VOA常速英语2013--刚果的厌战人们希望持久和平马上到来

 

Congo's War-Weary Citizens Hope for Lasting¹ Peace 刚果的厌战人们希望持久和平马上到来

GOMA, DRC — African leaders from the Great Lakes region will meet Thursday to find a solution to fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo between the armed forces and M23 militants². Residents of the eastern town of Goma are hoping for a quick and firm end to the conflict.

A love song in a time of war is heard inside a guitar shop in Goma, where students practice their chord progressions. Meanwhile outside, the military battles a tenacious³ group of rebel soldiers.

在戈马一家吉他商店里放着一首战争时的情歌,学生们在这里练习和弦。同时在外面军队同顽强的叛军士兵正展开激烈交战。

Shop owner Emmanuel Birubi said Congolese people have a natural gift for guitar. Sadly, though, in the midst of conflict, he said nobody has the money to spend on music.

店主伊曼纽尔·贝鲁比称刚果人民对于吉他有一种与生俱来的天赋。不过他表示遗憾的是在这场冲突当中,没人愿意将钱花在音乐上。

When there is war, people dont have the means to buy anything. But when there is peace, people are OK, they dont worry, they can come to buy a guitar, explained Birubi.

“当有战争发生,人们不愿购买任何东西。但当和平到来,人们就万事OK,他们不用提心吊胆，就会来买把吉他。”贝鲁比解释道。

Tentative progress

After nearly two weeks of fierce fighting outside the city, Birubi hopes the military will finish off the M23 rebels once and for all. All the time, they talk about peace, but so far no solution. So my wish is that the army will continue to fight until they finish the war, he said.

经过城外近两周的激烈战斗后, 贝鲁比希望军队能够彻底击垮M23叛军。“他们所有的时间都在谈论和平,但到目前为止没有解决方案。所以我的愿望是,军队继续战斗,直到他们结束战争,”他说道。

In the last two weeks, Congolese armed forces, backed by United Nations peacekeepers, have pushed the rebels back from within striking distance of Goma. The rebels had briefly⁴ seized control of the city in November, and until now, had held positions just 10 kilometers from the population.

在过去的两周, 联合国维和部队支持的刚果军队使反政府武装从戈马的攻击距离撤出。反政府武装在11月曾一度控制了这座城市,直到现在,占据的地点离人口聚集地仅10公里。

The ongoing⁵ conflict has taken its greatest toll⁶ on civilians⁷. Thousands of people have fled to camps like this since the rebellion began last year. With fighting recently renewed, a new influx⁸ of people has put a real strain on resources and has raised the cost of living.

持续的冲突已造成平民们痛苦不堪。自去年开始反抗成千上万的人逃离到这样的营地。随着最近的战事不断,新涌入的人已经造成资源的压力并提高生活成本。

Muchengeri Jean-Baptiste Ndandi fled to the Mugunga camp from the nearby hills as fighting intensified⁹ last November. There is hunger. We are suffering. See the place where Im sleeping, see how the children are living, these are the problem we have here.

牧格利·让·巴蒂斯特·南迪从去年11月的战斗加剧以来就逃到附近山上的穆甘加营地。“这里充满饥饿。民不聊生。看看我睡觉的地方,看看孩子们的生活,这些都是我们的问题。”

Eastern Congo has long been wracked by war, fueled by historic tension between neighbors and the scramble¹⁰ for natural resources.

刚果东部地区一直饱受战争,这是由于邻近地区因历史渊源的紧张关系及争夺自然资源所致。

As the regions leaders point fingers and trade blame, people here just hope the fighting will stop long enough for a more normal life to begin again. 

随着该地区的领导人的指手画脚及胡乱责怪,这里的人们只是希望战争能够停止足够长的时间以便正常的生活重新开始。

1 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

2 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

3 tenacious   

adj.顽强的，固执的，记忆力强的，粘的

参考例句：

• We must learn from the tenacious fighting spirit of Lu Xun.我们要学习鲁迅先生韧性的战斗精神。
• We should be tenacious of our rights.我们应坚决维护我们的权利。

4 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

5 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

6 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

7 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

8 influx   

n.流入，注入

参考例句：

• The country simply cannot absorb this influx of refugees.这个国家实在不能接纳这么多涌入的难民。
• Textile workers favoured protection because they feared an influx of cheap cloth.纺织工人拥护贸易保护措施，因为他们担心涌入廉价纺织品。

9 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 scramble   

v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料

参考例句：

• He broke his leg in his scramble down the wall.他爬墙摔断了腿。
• It was a long scramble to the top of the hill.到山顶须要爬登一段长路。