VOA常速英语2014--利比亚人希望选举出新议会

 

Against Odds¹, Libyans to Elect New Parliament 利比亚人希望选举出新议会

CAIRO, EGYPT — Libyans head to the polls Wednesday for their second parliamentary elections since the 2011 toppling of leader Moammar Gadhafi.

Few Libyans are expected to participate in Wednesday’s vote for a new parliament. Only a quarter of the population is registered to take part, and the fear of violence may keep many of those away from the polls.

很少利比亚人能期待参加周三选举新议会的投票，只有四分之一的人口注册准备参加，而害怕暴力可能让很多人对投票敬而远之。

The central government holds little influence beyond the capital Tripoli, making security precautions tenuous².

中央政府在首都的黎波里之外的影响力甚微，这样安全防范非常虚弱。

 U.N. official Ismail Ould Cheikh said the United Nations is trying to help with the vote.

联合国官员乌尔德·谢赫·伊斯梅尔说，联合国努力帮助这场选举。

"There are still political and security obstacles, and our operation may face these obstacles. The road forward is not going to be easy and for that reason the United Nations continues to provide support under a mandate³ from the Security Council," he said.

“目前仍存在政治和安全问题，我们的工作可能会面临这些问题。前路并非坦途，所以联合国将根据安理会命令继续提供支持。”

Ongoing⁴ battles

Forces loyal to renegade general Khalifa Haftar engaged in near daily combat with Islamist militants⁵ in Libya’s east.   

忠于变节将军哈利法·哈他的军队在利比亚东部和伊斯兰武装分子几乎每天都要作战。

Haftar, who for years enjoyed U.S. protection, has promised a ceasefire during the vote.

哈他多年来有美国做保护，他承诺在投票期间停火。

But rival militias⁶, many armed by NATO forces during the 2011 uprising, continue to cause unrest across the nation.

但2011年起义期间得到北约军队武装支持的敌对民兵仍在全国各地挑起动乱。

Still, the head of Libya’s election commission remained hopeful the vote would proceed smoothly⁷.

不过，利比亚选举委员会主席仍希望这次选举能顺利进行。

"Regarding our arrangements in Benghazi, they are going to plan," said Emad al-Sayeh, a high national elections commission chief. In the South we have no problems regarding the electoral process. Any security problems have no direct link to the electoral process."

“就我们在班加西的安排来说，他们准备这么计划。而在南方我们的选举没有什么问题，安全问题与选举过程没有直接关联。”

High hopes

And some voters hold out hope the election will help shore up the power of the central government.

有的选民仍希望这次选举能帮助加强中央政府的力量。

"God willing, this election will go according to plan and we expect that after everything that has happened recently, we will reach the foundation stage and people will start to move forward and the country will calm down, because the people are really tired of what's going on," said Mohammed al-Guarshaa, a Benghazi resident.

“上帝保佑这次选举将如期进行，我们期待在经历了最近的事情后，我们将进入基础阶段，人们将开始前进，这个国家将安定下来，因为人们对目前的局面已经厌倦了。”

Observers caution counting ballots⁸ and forming a government after this party-list free election may take some time. More worrisome, they added, is which, if any, of the warring parties will recognize the outcome.

观察员提醒说，这次党员自由投票过后，点票和组建政府将需要花费时日。他们说更令人担心的是交战的各方是否承认选举结果。

1 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

2 tenuous   

adj.细薄的，稀薄的，空洞的

参考例句：

• He has a rather tenuous grasp of reality.他对现实认识很肤浅。
• The air ten miles above the earth is very tenuous.距离地面十公里的空气十分稀薄。

3 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。

4 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

5 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

6 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

7 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

8 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》