VOA标准英语2011--On Libyan Front Lines, Rebels Vow to Pre

The popular uprising in Libya, unlike others in the region, has turned into armed conflict. On the front lines, rebels dodge¹ Libyan air strikes and fire back at Libyan military jets overhead. The rebels are a mixed group, but all share the desire to topple their country's longtime ruler. One of the front-line volunteers in rebel-held Ras Lanuf spoke² about the situation.
Abdel Halim Barassi stands guard over the oil refinery³. It is a key asset in this energy-rich country, and marks the edge of the rebel-held eastern areas that have thrown off control by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.
Government forces are trying to drive the rebels from their position with rockets and air strikes. Barassi is among the ragtag militia⁴ attempting to keep them at bay with anti-aircraft guns and Kalashnikovs.
It is an uneven⁵ fight, but the young rebel vows⁶ to press on.
Barassi said he will go to Tripoli, the capital; he will not rest until he reaches his goal or dies trying.
His bravado⁷ is shared by the others in this dusty spot on the Tripoli-Benghazi highway - a narrow ribbon of a battlefield along the northern edge of Africa.
Like many of his age 20-something counterparts, Barassi was frustratingly⁸ unemployed⁹ before taking up arms in the anti-Gadhafi movement. With a kaffiyeh draped around the collar of his borrowed camouflage¹⁰ jacket, he, along with his comrades, appear every inch the classic revolutionary.
As those around him chant that "God is Great," he defines their mission: to free Libya from a despot.
Much the way Colonel Gadhafi justified¹¹ the coup¹² that brought him to power more than 40 years ago.
The irony¹³ of a popular uprising against a man who has long fashioned himself the ultimate rebel - flouting¹⁴ conventions, supporting revolutions near and far - is perhaps lost on this group of insurgents¹⁵.
Most were born too recently to consider Gadhafi, 68, a "Brother-Leader" as he likes to call himself. They see, instead, an ossified¹⁶ leader, trying to foist¹⁷ his sons on Libya as if it were a kingdom.
Barassi struggles to find a fitting epithet¹⁸ for his enemy. He settles on terrorist, "a first class terrorist." He then heaps praise on Osama bin¹⁹ Laden²⁰ as a man who is "100 percent."
It is not clear if Barassi is hurling²¹ a comparative insult, or if he has genuine admiration²² for the al-Qaida chief.
Such is the legacy²³ of Colonel Gadhafi: that Libyans have lived so long in fear of speaking out that what they want remains²⁴ to a large extent unknown.
So far, no cohesive²⁵ message has come from the rebel fighters. Some take orders from a military council in Benghazi. Others simply come to the front. They share a desire to oust²⁶ the man who, too, once promised a better future for Libya. But if they succeed, what they want next is anyone's guess.

1 dodge   

v.闪开，躲开，避开；n.妙计，诡计

参考例句：

• A dodge behind a tree kept her from being run over.她向树后一闪，才没被车从身上辗过。
• The dodge was coopered by the police.诡计被警察粉碎了。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 refinery   

n.精炼厂，提炼厂

参考例句：

• They built a sugar refinery.他们建起了一座榨糖厂。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

4 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。

5 uneven   

adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的

参考例句：

• The sidewalk is very uneven—be careful where you walk.这人行道凹凸不平—走路时请小心。
• The country was noted for its uneven distribution of land resources.这个国家以土地资源分布不均匀出名。

6 vows   

誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿

参考例句：

• Matrimonial vows are to show the faithfulness of the new couple. 婚誓体现了新婚夫妇对婚姻的忠诚。
• The nun took strait vows. 那位修女立下严格的誓愿。

7 bravado   

n.虚张声势，故作勇敢，逞能

参考例句：

• Their behaviour was just sheer bravado. 他们的行为完全是虚张声势。
• He flourished the weapon in an attempt at bravado. 他挥舞武器意在虚张声势。

8 frustratingly   

参考例句：

• Some programs set this limit too close, resulting in frustratingly temperamental scroll behavior. 一些程序将这种限制设置得太窄，导致滚屏的行为变幻无常，令人沮丧。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• But the process is frustratingly slow. 但这过程慢得让人郁闷。 来自互联网

9 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

10 camouflage   

n./v.掩饰，伪装

参考例句：

• The white fur of the polar bear is a natural camouflage.北极熊身上的白色的浓密软毛是一种天然的伪装。
• The animal's markings provide effective camouflage.这种动物身上的斑纹是很有效的伪装。

11 justified   

a.正当的，有理的

参考例句：

• She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
• The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。

12 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

13 irony   

n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄

参考例句：

• She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。
• In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。

14 flouting   

v.藐视，轻视( flout的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• By selling alcohol to minors,the shop is deliberately flouting the law. 向未成年人出售烈性酒，是商店故意犯罪法。 来自口语例句
• By selling alcohol to minor, the shop is deliberately flouting the law. 向未成年人出售烈性酒，是商店故意犯法。 来自互联网

15 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

16 ossified   

adj.已骨化[硬化]的v.骨化，硬化，使僵化( ossify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• an ossified political system 僵化的政治制度
• His thinking has ossified as he's grown older;he won't accept new ideas. 随着年岁的增长，他的思想僵化了，他不接受新观点。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 foist   

vt.把…强塞给，骗卖给

参考例句：

• He doesn't try to foist his beliefs on everyone.他不会勉强每个人接受他的信念。
• He tried to foist some inferior goods on me.他企图把一些劣质货强售给我。

18 epithet   

n.（用于褒贬人物等的）表述形容词，修饰语

参考例句：

• In "Alfred the Great","the Great"is an epithet.“阿尔弗雷德大帝”中的“大帝”是个称号。
• It is an epithet that sums up my feelings.这是一个简洁地表达了我思想感情的形容词。

19 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

20 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

21 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》

22 admiration   

n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕

参考例句：

• He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
• We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。

23 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

24 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

25 cohesive   

adj.有粘着力的；有结合力的；凝聚性的

参考例句：

• She sealed the parcel with cohesive tape.她用粘胶带把包裹封起来。
• The author skillfully fuses these fragments into a cohesive whole.作者将这些片断巧妙地结合成一个连贯的整体。

26 oust   

vt.剥夺，取代，驱逐

参考例句：

• The committee wanted to oust him from the union.委员会想把他从工会中驱逐出去。
• The leaders have been ousted from power by nationalists.这些领导人被民族主义者赶下了台。