VOA标准英语2010年-South Sudanese Want Independence From

On January 9, Sudanese are to vote on the future of the country's unity¹. Southern Sudan's mostly African Christian² and animist population is widely expected to vote for separation from the mainly Arab and Muslim north.

It is difficult to find a person on the street in Juba who says they want to remain a part of Sudan. Many were emphatic³ about the coming divorce, like Abraham, a 26-year-old student.

"And for us, we the citizens of South Sudan, no one is going to vote for unity," Abraham said.

Asked why they want to break with the north, most say they feel discriminated⁴ against and marginalized by their Muslim-Arab compatriots.

Riw, 26, is studying telecommunications engineering in Ukraine. He says unity only serves the northerners, who he, like many people here, accuse of being racist⁵ against southerners' ethnicity and religion.

"This unity actually it is not serving us. Because the Muslim in the north they always, you know, like [favor] themselves," Riw said. "They never, never give any rights for non-Muslims and they never, never value any non-Muslim to be a human being like them. They call you names, they put you in [a] very difficult categories and you get yourself, you are very, very different from them. So it is hard to stay with such a people."

Riw, like many southerners, also complains the south has been neglected in terms of development.

"The south never benefitted from the unity," he added. "I mean the development, the education, the health, everything is very, very poor in the south. So even this little development, these little services we have today has just started from 2005."

That is when the Comprehensive Peace Agreement ending the two-decade long civil war between north and south was signed. It is that agreement that calls for the vote on unity.

Some observers worry that the results of the referendum or the possibility that it could be postponed⁶ might lead to renewed violence between north and south. But the southerners VOA talked to, like law student Samuel Kuir, 28, said if there is war it will not be initiated⁷ from their side.

"So that is why we, the youth, nowadays actually, we are not ready for war, that is what I want to tell you," Kuir said. "But if it is the only solution to protect our rights and our freedoms then we will opt⁸ for that. But we are not really calling for it, because we were subjected to war during that 21 years and we are not actually willing to have a war again in Sudan."

He says he hopes Sudan's international partners in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement will intervene to make the referendum go smoothly⁹.

Samuel Cadhor, 37, a health worker, agrees. "We need the international community, United Nations and the American government to coach and guide this referendum, this is what we need," he said.

Southerners say they will choose independence because they have suffered too much as a unified¹⁰ country and are better off on their own. Then they say, development and prosperity will come to their region.
 

1 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

2 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

3 emphatic   

adj.强调的，着重的；无可置疑的，明显的

参考例句：

• Their reply was too emphatic for anyone to doubt them.他们的回答很坚决，不容有任何人怀疑。
• He was emphatic about the importance of being punctual.他强调严守时间的重要性。

4 discriminated   

分别，辨别，区分( discriminate的过去式和过去分词 )； 歧视，有差别地对待

参考例句：

• His great size discriminated him from his followers. 他的宽广身材使他不同于他的部下。
• Should be a person that has second liver virus discriminated against? 一个患有乙肝病毒的人是不是就应该被人歧视？

5 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

6 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

7 initiated   

n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入

参考例句：

• He has not yet been thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of computers. 他对计算机的奥秘尚未入门。
• The artist initiated the girl into the art world in France. 这个艺术家介绍这个女孩加入巴黎艺术界。

8 opt   

vi.选择，决定做某事

参考例句：

• They opt for more holiday instead of more pay.他们选择了延长假期而不是增加工资。
• Will individual schools be given the right to opt out of the local school authority?各个学校可能有权选择退出地方教育局吗？

9 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

10 unified   

(unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的

参考例句：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。