VOA标准英语2009年-Suicide Truck Bomb Kills 23 in Northern Ir

Iraqi officials say a truck bomb has killed at least 20 people and wounded 27 others in a Kurdish village in northern Iraq.
　
An Iraqi man sits in the ruins of a Kurdish village after a predawn suicide truck bombing in Wardek, southeast of Mosul in northern Iraq, 10 Sep 2009

Authorities say the blast tore through Wardak village before dawn, killing¹ people as they slept in their homes. Several houses collapsed², trapping and injuring other victims.

Police say they prevented a second suicide bomber³ attack, shooting and killing an assailant before he could strike.

The Kurdish village lies east of Mosul, the capital of Nineveh province. It is one of the last regions where insurgents⁴ still have a firm position, after being forced out of other areas by Iraqi and U.S. troops.

Tensions between ethnic⁵ Kurds and Arabs are on full display in such towns as Wardak. Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government would like to extend its control in the oil-rich region, while Baghdad wants to keep it under the central government.

International Crisis Group political analyst⁶ Peter Harling says there is a wide range of possible motives⁷ for the attacks, but unresolved issues between Arabs and Kurds are an underlying⁸ cause of problems.

"The exact distribution of lands, of resources, and of power along these lines is an issue which has been left completely unattended since 2003," he said. "And I think the Iraqi government, Iraq as a whole and the U.S. are now paying the price for that."

The Damascus-based political analyst, says the constitutional and territorial⁹ issues involved require more compromise than either the central government or Kurdish side has yet to show.

"A solution is to bring in outside leverage¹⁰, but that would mean the U.S. working hand-in-hand with other players that have leverage in Iraq, and I do not see that happening anytime soon," he added. "Anyway, not before some progress is made, for example, with Syria and America, and more importantly in the American-Iranian relationship.

The issues are likely to play an important part in national elections set for early next year.

1 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。

2 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

3 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

4 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

5 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

6 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

7 motives   

n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• to impeach sb's motives 怀疑某人的动机
• His motives are unclear. 他的用意不明。

8 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

9 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

10 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。