2007年VOA标准英语-Identification Process, Talks Develop in Divide

By Nico Colombant
Dakar
25 January 2007

Efforts to determine who can get nationality papers in divided Ivory Coast are slowly resuming, while talks are being prepared between the president and northern rebels. VOA's Nico Colombant reports from our regional bureau in Dakar the United Nations wants the process completed before holding national elections.

 
Civilians fill out more forms
There is little commotion¹ in Adjame, one of two test areas to resume stalled efforts to provide Ivorians with identity papers.

Kouame Affoue, a 44-year-old hairdresser, is trying to get papers for herself. She says her inscription² will be validated³.

 
Judges decide on applications
Under new terms set by the president's party, the identification process now has several steps, though, and applicants⁴ do not automatically get nationality papers.

But Affoue is quite happy and says she will come back later in the day to get the process started for her two children as well. She says they should not have to suffer as she did, living so much of her life without a nationality.

Another happy participant is Ndiaye Mocktar.

He is trying to get papers for his two adult daughters. He says he left them, years ago, seeking money in diamond mining areas in what is now the rebel-held north.

He says he felt ashamed that his own two daughters had no papers, even though he is Ivorian.

But a local official complains about the process.

He says too many steps are involved, and it is too complicated, which is why many people are staying away.

Here in Adjame, only a handful of people have showed up since operations resumed last week. A majority of these are rejected because they were not born in Adjame and need to go to their place of birth, which is sometimes impossible because they would have to travel through barricades⁵ back to the rebel-held north.

 
Many northerners want to become Ivorians
Rebels say millions of northerners, long treated as second class citizens in Ivory Coast because many were sons and daughters of immigrants, should get nationality and voting papers before they disarm⁶. They say they also want assurances a free and fair election can be held.

President Laurent Gbagbo and rebel leader Guillaume Soro have both agreed to start talks under the mediation⁷ of Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore, possibly starting next month.

Repeated peace deals for Ivory Coast have sputtered⁸ since the insurgency⁹ began in late 2002. The United Nations has sent peacekeepers, and passed resolutions which have been largely ignored, leading to the extension of Mr. Gbagbo's presidential mandate¹⁰.

1 commotion   

n.骚动，动乱

参考例句：

• They made a commotion by yelling at each other in the theatre.他们在剧院里相互争吵，引起了一阵骚乱。
• Suddenly the whole street was in commotion.突然间，整条街道变得一片混乱。

2 inscription   

n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文

参考例句：

• The inscription has worn away and can no longer be read.铭文已磨损，无法辨认了。
• He chiselled an inscription on the marble.他在大理石上刻碑文。

3 validated   

v.证实( validate的过去式和过去分词 )；确证；使生效；使有法律效力

参考例句：

• Time validated our suspicion. 时间证实了我们的怀疑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The decade of history since 1927 had richly validated their thesis. 1927年以来的十年的历史，充分证明了他们的论点。 来自辞典例句

4 applicants   

申请人，求职人( applicant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were over 500 applicants for the job. 有500多人申请这份工作。
• He was impressed by the high calibre of applicants for the job. 求职人员出色的能力给他留下了深刻印象。

5 barricades   

路障，障碍物( barricade的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The police stormed the barricades the demonstrators had put up. 警察冲破了示威者筑起的街垒。
• Others died young, in prison or on the barricades. 另一些人年轻时就死在监牢里或街垒旁。

6 disarm   

v.解除武装，回复平常的编制，缓和

参考例句：

• The world has waited 12 years for Iraq to disarm. 全世界等待伊拉克解除武装已有12年之久。
• He has rejected every peaceful opportunity offered to him to disarm.他已经拒绝了所有能和平缴械的机会。

7 mediation   

n.调解

参考例句：

• The dispute was settled by mediation of the third country. 这场争端通过第三国的斡旋而得以解决。
• The dispute was settled by mediation. 经调解使争端得以解决。

8 sputtered   

v.唾沫飞溅( sputter的过去式和过去分词 )；发劈啪声；喷出；飞溅出

参考例句：

• The candle sputtered out. 蜡烛噼啪爆响着熄灭了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The balky engine sputtered and stopped. 不听使唤的发动机劈啪作响地停了下来。 来自辞典例句

9 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

10 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。