VOA慢速英语20060501a

WORLD NEWS - 00:30 UTC, May 1, 2006By Voice of America

Broadcast: Monday, May 01, 2006

鎰熻阿Spag Bolo, Jonathan Song鐑?儏鎻愪緵浠栦滑鑷?繁鐨勫箍鎾?惉鍐欑?!

It is zero hours thirty Universal Time. I am Jim Tedder¹ in Washington.

Sudanese rebels have refused to sign a peace agreement aimed at ending the violence in the western area of Darfur. A spokesman for the rebel Justice and Equality Movement said changes must be made to the agreement before the group will sign it. Rebel leaders also say they want better terms for joining their forces with the Sudanese army and for disarming³ private pro-government armed groups. The Sudanese government had said it was ready to accept the agreement. The time limit for action on the Africa Union negotiated proposal ended Sunday. Three years violence in Darfur between government supported forces and Darfur rebels has killed tens of thousands of people and forced more than 2,000,000 to leave their homes.

Thousands of activists⁴ have called on the international community to end the violence in Sudan's western Darfur area. They gathered near the United States capital in Washington to send their message around the world. The demonstration⁵ is one of many being held in cities around the United States. Religious leaders, politicians, and famous athletes attended the protest in Washington to support the victims of suffering in Darfur. Nazi⁶ death camp survivor⁷ Elie Wiesel spoke² at the protest. He called on world leaders to stop the killings⁹.

Afghanistan police have found the body of an Indian worker near where he was kidnapped Friday by the Taliban. His head had been removed. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Afghan President Hamid Karzai have strongly condemned¹⁰ the killing⁸ in Zabul province. A Taliban spokesman said the communications worker was killed while trying to escape. The Taliban had accused the worker of being a spy for the United States. The group threatened to kill him unless all Indians left Afghanistan.

In other news from Afghanistan, a bomb explosion has killed 3 Afghan soldiers in Helmand province; three others were reported wounded. Army officials blamed Taliban fighters for the attack.

The newly reestablished parliament in Nepal has agreed to hold elections for members of a special group to write a new constitution. Lawmakers did not set a date for the voting. Earlier Girija Prasad Koirala was sworn in as the new prime minister of Nepal. He called on Maoist rebels to reject violence and join talks to help bring peace to the country. Mr. Koirala is the leader of the Nepalese congress. The group is one of seven opposition¹¹ parties that organized a series of huge protests this month. Demonstrators had demanded that King Gyanendra surrender total rule and return a democratic government to Nepal.

Officials in Indian Kashmir say suspected Muslim separatists have kidnapped nine Hindu civilians¹² and killed four of them. Local officials say the incident happened in the Udhampur area. Police have recovered the bodies of the four dead. They are searching for the five hostages.

You are listening to the news in VOA Special English.

Pakistani officials have released a top assistant to dishonored nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan. The Pakistani military says Mohammed Farooq was permitted to go home last week. He has spent more than two years in jail during an investigation¹³ into reports of secretly passing nuclear information. Farooq was the last man who remained jailed in connection with the reports. He was the director general at a Uranium enrichment laboratory established by Khan near the capital Islamabad. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf pardoned nuclear scientist Khan two years ago. The scientist had admitted to passing nuclear secrets to Libya, Iran and North Korea.

American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has accused Iran of wasting time in the international dispute over its nuclear program. Miss Rice says Iran should stop all uranium enrichment activity as ordered by the United Nations Security Council. She also urged Iran to answer international concerns about its nuclear program. Earlier Iran said the UN Nuclear Agency could carry out inspections¹⁴ of its uranium enrichment centers if the UN withdraws its threat of restrictions¹⁵. In Tehran, Iran's top nuclear negotiator said his country will not accept what he called forced UN resolutions. Ali Larijani repeated Iran's plan to improve nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani says he is close to reaching agreement to end the violence with seven armed groups. Mr. Talabani said he met with representatives of the groups and United States officials. He said officials are seeking to hold talks with the groups and to include them in the political process. Mr. Talabani did not name the groups. He did say they do not include al-Qaeda in Iraq or supporters of Saddam Hussein.

Also in Iraq, British officials say a bomb explosion killed 3 people south of Baghdad; two others were wounded in the attack against a group of private security vehicles. The officials say they cannot confirm reports that the dead include British citizens.

Former American Secretary of State Colin Powell says he told President Bush to increase the number of troops planned for deployment¹⁶ in Iraq. Mr. Powell says he suggested the increase before the United States led invasion of Iraq. The former official says he gave the same advice to war planners General Tommy Franks and Secretary of Defense¹⁷ Donald Rumsfeld. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says President Bush considered the advice of aids and military commanders before the invasion plan was approved. She said the join chiefs of staff guarantee Mr. Bush that there were enough troops to carry out the invasion.

Here again is the major news. Sudanese rebels have refused to sign a peace agreement aimed at ending the violence in the western area of Darfur. Afghan police have found the body of an Indian worker near the place he was kidnapped by the Taliban. And the parliament in Nepal has agreed to hold elections for members of a special group to write a new constitution. And that's the news in VOA Special English from Washington, Jim Tedder reporting.

1 tedder   

n.（干草）翻晒者，翻晒机

参考例句：

• Jim Tedder has more. 吉姆？特德将给我们做更多的介绍。 来自互联网
• Jim Tedder tells us more. 吉姆？泰德给我们带来更详细的报道。 来自互联网

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 disarming   

adj.消除敌意的，使人消气的v.裁军( disarm的现在分词 )；使息怒

参考例句：

• He flashed her a disarming smile. 他朝她笑了一下，让她消消气。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We will agree to disarming troops and leaving their weapons at military positions. 我们将同意解除军队的武装并把武器留在军事阵地。 来自辞典例句

4 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

6 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

7 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

8 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。

9 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

10 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

11 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。

12 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

13 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

14 inspections   

n.检查( inspection的名词复数 )；检验；视察；检阅

参考例句：

• Regular inspections are carried out at the prison. 经常有人来视察这座监狱。
• Government inspections ensure a high degree of uniformity in the standard of service. 政府检查确保了在服务标准方面的高度一致。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

16 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

17 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。