VOA标准英语2008年-Morgan Tsvangirai Returns to Zimbabwe

By Peta Thornycroft
Harare
24 May 2008

Zimbabwe's opposition¹ leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, has returned home from South Africa, vowing² that he will defeat President Robert Mugabe in second round elections next month. Peta Thornycroft reports, Mr. Tsvangirai went straight from the airport to a hospital to visit with victims of political violence.

Morgan Tsvangirai told reporters in Harare that he was confident of victory in the June 27 runoff against President Mugabe.

"Let's have a free and fair election," he said. "I can tell you that, as the sun rises from the east and sets out in the west, Mugabe will not get the support in the second round."

Mr. Tsvangirai deplored³ political violence that his party says has claimed the lives of more than 40 opposition supporters. His Movement for Democratic Change accuses Mugabe loyalists of a campaign to intimidate⁴ opposition supporters, but President Mugabe blames the MDC for the violence that has swept the country since the March 29 elections.

In that vote, the MDC stripped Mr. Mugabe's ZANU-PF party of the parliamentary majority it held since independence from Britain in 1980. Official results from the first round of voting in the presidential contest showed MDC leader Tsvangirai beating President Mugabe, but failing to get the majority needed to avoid a runoff.

Mr. Tsvangirai said he was shocked at the recent deaths of opposition activists⁵, including leading civil rights campaigner Tonderai Ndira, whose body was found on a farm earlier in the week.

Thousands of MDC activists and party supporters have been injured in post-election violence. Upon arriving in Harare, Mr. Tsvangirai visited some of the victims in the hospital.

"I return home with a very sad heart," said the opposition leader. "I have met and listened to stories from innocent people targeted by the regime, seemingly desperate to hang on to power. Democrats⁶ have been targeted by the dictator, who has lost the support of the people. Ever since the majority of Zimbabweans voted for change on 29 March, the regime has been on a rampage."

Over the past week, authorities arrested 12 opposition activists and two legislators accused of 'inciting⁷ violence.' Mr. Tsvangirai accused the government of harassment⁸.

"The regime is harassing⁹ and imprisoning¹⁰ members of parliament, party administrators¹¹, and many of those not yet detained by the police are in hiding," he said.

Mr. Tsvangirai also appealed for Zimbabweans who have fled abroad to return home. Millions of Zimbabweans have fled the country in the wake of economic collapse¹². Most of them are in South Africa, which has seen a wave of anti-immigrant violence. Mr. Tsvangirai said Mr. Mugabe was partly responsible for those attacks.

"The xenophobic attacks in South Africa can be directly attributed to Mugabe's failed policies of intolerance and repression¹³, the failed policies which forced thousands and thousands to flee their ancestral homes, and now, instead of a safe haven¹⁴, people in the diaspora face even more death and destruction, all because of a failed liberation hero, Mugabe who once led our people to freedom. He can, even now, set his people free again. By acknowledging their desire for change, even now, he can open the door to a new Zimbabwe," he said.

Mr. Tsvangirai said he hoped the regional organization, the Southern African Development Community, or SADC, would send observers and peacekeepers to monitor the June 27 election.

The opposition leader returned home a week later than originally planned, because his party said it had uncovered a plot to assassinate¹⁵ him. Mr. Tsvangirai said he had been given assurances that he was no longer at risk. The ZANU-PF has denied involvement in such a plot.

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 vowing   

起誓，发誓（vow的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild its collapsed bridge. 布什总统承诺将帮助明尼阿波利斯重建坍塌的大桥。
• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild this collapse bridge. 布什总统发誓要帮助明尼阿波利斯重建起这座坍塌的桥梁。

3 deplored   

v.悲叹，痛惜，强烈反对( deplore的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They deplored the price of motor car, textiles, wheat, and oil. 他们悲叹汽车、纺织品、小麦和石油的价格。 来自辞典例句
• Hawthorne feels that all excess is to be deplored. 霍桑觉得一切过分的举动都是可悲的。 来自辞典例句

4 intimidate   

vt.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• You think you can intimidate people into doing what you want?你以为你可以威胁别人做任何事？
• The first strike capacity is intended mainly to intimidate adversary.第一次攻击的武力主要是用来吓阻敌方的。

5 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 inciting   

刺激的，煽动的

参考例句：

• What are you up to inciting mutiny and insubordination? 你们干吗在这里煽动骚动的叛乱呀。
• He was charged with inciting people to rebel. 他被控煽动民众起来叛乱。

8 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

9 harassing   

v.侵扰，骚扰( harass的现在分词 )；不断攻击（敌人）

参考例句：

• The court ordered him to stop harassing his ex-wife. 法庭命令他不得再骚扰前妻。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was too close to be merely harassing fire. 打得这么近，不能完全是扰乱射击。 来自辞典例句

10 imprisoning   

v.下狱，监禁( imprison的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Mr Afwerki may disgust his compatriots by torturing and imprisoning his critics. Afwerki总统拷打和监禁他的反对者已经使的国人生厌。 来自互联网
• Proud and intelligent, it takes great pleasure and imprisoning enemies through psionic exploitation. 它骄傲并狡猾，非常喜欢囚禁敌人并剥夺他们的智力。 来自互联网

11 administrators   

n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师

参考例句：

• He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself. 他手下有管理人员，但重要的决策仍由他自己来做。 来自辞典例句
• Administrators have their own methods of social intercourse. 办行政的人有他们的社交方式。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

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 repression   

n.镇压，抑制，抑压

参考例句：

• The repression of your true feelings is harmful to your health.压抑你的真实感情有害健康。
• This touched off a new storm against violent repression.这引起了反对暴力镇压的新风暴。

14 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

15 assassinate   

vt.暗杀，行刺，中伤

参考例句：

• The police exposed a criminal plot to assassinate the president.警方侦破了一个行刺总统的阴谋。
• A plot to assassinate the banker has been uncovered by the police.暗杀银行家的密谋被警方侦破了。