VOA标准英语2011-Tunisians React to New Media Options

Tunisians are savoring¹ new media freedoms announced a week ago by the country's caretaker government following the toppling of autocratic president, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. However, for the Al-Kitab bookstore in downtown Tunis, the fight for free expression is not over.

As anti-government demonstrators mark yet another day of protest, a smaller crowd is gathered before a store window on Tunis' main Habib Bourguiba Avenue, staring at its contents - more than a dozen books on display that were banned less than two weeks ago under former Tunisian strongman Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali.

Selma Jabbes, owner of Al-Kitab, describes the books in the window - books highly critical of the Ben Ali regime. "You see the most wanted one - La Regente de Carthage, which is written by Nicolas Beau, who is a journalist from Le Monde... it's about the family of the ex-president Ben Ali and his wife. And all the exactions (atrocities) they did, all the societies (businesses) they had... "

Even books on the economy and tourism that may have made a passing criticism of the country's government - all fell victim to Tunisia's heavy-handed censorship laws.

That changed dramatically a week ago, when interim² prime minister Mohammed Ghannouchi announced "total" freedom of the media. That "total freedom" appears to be in doubt after the interim government shut down a popular TV channel Sunday. Still, Tunisians like Jabbes assume it means freedom of expression, in general.

"It's extraordinary for us - this liberty of expression we see in Tunisia," said Jabbes. "We hope it will stay and it will always be like this. Because Tunisians are big enough to think by themselves, to do by themselves, to read what they want - it's great."

Jabbes is no stranger to media censorship. Her mother opened Al-Kitab half a century ago, and she took it over in 1988 - a year after Ben Ali came to power. The former president promised free expression. The reality was censorship.

Jabbes was forced to get a government license³ of every book she ordered - licenses⁴ that often were denied. More often than not, she was hauled into the interior ministry⁵ to be reprimanded.

"They wanted us to make our own censorship. To limit our orders. But I never agreed with this."

Books about political Islam also were banned by the country's staunchly secular⁶ government. Now, 27-year-old Ismael Skheir checks the shop's literature on Tunisia's once-banned Ennadha Islamist party.

Skheir said he is seeking the truth about the Islamists - and whether their thinking fits in Tunisia.

Twenty-one year old university student Miriam Khalfala is another shop window gazer. She said there have always been ways to get around Tunisia's censorship laws, including downloading books on the Internet.

"So even if they say no, we can have those books," said Khalfala. "But it's about the principle. We want freedom. We want democracy. We want those books and they have to know this. "

Even though Tunisia's caretaker government has vowed⁷ free expression, those promises have yet to be translated into law. In principle, Al-Kitab must still get a government license for every book it orders.

So bookstore staff like Amel Chehimi are on the street - urging passersby⁸ to sign a petition to revoke⁹ the license requirements.

So far, Chehimi said, Al-Kitab has gotten 600 signatures. It hopes to get 1,000 before it sends the government its demand for the freedom to order, display and sell any book it wants

1 savoring   

v.意味，带有…的性质( savor的现在分词 )；给…加调味品；使有风味；品尝

参考例句：

• Cooking was fine but it was the savoring that he enjoyed most. 烹饪当然很好，但他最享受的是闻到的各种味道。 来自互联网
• She sat there for a moment, savoring the smell of the food. 她在那儿坐了一会儿，品尝这些食物的香味。 来自互联网

2 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。

3 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

4 licenses   

n.执照( license的名词复数 )v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Drivers have ten days' grace to renew their licenses. 驾驶员更换执照有10天的宽限期。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Jewish firms couldn't get import or export licenses or raw materials. 犹太人的企业得不到进出口许可证或原料。 来自辞典例句

5 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

6 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

7 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

8 passersby   

n. 过路人(行人,经过者)

参考例句：

• He had terrorized Oxford Street,where passersby had seen only his footprints. 他曾使牛津街笼罩了一片恐怖气氛，因为那儿的行人只能看到他的脚印，看不到他的人。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学
• A person is marceling on a street, watching passersby passing. 街边烫发者打量着匆匆行人。

9 revoke   

v.废除，取消，撤回

参考例句：

• The university may revoke my diploma.大学可能吊销我的毕业证书。
• The government revoked her husband's license to operate migrant labor crews.政府撤销了她丈夫管理外来打工人群的许可证。