voa标准英语2008年-Troops Deployed to Stop Fighting in Central Nig

Government troops have been called in to deal with spreading religious violence in the central Nigerian Plateau state. Dozens are feared dead and several houses have been destroyed. Residents are appealing for help as the government imposed a nighttime curfew on the central Nigerian city of Jos. For VOA, Gilbert da Costa reports from Abuja.

Residents of Tudun Wada, on the outskirt of Jos, the capital of Plateau state, said it had been a bloody¹ day as gunfire and explosions rattled² around the region.

A Muslim resident of Tudun Wada, Abdullahi Mohammed, said the minority Muslim community is under siege and appealed for urgent help.

"We don't know what will happen in Tudun Wada," he said. "The whole area will be ablaze³. We don't have anything to defend ourselves. We don't have anything to eat. As I'm speaking to you, they just killed my younger brother. They shot him dead. We need government to pull out our children and women out of the area so that whatever will happen let it happen. The situation is terribly bad. Please we need a helping⁴ hand."

The violence was reportedly triggered by a disputed vote for a new local government chairman in Jos North, the commercial center of Plateau state and a key political constituency.

Nigeria, Africa's most populous⁵ nation with 140 million people, is roughly equally divided between Muslims and Christians⁶, who generally live peacefully side by side.
　

Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo (file)

But hostility⁷ has simmered in the past in Plateau state.

Hundreds were killed in ethnic-religious street fighting in Jos in 2001. Three years later, hundreds more died in clashes in the town of Yelwa, leading then-President Olusegun Obasanjo to declare a state of emergency and impose a curfew.

1 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

2 rattled   

慌乱的，恼火的

参考例句：

• The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
• Every time a bus went past, the windows rattled. 每逢公共汽车经过这里，窗户都格格作响。

3 ablaze   

adj.着火的，燃烧的；闪耀的，灯火辉煌的

参考例句：

• The main street was ablaze with lights in the evening.晚上，那条主要街道灯火辉煌。
• Forests are sometimes set ablaze by lightning.森林有时因雷击而起火。

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 populous   

adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的

参考例句：

• London is the most populous area of Britain.伦敦是英国人口最稠密的地区。
• China is the most populous developing country in the world.中国是世界上人口最多的发展中国家。

6 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。

7 hostility   

n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争

参考例句：

• There is open hostility between the two leaders.两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。
• His hostility to your plan is well known.他对你的计划所持的敌意是众所周知的。