VOA标准英语2008年-Thousands in Somalia Riot Against High Food Pri

By Alisha Ryu
Nairobi
05 May 2008

Thousands of people have violently protested skyrocketing food costs made worse by the devaluation of the local currency in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu. From our East Africa Bureau in Nairobi, Correspondent Alisha Ryu reports that many Somali traders are refusing to accept local currency because a large amount of the notes are counterfeits¹.

As many as 7,000 men and women vented³ their anger and frustration⁴ in the streets, burning tires and hurling⁵ stones at shops and vehicles in several areas of Mogadishu.

The violence forced hundreds of shopkeepers to close their shops. There are unconfirmed reports that several people were killed or injured in the melee⁶.

Demonstrator Bilan Muse⁷ tells VOA that ordinary Somalis, already among the poorest people on earth, have been watching helplessly as food prices skyrocketed in recent months. But she says in recent days, many traders have been insisting on being paid in U.S. dollars instead of the Somali shilling.

Muse says few people have access to dollars, leaving most unable to buy anything.

She says it is an outrage⁸ that businesses are refusing to accept the country's currency and laments⁹ that there is no functioning government that can help the poor people of Mogadishu.

"We have been bombed, victimized, and now even our money is worthless," she said.

For the past year, a violent insurgency¹⁰, a prolonged drought, and a sharp rise in global food and oil prices have helped push Somalia's inflation to its highest level in nearly two decades. Although there are no official figures, it is estimated that the monthly inflation rate may be as high as 150 percent or more.

But Somalis say the uncontrolled dumping of hundreds of millions of illegally-printed Somali shillings into the market in recent months has dealt the most crippling blow to the economy. The counterfeit² notes have caused a massive devaluation of the Somali shilling.

Some residents in Mogadishu believe that the president of Somalia's interim¹¹ government Abdullahi Yusuf and some senior members of the government in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland have been involved in printing money to raise hard currency for themselves.

But officials in Puntland and in the interim government deny the charges. They say local businessmen sparked the currency crisis by printing more money than they were allowed and then flooding the markets with fake notes.

Since the collapse¹² of Dictator Mohamed Siad Barre's government in 1991, there has been no legal printing of currency. Instead, currency notes have either been printed in the country by factional leaders or printed abroad and imported by individual businessmen.

Mogadishu residents say they will continue protesting until businessmen and shopkeepers agree to accept the Somali shilling unconditionally¹³.

1 counterfeits   

v.仿制，造假( counterfeit的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Objects and people looked like counterfeits of themselves. 各种人和事好象都给自己披上了伪装。 来自辞典例句
• We have seen many counterfeits, but we are born believers in great men. 我们见过许多骗子，但是我们天生信赖伟人。 来自辞典例句

2 counterfeit   

vt.伪造，仿造；adj.伪造的，假冒的

参考例句：

• It is a crime to counterfeit money.伪造货币是犯罪行为。
• The painting looked old but was a recent counterfeit.这幅画看上去年代久远，实际是最近的一幅赝品。

3 vented   

表达，发泄（感情，尤指愤怒）( vent的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He vented his frustration on his wife. 他受到挫折却把气发泄到妻子身上。
• He vented his anger on his secretary. 他朝秘书发泄怒气。

4 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

5 hurling   

n.爱尔兰式曲棍球v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的现在分词 )；大声叫骂

参考例句：

• The boat rocked wildly, hurling him into the water. 这艘船剧烈地晃动，把他甩到水中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Fancy hurling away a good chance like that, the silly girl! 想想她竟然把这样一个好机会白白丢掉了，真是个傻姑娘！ 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 melee   

n.混战；混战的人群

参考例句：

• There was a scuffle and I lost my hat in the melee.因发生一场斗殴，我的帽子也在混乱中丢失了。
• In the melee that followed they trampled their mother a couple of times.他们打在一团，七手八脚的又踩了他们的母亲几下。

7 muse   

n.缪斯（希腊神话中的女神），创作灵感

参考例句：

• His muse had deserted him,and he could no longer write.他已无灵感，不能再写作了。
• Many of the papers muse on the fate of the President.很多报纸都在揣测总统的命运。

8 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

9 laments   

n.悲恸，哀歌，挽歌( lament的名词复数 )v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• In the poem he laments the destruction of the countryside. 在那首诗里他对乡村遭到的破坏流露出悲哀。
• In this book he laments the slight interest shown in his writings. 在该书中他慨叹人们对他的著作兴趣微弱。 来自辞典例句

10 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

11 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

12 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

13 unconditionally   

adv.无条件地

参考例句：

• All foreign troops must be withdrawn immediately and unconditionally. 所有外国军队必须立即无条件地撤出。
• It makes things very awkward to have your girls going back unconditionally just now! 你们现在是无条件上工，真糟糕！ 来自子夜部分