VOA标准英语2013--Egyptians Look to Military as Bulwark to Chaos

 

Egyptians Look to Military as Bulwark¹ to Chaos²

Every day, Egyptians seem to face a new crisis: gas shortages, power outages, rising prices.

Publisher and political analyst³ Hisham Kassem blamed the deterioration⁴ on the Islamist-led government.

"I won’t be surprised if we wake up soon and there is no power or bread in Cairo, and then there will be a disaster. If things get to that point, the military will have to intervene and push them out of power," he said.

It is a scenario⁵ some Egyptians might not mind. The military has long been seen as a force for stability. During the revolution, protesters cheered when the armed forces took charge, chanting "the people and the army are one."

The image has been tarnished⁶ since then. Many people feel the generals overstayed their welcome as interim⁷ leaders. Leaks from a recent government report implicate⁸ them in violence during the uprising.

Activist⁹ and filmmaker Hala Galal says the army is likely to stay out of politics.

"I don't think the army might come back because I believe they left with a contract between them and the Muslim Brotherhood¹⁰," said Galal.

Deal or not, it is a delicate balance. President Mohamed Morsi sidelined top generals shortly after taking office. But he came to the military's defense¹¹ about documents leaked from his office.

Clear dividing lines

Ziad Akl, of the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, believes the army and the Islamist leaders have drawn¹² clear lines.

"I'm sure that was in the agreement between the Brotherhood and the army before - that you don’t mess with regional order, don’t mess with fundamental interests, don’t mess with strategic allies and that’s exactly what they've been delivering so far," said Akl.

Whether that extends to internal collapse¹³ is anyone's guess.

Although the possibility that the military could intervene is a source of comfort for some. Political analyst Akl sees that "safety net in a different light.

"Every Egyptian has this vision: in the end it’s the army that saves the day. There is always a very sick attachment¹⁴ to authority that Egyptian people have. The absolute lack of authority is something that is very socially uncomfortable for Egyptians," said Akl.

Filmmaker Galal disagrees.

"This country lived one year and a half without a parliament, without a president or without anything. And, the people they created this organization, what we call officially the civil society exists. It isn't proper [but] it exists," said Galal. "The people they really, when everything collapses¹⁵, they support each other."

Whether some pin their hopes on fledgling civic¹⁶ institutions and others on the long-established military, the fear of collapse is one thing many Egyptians seem to share. 

1 bulwark   

n.堡垒，保障，防御

参考例句：

• That country is a bulwark of freedom.那个国家是自由的堡垒。
• Law and morality are the bulwark of society.法律和道德是社会的防御工具。

2 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

3 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

4 deterioration   

n.退化；恶化；变坏

参考例句：

• Mental and physical deterioration both occur naturally with age. 随着年龄的增长，心智和体力自然衰退。
• The car's bodywork was already showing signs of deterioration. 这辆车的车身已经显示出了劣化迹象。

5 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

6 tarnished   

（通常指金属）（使）失去光泽，（使）变灰暗( tarnish的过去式和过去分词 )； 玷污，败坏

参考例句：

• The mirrors had tarnished with age. 这些镜子因年深日久而照影不清楚。
• His bad behaviour has tarnished the good name of the school. 他行为不轨，败坏了学校的声誉。

7 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。

8 implicate   

vt.使牵连其中，涉嫌

参考例句：

• He didn't find anything in the notebooks to implicate Stu.他在笔记本中没发现任何涉及斯图的东西。
• I do not want to implicate you in my problem of the job.我工作上的问题不想把你也牵扯进来。

9 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

10 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

11 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

12 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

13 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。

14 attachment   

n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附

参考例句：

• She has a great attachment to her sister.她十分依恋她的姐姐。
• She's on attachment to the Ministry of Defense.她现在隶属于国防部。

15 collapses   

折叠( collapse的第三人称单数 )； 倒塌； 崩溃； （尤指工作劳累后）坐下

参考例句：

• This bridge table collapses. 这张桥牌桌子能折叠。
• Once Russia collapses, the last chance to stop Hitler will be gone. 一旦俄国垮台，抑止希特勒的最后机会就没有了。

16 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。