2006年VOA标准英语-Fears of Renewed Conflict Affect Economies

By Anjana Pasricha
New Delhi
08 January 2006

European tourists show their tickets to soldiers guarding entrance of an old royal palace in a historical area of Katmandu
(File photo - Feb. 4, 2005)   
  
In the tiny island nation of Sri Lanka and the mountain kingdom of Nepal, worries about renewed civil conflict have begun drag down the economies.

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The Sri Lankan economy remained buoyant through much of 2005, despite the tsunami¹ disaster that struck the country only days before the year began. Stock markets boomed, the country's idyllic² beach resorts were crammed³ with tourists, and economic growth was more than five percent.

But last month, the stock markets dropped dramatically amid fears that a two-decade old civil conflict might be ready to break out again. Ethnic⁴ Tamil rebels have warned that they will return to war this year if the four-year-old peace process does not deliver results. Violent attacks, most presumed to be carried out by the rebels, are reported almost daily in the north and east of the country.

Alastair Corera, head of the Colombo office of the credit-rating agency Fitch Ratings, says businessmen across Sri Lanka are nervous, and investor⁵ confidence is low.

"I am sure in terms of new investment, there would be certain rethinking going on. There is a lot of concerns about the possibility that there could be total breakdown⁶ [of peace], and that could damage investment, or it would put investment on hold," he said.

In Nepal, the Tourist Board says tourist arrivals dropped by four percent in 2005. Tourism is the mainstay of the Nepalese economy, providing jobs to tens of thousands of people.

Many potential visitors were scared away when King Gyanendra staged a coup⁷ and imposed emergency rule last February. The fear was exacerbated⁸ by rising violence related to a decade-long communist insurgency⁹.

But a unilateral cease-fire declared by Maoist rebels in September brought tens of thousands of tourists flocking back into the picturesque¹⁰ country in the latter part of the year.

Now, after four months, the rebels have called off their truce¹¹, raising worries that the tourism industry will suffer another blow.

Narendra Bajracharya, the head of the Hotel Association of Nepal, says many Western countries are advising their citizens to stay away from the kingdom.

He says the mood is again uncertain, and Nepal is now focusing on attracting more customers from Asian rather than Western countries.

"The day the Maoists broke their truce, immediately American Embassy has come up with a communique, and they are so fast coming up with negative travel advisories¹² that it is going to affect us," said Mr. Bajracharya. "The neighboring countries are actually more reliable for us."

The tourism industry anticipates slow times over the next two months, due to fears that violence will increase in advance of local elections scheduled for February.

1 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

2 idyllic   

adj.质朴宜人的，田园风光的

参考例句：

• These scenes had an idyllic air.这种情景多少有点田园气氛。
• Many people living in big cities yearn for an idyllic country life.现在的很多都市人向往那种田园化的生活。

3 crammed   

adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式)

参考例句：

• He crammed eight people into his car. 他往他的车里硬塞进八个人。
• All the shelves were crammed with books. 所有的架子上都堆满了书。

4 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

5 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

6 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

7 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

8 exacerbated   

v.使恶化，使加重( exacerbate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The symptoms may be exacerbated by certain drugs. 这些症状可能会因为某些药物而加重。
• The drugs they gave her only exacerbated the pain. 他们给她吃的药只是加重了她的痛楚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

10 picturesque   

adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的

参考例句：

• You can see the picturesque shores beside the river.在河边你可以看到景色如画的两岸。
• That was a picturesque phrase.那是一个形象化的说法。

11 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

12 advisories   

n.（有关进展、动向、建议等的）报告( advisory的名词复数 )；公告；通告；通报

参考例句：

• Compliance with Practice Advisories is optional. 是否遵守实务公告由审计师自行选择决定。 来自互联网
• Hardened-PHP: not as such a PHP security information website, but it does have security advisories. 增强PHP:不仅仅是一个PHP安全新的网站，它还提供安全建议。 来自互联网