新闻发布会上说。

For now, he said, “the priority is to apprehend¹⁷ the attackers.”

他还说，但目前的“首要任务是缉拿那些袭击者。”

1 shrine   

n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣

参考例句：

• The shrine was an object of pilgrimage.这处圣地是人们朝圣的目的地。
• They bowed down before the shrine.他们在神龛前鞠躬示敬。

2 brunch   

n.早午餐

参考例句：

• They eat much the same thing for brunch every day.每天早午餐他们总是吃同样的东西。
• What did you have for your brunch?你早午饭都吃些什么？

3 tranquillity   

n. 平静, 安静

参考例句：

• The phenomenon was so striking and disturbing that his philosophical tranquillity vanished. 这个令人惶惑不安的现象，扰乱了他的旷达宁静的心境。
• My value for domestic tranquillity should much exceed theirs. 我应该远比他们重视家庭的平静生活。

4 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

5 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

6 fatalities   

n.恶性事故( fatality的名词复数 )；死亡；致命性；命运

参考例句：

• Several people were injured, but there were no fatalities. 有几个人受伤，但没有人死亡。
• The accident resulted in fatalities. 那宗意外道致多人死亡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 anarchy   

n.无政府状态；社会秩序混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• There would be anarchy if we had no police.要是没有警察，社会就会无法无天。
• The country was thrown into a state of anarchy.这国家那时一下子陷入无政府状态。

8 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

9 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

10 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

11 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

12 punctuated   

v.（在文字中）加标点符号，加标点( punctuate的过去式和过去分词 )；不时打断某事物

参考例句：

• Her speech was punctuated by bursts of applause. 她的讲演不时被阵阵掌声打断。
• The audience punctuated his speech by outbursts of applause. 听众不时以阵阵掌声打断他的讲话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

14 pointedly   

adv.尖地，明显地

参考例句：

• She yawned and looked pointedly at her watch. 她打了个哈欠，又刻意地看了看手表。
• The demand for an apology was pointedly refused. 让对方道歉的要求遭到了断然拒绝。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 frictions   

n.摩擦( friction的名词复数 )；摩擦力；冲突；不和

参考例句：

• Family frictions can interfere with a child's schoolwork. 家庭中的争吵会影响孩子的学业。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• As far as we are concerned, these frictions are not of our own making [have been imposed on us]. 就我们来说，这种摩擦是被动式的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

16 hierarchy   

n.等级制度；统治集团，领导层

参考例句：

• There is a rigid hierarchy of power in that country.那个国家有一套严密的权力等级制度。
• She's high up in the management hierarchy.她在管理阶层中地位很高。

17 apprehend   

vt.理解，领悟，逮捕，拘捕，忧虑

参考例句：

• I apprehend no worsening of the situation.我不担心局势会恶化。
• Police have not apprehended her killer.警察还未抓获谋杀她的凶手。