VOA常速英语2020--白俄罗斯大选争议

Next, an editorial reflecting the views of the United States government.Long-time President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenka, who has held the country’s top elected post since 1994, claimed yet another land-slide victory in the presidential election that took place on August 9. His claim of a victory with 80 percent of the vote is disputed by hundreds of thousands of Belarusian citizens, many of whom took to the streets in protest saying that the results were falsified. Government forces responded swiftly and brutally¹ to the protests, beating, arresting, and detaining protesters, journalists, and members of the opposition² by the thousands. At least four protesters were killed.After the election, two of Belarus’ opposition leaders fled the country, including leading opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who ran for the presidency³ after her husband Sergei, a political blogger, was jailed and barred from the presidential race.

接下来是一篇反映美国政府观点的社论。白俄罗斯总统亚历山大·卢卡申科自1994年以来拥有该国的选举最多席位数，他在8月9日举行的总统选举中再次以压倒般的优势胜选。他以80%的得票率领先总统大选，但是成千上万的白俄罗斯人对此提出质询，其中许多人涌上街头，发起抗议活动，并声称大选结果是伪造的。政府军迅速而粗暴地阻止抗议活动，殴打、逮捕并拘留了数千名抗议者、记者和反对派成员。至少有四名抗议者丧生。选举结束后，两名白俄罗斯反对派领导人逃离该国，其中包括主要反对派候选人斯维娅特拉娜·齐哈努斯卡娅，她的丈夫谢尔盖是一名政治评论人士，在丈夫入狱并被禁止参加总统选举后，她竞选了总统。

The protests continue in many of Belarus’ cities. Over 100,000 protesters rallied in Minsk on August 16, an unprecedented⁴ turn-out in Belarus. A number of protesters are part of “the Women in White” campaign, who have taken to the streets to protest the violent crackdown and call for the release of loved ones detained by police.The women, dressed in white and often carrying flowers, began appearing last week in Minsk but several protests have also taken place in Germany, Poland, Belgium, Ukraine, and Russia.It is clear from the response of the Belarusian people to the disputed election that they are yearning⁵ for something that Alexander Lukashenka has not afforded them in the two and a half decades he has held power. The international community has heard the call of the Belarusian people and stands with them in their democratic aspirations⁶.The United States, as well as European leaders, have expressed deep concern over the conduct of the election in Belarus, noting it was neither free nor fair, as well as the government’s violent response to the subsequent protests, the apparent targeting of journalists, the severe abuses against detainees, and the internet blackout.During his recent visit to Poland, Secretary of State Pompeo said, “The common objective is to support the Belarusian people to achieve their own sovereignty, their own freedom, to build out what you’re seeing happen in these protests. These people are demanding the simple things that every human being wants: the right to have determination for themselves the nature of their government. And so we urge the leadership of Belarus to broaden the circle, to engage with civil society in a way that reflects the central understandings that the Belarusian people are demanding.”That was an editorial reflecting the views of the United States government.

白俄罗斯许多城市的抗议活动仍在继续。8月16日，超过10万名抗议者聚集在明斯克，这样的抗议规模在白俄罗斯前所未有。其中许多抗议者也参与了“白衣女人”活动，他们走上街头抗议暴力镇压，并呼吁释放被警方扣押的亲人。那些身穿白色，经常携带鲜花的女性们，上周开始出现在明斯克，但是在德国、波兰、比利时、乌克兰和俄罗斯也发生了几场这样的抗议活动。从白俄罗斯人民对这场有争议的大选的反应中可以清楚的看到，这些人渴望着某些东西，而亚历山大·卢卡申科在掌权25年中并没能给予他们这些东西。国际社会听到了白俄罗斯人民的呼吁，并支持他们的民主愿望。美国及欧洲领导人对白俄罗斯的选举表示深切关注，指出这是一场不自由也不公平的选举，而且也关注了白俄罗斯政府对随后的抗议活动采取的暴力应对，明显针对记者、严重虐待被拘留者、以及封锁互联网。国务卿蓬佩奥在最近访问波兰时表示我们共同的目标是支持白俄罗斯人民实现独立自主、自由，帮助他们实现那些你能够在这些抗议活动中目睹的他们渴求的东西。白俄罗斯的人民渴求的是每个人类都想要的简单的东西：能够有权决定自己政府的性质。因此，我们敦促白俄罗斯领导人扩大圈子，以反映白俄罗斯人民所要求的核心理解的方式与民间社会接触。”这是一篇反映美国政府观点的社论。

1 brutally   

adv.残忍地，野蛮地，冷酷无情地

参考例句：

• The uprising was brutally put down.起义被残酷地镇压下去了。
• A pro-democracy uprising was brutally suppressed.一场争取民主的起义被残酷镇压了。

2 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

3 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

4 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

5 yearning   

a.渴望的；向往的；怀念的

参考例句：

• a yearning for a quiet life 对宁静生活的向往
• He felt a great yearning after his old job. 他对过去的工作有一种强烈的渴想。

6 aspirations   

强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音

参考例句：

• I didn't realize you had political aspirations. 我没有意识到你有政治上的抱负。
• The new treaty embodies the aspirations of most nonaligned countries. 新条约体现了大多数不结盟国家的愿望。