2007年VOA标准英语-Palestinian Militants Bomb American School in G

By Robert Berger
Jerusalem
21 April 2007

Palestinian assailants have bombed an American-run school in the Gaza Strip, but there were no casualties. As Robert Berger reports from VOA's Jerusalem bureau, there has been a breakdown¹ of law and order in the impoverished² territory since Israel pulled out more than a year and a half ago.

Palestinians check the damage at an American International School in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahiya, 21 Apr 2007

Armed Palestinian militants⁴ stormed into the American International School in Gaza City, setting off explosives that damaged the building. The attack occurred at 5 a.m. when the school was empty. Police say the attackers overpowered security guards and then set off bombs in several areas of the school.

The American school is one of the best private schools in Gaza and has more than 600 students. But all foreign teachers left a year ago, after the Dutch principal and an Australian teacher were briefly⁵ kidnapped by Palestinian militants.

Palestinian officials condemned⁶ the bombing. Fawzi Barhoum is a spokesman for the Islamic militant³ group Hamas, the senior partner in a coalition⁷ government.

"This is a type of violence and terrorism against the Palestinian people and against our foundation[s]," he said.

The attack underscores the growing lawlessness in Gaza since Israel pulled out of the territory in August 2005. Palestinian analyst⁸ Wadia Abu Nasser says things took a turn for the worse after Hamas took power a year ago.

"We are witnessing a kind of unrest, a lack of security in Gaza, and I believe Hamas doesn't really bring any security, neither stability, to the population," he said.

Another sign of the deteriorating⁹ security situation is the kidnapping of BBC TV journalist Alan Johnston. To mark the 40th day of his captivity¹⁰, the group Reporters Without Borders demanded that Palestinian leaders step up their efforts to win his release.

1 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。

2 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

4 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。

5 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。

6 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。

7 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

8 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

9 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。

10 captivity   

n.囚禁；被俘；束缚

参考例句：

• A zoo is a place where live animals are kept in captivity for the public to see.动物园是圈养动物以供公众观看的场所。
• He was held in captivity for three years.他被囚禁叁年。