VOA常速英语2008年-US Aid Workers Attacked, Beaten by Mob in South

By Aya Batrawy
Cairo
12 March 2008

Two U.S. aid workers, a husband and wife, were attacked and beaten by a mob of students in a predominantly Christian¹ part of southern Sudan. The reasons for the attack are still unclear, but the aid organization for which they work said the two Americans were targeted during a student protest against a local school. Aya Batrawy has more from our Middle East bureau in Cairo.

The U.S. aid workers were attacked and beaten by a mob of students in the town of Julud in southern Sudan. The students attacked the aid workers and ransacked² their office over the weekend. The U.S.-based Samaritan's Purse Ministry³, the aid workers' employer, said Sudanese students were likely protesting against rising tuition fees.

Jeremy Blume, of Samaritan's Purse, an Evangelical Christian organization, said students attacked the aid workers in an isolated⁴ incident that was not directly aimed at the organization or its work.

"We're helping⁵ out in the area with food assistance, medical programs, church rebuilding in southern Sudan," he said. "It seems the students were just reacting to some changes there at the school and reacted against our team."

Over two million people were killed and many villages destroyed during the 20-year civil war between Sudan's Muslim north and the Christian south.

The peace agreement reached in 2005 has not guaranteed an end to violence in Sudan.  Aid workers and people living in southern Sudan continue to face insecurity as they try to rebuild villages destroyed during the war

Blume said the incident, although isolated, is not the first time the evangelical group's workers in southern Sudan have come under attack.

"Our hospital there has been bombed more than seven or eight times over the past six or seven years," he said. "It's part of the danger of working in this country, but we have a passion for people, and there are a lot of things we can do to help so we're going to stay."

The aid organization said Sudanese authorities have detained a number of people in connection with the incident.

1 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

2 ransacked   

v.彻底搜查( ransack的过去式和过去分词 )；抢劫，掠夺

参考例句：

• The house had been ransacked by burglars. 这房子遭到了盗贼的洗劫。
• The house had been ransacked of all that was worth anything. 屋子里所有值钱的东西都被抢去了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

4 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

5 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。