布莱尔召开议会紧急会议

布莱尔召开议会紧急会议

Blair Calls Britain's Parliament into Session
Michael Drudge
London
12 Sep 2001
 
British Prime Minister Tony Blair is recalling parliament to debate counter-terrorism measures that Britain might take in the 1)aftermath of the suicide plane attacks in the United States. Britain is on edge as it pledges full support to help the United States 2)track down the 3)perpetrators.
Prime Minister Blair told a news conference Wednesday that Britain has a personal stake in the U.S. attacks, and he expects British 4)casualties from Tuesday's attacks to be high. "It is also clear that given the likely 5)death toll¹, there will be many citizens of other states who will have died," Mr. Blair said. "I have to say to you that I fear significant numbers of them will be British. So in a very real and direct sense, the interests of this country are engaged."
Given that, Mr. Blair says he is recalling parliament for an emergency 6)session Friday to consider Britain's response. "I believe parliament should be recalled both because of the sheer magnitude of what has happened and its 7)implications but also because this was an attack not just on a number of buildings in the United States of America, but on the very 8)notion of democracy," he said. "It is therefore all the more important that democratic voices are heard, and in our country parliament is the right and proper place for that to happen."
Mr. Blair would not say if there is information linking the attacks to suspected Islamic terrorists. But he made a of point of praising Muslim leaders who have condemned² the attacks. "As Muslim leaders and clerics around the world are making clear, such acts of 9)infamy and 10)cruelty are wholly 11)contrary to the Islamic faith," the Prime Minister said. "The vast majority of Muslims are decent, upright people who share our horror at what has happened."
Mr. Blair said increased security measures at British airports and government buildings would remain in effect at least through Wednesday.
A few hours before the news conference, journalists were briefly³ 12)evacuated from the street outside Number 10 Downing Street, Mr. Blair's official residence.
At about the same time, about 1,000 workers at the Bank of America headquarters in London were ordered out of the building for about for about half-an-hour. Suspicious packages were found at both places, but police determined⁴ they were 13)harmless.

(1) aftermath[5B:ftEmAW]n.结果, 后果
(2) track down v.追捕到
(3) perpetrator n.犯罪者, 作恶者
(4) casualties人员伤亡
(5) death toll n.死亡人数
(6) session[5seF(E)n]n.会议, 开庭
(7) implication[ImplI5keIF(E)n]n.牵连, 含意, 暗示
(8) notion[5nEJF(E)n]n.概念, 观念, 想法, 意见, 打算
(9) infamy[5InfEmI]n.声名狼藉, 丑名, 丑行
(10) cruelty[5kru:EltI]n.残忍, 残酷
(11) contrary to 与...相反
(12) evacuate[I5vAkjJeIt]v.疏散, 撤出, 排泄
(13) harmless[5hB:mlIs]adj.无害的

 

1 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

2 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。

3 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

4 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。