VOA慢速英语2012 IN THE NEWS - Protests Spread Over Anti-Islam Video

 

IN THE NEWS - Protests Spread Over Anti-Islam Video

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

Violent protests spread across the Arab World and other areas Friday over a private video produced in the United States. Crowds targeted American and western embassies as opposition¹ to the film continued to grow. Three days earlier, armed militants² killed the American ambassador to Libya and three other Americans in an attack in Benghazi, Libya.

The low budget film “The Innocence³ of Muslims” makes fun of Islam. It shows the Prophet Mohammed as a womanizer and a terrorist. The video reportedly was made in California. 

It remains⁴ unclear who made the video. Some news organizations have linked the film to a fifty-five year old Egyptian Coptic Christian⁵ who lives in California. They say he recently served a prison sentence for illegal financial activities.

The suspected director of the film spoke⁶ with Radio Sawa. He said any claim of government involvement in the making of the movie is funny, and that America has nothing to do with the film. He also criticized the protesters. He said Arabs “have to learn to demonstrate peacefully against the issues on which we disagree.” He also said he was saddened by the deaths, but he did not regret making the film.

“The Innocence of Muslims” was publicized by American clergyman Terry Jones. In recent years, his actions against the Quran, Islam’s holy book, incited⁷ violence in Afghanistan. 

The protests against the film began Tuesday on the eleventh anniversary of the Two Thousand One terror attacks on the United States. In Cairo, the demonstrations⁸ began peacefully, until a few protesters broke through the American embassy walls and replaced the American flag with a Muslim one. Later Tuesday, a crowd attacked the American consulate⁹ in Benghazi, killing¹⁰ the four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens.

There were reports that the attack was well planned since it took place on September eleventh. The Obama administration has not commented on these reports. However, intelligence officials have investigated the possible involvement of al-Qaida in the film. But they say there is not much evidence to support this idea.

On Wednesday, President Obama condemned¹¹ the attacks on the American embassies.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: “We reject all efforts to denigrate¹² the religious beliefs of others. But there is absolutely no justification¹³ to this type of senseless violence. None. The world must stand together to unequivocally reject these brutal¹⁴ acts.”

Chris Stevens had served as America’s ambassador to Libya since May. He had served as America’s representative to the country during the revolution against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. He recorded this message earlier this year. 

CHRIS STEVENS: “A Salaam¹⁵ Alaikum, my name is Chris Stevens, and I’m the new US Ambassador to Libya. I had the honor to serve as the US envoy¹⁶ to the Libyan opposition during the revolution. And I was thrilled to watch the Libyan people stand up and demand their rights. Now, I’m excited to return to Libya to continue the great work we’ve started. Building a solid partnership¹⁷ between the United States and Libya, to help you, the Libyan people, achieve their goals…”

Ambassador Stevens was said to be popular in Libya. In the nineteen eighties, he taught English in Morocco as a Peace Corps¹⁸ volunteer.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.

_________

Contributing: Elizabeth Arrott and Carolyn Presutti

1 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。

2 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。

3 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 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。

6 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。

7 incited   

刺激，激励，煽动( incite的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He incited people to rise up against the government. 他煽动人们起来反对政府。
• The captain's example incited the men to bravery. 船长的榜样激发了水手们的勇敢精神。

8 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

9 consulate   

n.领事馆

参考例句：

• The Spanish consulate is the large white building opposite the bank.西班牙领事馆是银行对面的那栋高大的白色建筑物。
• The American consulate was a magnificent edifice in the centre of Bordeaux.美国领事馆是位于波尔多市中心的一座宏伟的大厦。

10 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。

11 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。

12 denigrate   

v.诬蔑，诽谤

参考例句：

• It was unkind to denigrate her achievement.贬低她的成就是刻薄的。
• To assert this is to denigrate the effectiveness of the police.坚持这一点就是贬低警方的办事能力。

13 justification   

n.正当的理由；辩解的理由

参考例句：

• There's no justification for dividing the company into smaller units. 没有理由把公司划分成小单位。
• In the young there is a justification for this feeling. 在年轻人中有这种感觉是有理由的。

14 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

15 salaam   

n.额手之礼，问安，敬礼；v.行额手礼

参考例句：

• And the people were so very friendly:full of huge beaming smiles,calling out "hello" and "salaam".这里的人民都很友好，灿然微笑着和我打招呼，说“哈罗”和“萨拉姆”。
• Salaam is a Muslim form of salutation.额手礼是穆斯林的问候方式。

16 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

17 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

18 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。