VOA慢速英语2015 伊斯兰极端分子指责发生在法国、尼日利亚的暴力事件

 

Islamic Extremists Denounced for Violence in France, Nigeria 伊斯兰极端分子指责发生在法国、尼日利亚的暴力事件

France is recovering from the terrorist attacks last week in Paris. Twelve people were shot and killed at the offices of the magazine Charlie Hebdo. Five others died in other attacks in and around the city. All three gunmen in the Paris attacks declared loyalty¹ to Islamist groups. One such group, Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, claimed responsibility for the Charlie Hebdo shootings.

Most Muslims in France were quick to distance themselves from the violence. But some blame the government for not doing enough to help the country’s disaffected² minority youths.

France is a largely Catholic country. But in the late 19th century, the French Revolution created a different set of values: Liberty, Equality and Brotherhood³. At the unity⁴ march in Paris last Sunday, those taking part repeated those values.  

France’s relatively⁵ new Muslim community has become a major test of that ideal. The government has a lot of work to do to correct the problems of poor, disaffected young men like the Paris gunmen. Susan Perry is with the American University in Paris. She spoke⁶ with VOA on Skype.

“See, they've lived on the margins⁷ of society and there were no mechanisms⁸ in place to bring them in before it was too late. And so it's a government problem, but it's also a local community problem.” 

Parisians agree both the government and the Muslim community need to take action against Islamist militancy⁹. On Thursday, French President Francois Hollande said the majority of Muslims are the main victims of religious extremists.

In his words, “Radical Islam fed itself with all the contradictions, influences, poverty, inequalities and conflicts unresolved for a long time. And it is the Muslims who are the first victims of fanaticism¹⁰, fundamentalism and intolerance.”

Rights group says Boko Haram continues violent campaign in Nigeria

On a different continent, Boko Haram militants¹¹ are fighting to establish their version of Islamic law in northeastern Nigeria. The group has claimed responsibility for numerous kidnappings and suicide bombings over the past five years.

On Thursday, the group Amnesty International released satellite images of northeast Nigeria. The pictures show damage resulting from a Boko Haram attack on the fishing town of Baga last week. Local political leaders say hundreds of people were killed. The Nigerian military says about 150 people died in the attack.

Daniel Eyre is with Amnesty International.

“The satellite images that we have show that the attacks on Baga and surrounding towns were of an enormous scale. And the town next to Baga, that is Doron Baga, the, the satellite images show that more than 3,100 buildings were destroyed in the attack. That means almost the entire town was razed¹² to the ground.” 

The pictures suggest that vehicles and boats were removed from the area.

“Many of the vehicles and boats that were there before the attack are now gone. So we, this is consistent with witness testimony¹³ that describes thousands of people fleeing to the safety of the capital of that state, Maiduguri, but also across Lake Chad to, to Chad. And the estimates that we have suggest that several thousand people fled the violence in Baga.” 

Boko Haram has killed thousands of Nigerians. But Daniel Eyre says the recent attack is one of the worst Amnesty has documented.

“This is the most severe destruction that we’ve seen by Boko Haram so far. The conflict has really escalated¹⁴ over the last 12 months. We’ve seen the group kill more than 4,000 civilians¹⁵ in 2014 alone. And in the last six months, they’ve taken over many towns like Baga in northeast Nigeria. And this appears to be not only the heaviest damage that we’ve seen so far, but also the, the highest number of people killed.”

Many of those who fled the town remain missing.

Words in This Story

loyalty - n. a feeling of strong friendship and support for someone or something

disaffected - adj. unhappy, unwilling¹⁶ to provide support

values - n. qualities of being useful, important or desired

correct - adj. true; free from mistakes

1 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

2 disaffected   

adj.（政治上）不满的，叛离的

参考例句：

• He attracts disaffected voters.他吸引了心怀不满的选民们。
• Environmental issues provided a rallying point for people disaffected with the government.环境问题把对政府不满的人们凝聚了起来。

3 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

4 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

5 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

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 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

8 mechanisms   

n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 militancy   

n.warlike behavior or tendency

参考例句：

• Full of militancy and revolutionary ardour, the people of all nationalities in the country are working hard for the realization of the four modernizations. 全国各族人民意气风发， 斗志昂扬，为实现四个现代化而奋战。
• The seniority system is another factor that leads to union militancy. 排资论辈制度也是导致工会好斗争的另一因素。

10 fanaticism   

n.狂热，盲信

参考例句：

• Your fanaticism followed the girl is wrong. 你对那个女孩的狂热是错误的。
• All of Goebbels's speeches sounded the note of stereotyped fanaticism. 戈培尔的演讲，千篇一律，无非狂热二字。

11 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。

12 razed   

v.彻底摧毁，将…夷为平地( raze的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The village was razed to the ground . 这座村庄被夷为平地。
• Many villages were razed to the ground. 许多村子被夷为平地。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

14 escalated   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The fighting escalated into a full-scale war. 这场交战逐步扩大为全面战争。
• The demonstration escalated into a pitched battle with the police. 示威逐步升级，演变成了一场同警察的混战。

15 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。

16 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。