2006年VOA标准英语-Britain to Appeal Verdict on Afghan Hijack

By Michael Drudge¹
London
11 May 2006

The British government has confirmed it will fight to overturn a judge's ruling that a group of Afghan hijackers be granted residency rights.

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British Home Secretary John Reid has announced the decision to appeal the high court judgment² in favor of nine Afghan men who hijacked³ a plane to Britain in 2000.

"When decisions are taken which appear inexplicable⁴ or bizarre to the general public, it only reinforces the perception that the system is not working to protect, or in favor of, the vast majority of ordinary, decent, hardworking citizens in this country," said Reid. "That is a perception that should worry all of us and it is a perception that all of us should be working to put right."

Tony Blair   
  
Reid spoke⁵ after Prime Minister Tony Blair denounced the court's ruling as "an abuse of common sense." The government wants to deport⁶ the hijackers back to Afghanistan.

The high court ruled on Wednesday that the Afghans should be allowed to work in Britain and apply for government benefits under a status called "discretionary leave." The high court justice, Jeremy Sullivan, said the government should have obeyed a ruling by immigration authorities in 2004 to grant refugee status to the Afghans.

The hijackers landed at London's Stansted Airport in 2000 after commandeering an Ariana Airlines domestic flight that had taken off from Kabul.

The hijackers asked for asylum⁷, saying they had fled repression⁸ from the Taleban regime in Afghanistan, but Britain arrested them and put them on trial. Their convictions were overturned in 2004.

1 drudge   

n.劳碌的人；v.做苦工，操劳

参考例句：

• I feel like a real drudge--I've done nothing but clean all day!我觉得自己像个做苦工的--整天都在做清洁工作！
• I'm a poor,miserable,forlorn drudge;I shall only drag you down with me.我是一个贫穷，倒运，走投无路的苦力，只会拖累你。

2 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

3 hijacked   

劫持( hijack的过去式和过去分词 )； 绑架； 拦路抢劫； 操纵（会议等，以推销自己的意图）

参考例句：

• The plane was hijacked by two armed men on a flight from London to Rome. 飞机在从伦敦飞往罗马途中遭到两名持械男子劫持。
• The plane was hijacked soon after it took off. 那架飞机起飞后不久被劫持了。

4 inexplicable   

adj.无法解释的，难理解的

参考例句：

• It is now inexplicable how that development was misinterpreted.当时对这一事态发展的错误理解究竟是怎么产生的，现在已经无法说清楚了。
• There are many things which are inexplicable by science.有很多事科学还无法解释。

5 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。

6 deport   

vt.驱逐出境

参考例句：

• We deport aliens who slip across our borders.我们把偷渡入境的外国人驱逐出境。
• More than 240 England football fans are being deported from Italy following riots last night.昨晚的骚乱发生后有240多名英格兰球迷被驱逐出意大利。

7 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

8 repression   

n.镇压，抑制，抑压

参考例句：

• The repression of your true feelings is harmful to your health.压抑你的真实感情有害健康。
• This touched off a new storm against violent repression.这引起了反对暴力镇压的新风暴。