VOA标准英语2009年-Iranian Security Forces Clash With Hun

Police reportedly swing batons¹ at protesters, smashing car-windows and firing teargas and pepper spray to try and disperse² crowds

Edward Yeranian | Cairo 26 December 2009

Eyewitnesses⁴ are reporting that crowds clashed with Iranian security forces in parts of Tehran and several provincial⁵ cities, Saturday.  Police reportedly swung batons at protesters, smashing car-windows and fired teargas and pepper spray to try and disperse crowds.

Bitter clashes broke out in the Iranian capital Tehran Saturday between thousands of protesters and security forces, intensifying⁶ and spreading to more locations as the day wore on.

Several opposition⁷ websites reported that both the government's stalwart Revolutionary Guard and volunteer Basij militia⁸ were out in force, confronting demonstrators in multiple locations across the capital, using teargas, water cannons⁹, and pepper spray to disperse them.

Other reports say that that undercover Basij militiamen wielding¹⁰ poles and batons smashed car windows and attacked motorists that were honking¹¹ their horns in support of demonstrators.

One woman eyewitness³ told Radio Farda that Revolutionary Guard members were man-handling protesters chanting slogans against the regime:

She says that [the clashes] took place in particular around Pol Chobi and Vali Asr Square. She says that she saw demonstrators dressed in black for today's fast [on the ninth day of the month of Moharram] who were being pulled and grabbed by Revolutionary Guardsmen. Around the university, she says that she saw another group of demonstrators who had gathered near Fakhr Razi Ave. and were chanting "down with the dictator." She adds that the government forces rushed quickly [on their motorbikes] gunning their engines to go wherever there was a protest.

A group of young people on a city bus chanted slogans against Supreme¹² Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a video-clip sent to the VOA. Eyewitnesses report that protesters referred to the Ayatollah as Yazid, the seventh century Caliph abhorred¹³ by Shi'ites for his role in killing¹⁴ Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Mohammed.

Another group of young people, gathered in front of an office of Iranian government TV, could also be heard chanting "death to the dictator," in a separate video sent to the VOA.

Scott Lucas of the University of Birmingham in Britain, who is behind the popular Iran blog "Enduring America" says that opposition protesters have been surprising government security forces with rolling demonstrations¹⁵:

"There was no information on the internet with any rally point until this evening," he said. "It's either spontaneous or its working through a network in Iran that is such an indigenous¹⁶ network that word isn't even getting through the channels that we usually have of where these folks were going to gather."

"So, if you track where the locations are in Tehran, they hit points today, not in the original marching points, and they went to Imam Hussein Square, where there were really heavy clashes, and then you had the clashes in Firdawsi Square and Enghelab Square, later on. That means you had a lot of rolling demos," he added.

Lucas, who has been following the demonstrations closely, says that government appeared to be lagging behind the protesters in trying to organize counter-rallies:

"There was no, as it were, government announcement that really came through interms of the rallies," he said. "They're on the back foot, as far as I can tell, in terms of publicity¹⁷. I don't think they're getting their folks out in mass, now. No. At this point, the field is kind of open for the opposition."

Al Arabiya TV reports that the pro-government Revolutionary Guard is on maximum alert for expected demonstrations, Sunday, which will mark the Shi'ite holy day of Ashura, as well as the seventh day mourning rites¹⁸ for the death of popular Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri. Analysts¹⁹ say that Sunday will be the acid test for the government to prove that it still controls the Iranian street.
 

1 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

2 disperse   

vi.使分散；使消失；vt.分散；驱散

参考例句：

• The cattle were swinging their tails to disperse the flies.那些牛甩动着尾巴驱赶苍蝇。
• The children disperse for the holidays.孩子们放假了。

3 eyewitness   

n.目击者，见证人

参考例句：

• The police questioned several eyewitness to the murder.警察询问了谋杀案的几位目击者。
• He was the only eyewitness of the robbery.他是那起抢劫案的唯一目击者。

4 eyewitnesses   

目击者( eyewitness的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The examination of all the eyewitnesses took a week. 对所有证人的质询用了一周的时间。
• Several eyewitnesses testified that they saw the officers hit Miller in the face. 几位目击证人证明他们看见那几个警官打了米勒的脸。

5 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

6 intensifying   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的现在分词 )；增辉

参考例句：

• The allies are intensifying their air campaign. 联军部队正加大他们的空战强度。 来自辞典例句
• The rest of the European powers were in a state of intensifying congestion. 其余的欧洲强国则处于越来越拥挤的状态。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史

7 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。

8 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

9 cannons   

n.加农炮，大炮，火炮( cannon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Cannons bombarded enemy lines. 大炮轰击了敌军阵地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• One company had been furnished with six cannons. 某连队装备了六门大炮。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 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。

11 honking   

v.（使）发出雁叫似的声音，鸣（喇叭），按（喇叭）( honk的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Cars zoomed helter-skelter, honking belligerently. 大街上来往车辆穿梭不停，喇叭声刺耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Flocks of honking geese flew past. 雁群嗷嗷地飞过。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

13 abhorred   

v.憎恶( abhor的过去式和过去分词 )；（厌恶地）回避；拒绝；淘汰

参考例句：

• He abhorred the thoughts of stripping me and making me miserable. 他憎恶把我掠夺干净，使我受苦的那个念头。 来自辞典例句
• Each of these oracles hated a particular phrase. Liu the Sage abhorred "Not right for sowing". 二诸葛忌讳“不宜栽种”，三仙姑忌讳“米烂了”。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

14 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

15 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

16 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

17 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

18 rites   

仪式，典礼( rite的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• to administer the last rites to sb 给某人举行临终圣事
• He is interested in mystic rites and ceremonies. 他对神秘的仪式感兴趣。

19 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。