VOA标准英语2008年-Egypt Tries to Restore Order on Gaza Border

By Robert Berger
Jerusalem
24 January 2008

The situation on the border between Egypt and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip remains¹ chaotic², a day after Palestinian militants⁴ blew up the border wall. As Robert Berger reports from VOA's Jerusalem bureau, Israel and Egypt are locked in a new tug⁵ of war over who is responsible for the impoverished⁶ territory.

Egyptian riot police tried to restore order, but thousands of Palestinians continued to cross from Gaza into Egypt over the broken down border fence a day after they escaped the Israeli siege.

Police wearing helmets and wielding⁷ batons⁸ pounded on the hoods⁹ of Palestinian cars, preventing them from traveling further into Egyptian territory.

Palestinians are stocking up on everything, from food to fuel to cement. All have been in short supply due to Israeli sanctions against the ruling Islamic militant³ group Hamas. Shortages intensified¹⁰ last week after Israel shut its borders in response to Palestinian rocket attacks.

Now that the Palestinians are getting supplies from Egypt, Israel wants to sever¹¹ ties with Gaza altogether. Israeli spokesman Arieh Mekel.

"We expect the Egyptians to solve the problem," he said.

Egypt rejects the idea. Responsibility for 1.5 million Palestinians would be an economic burden, and Egypt's government fears that open borders with the Hamas-ruled area could strengthen its own Islamic fundamentalists who oppose the pro-western regime in Cairo.

Hamas says Israel is responsible for Gaza since it is the occupying power.  Hamas official Ahmed Yousef warned Israel against continuing its blockade of Gaza, saying next time, the Palestinians could storm the Jewish state.

"This is not just imagination, [but] something I can predict that could happen in the future, you can face half million Palestinians taking all kinds of risks to cross to Israel," he said.

Israel sees the new situation on the Egyptian border as a way to complete its so-called "disengagement" of 2005, when it pulled all soldiers and settlers out of Gaza.  But Egypt and the Palestinians may not be prepared to let Israel off the hook.

1 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。

2 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

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 tug   

v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船

参考例句：

• We need to tug the car round to the front.我们需要把那辆车拉到前面。
• The tug is towing three barges.那只拖船正拖着三只驳船。

6 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》

7 wielding   

手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的现在分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响）

参考例句：

• The rebels were wielding sticks of dynamite. 叛乱分子舞动着棒状炸药。
• He is wielding a knife. 他在挥舞着一把刀。

8 batons   

n.（警察武器）警棍( baton的名词复数 )；（乐队指挥用的）指挥棒；接力棒

参考例句：

• There were many riot policemen with batons. 有许多带警棍的防暴警察。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Chinese police fight? Number one is a person with batons to fight! 满街飘的中国国旗，是一个老华侨在事发时那出来分给大家的，很感动，真的，从来一向多一事不如少一事的中国人今天团结到一起站出来反抗。 来自互联网

9 hoods   

n.兜帽( hood的名词复数 )；头巾；（汽车、童车等的）折合式车篷；汽车发动机罩v.兜帽( hood的第三人称单数 )；头巾；（汽车、童车等的）折合式车篷；汽车发动机罩

参考例句：

• Michael looked at the four hoods sitting in the kitchen. 迈克尔瞅了瞅坐在厨房里的四条汉子。 来自教父部分
• Eskimos wear hoods to keep their heads warm. 爱斯基摩人戴兜帽使头暖和。 来自辞典例句

10 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 sever   

v.切开，割开；断绝，中断

参考例句：

• She wanted to sever all her connections with the firm.她想断绝和那家公司的所有联系。
• We must never sever the cultural vein of our nation.我们不能割断民族的文化血脉。