VOA标准英语2014--The Horror Of Homs

 

The Horror Of Homs

The old district of the Syrian city of Homs has been under siege by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for almost eighteen months. The populace there is starving.  A convoy¹ of twelve trucks with over 100 tons of food is waiting outside the city only 100 yards away from people who are in desperate need of assistance.

Hopes that talks held in Geneva last week between representatives of the Syrian government and the opposition² -- the first time the two parties have met since the conflict began nearly three years ago -- would lead to relief for the besieged³ city have not been realized.  The regime of Bashar al-Assad refuses to allow the trucks to enter the city. Instead, the regime has offered a one-time evacuation of women and children.

U.S. State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki deplored⁴ the refusal of the Syrian regime to allow humanitarian⁵ aid into the city. “The situation is desperate,” she said, and the proposed evacuation of women and children “is not sufficient”:

“The people of Homs must not be forced to leave their homes and split up their families before receiving much-needed food and other aid. An evacuation is not an alternative to badly needed humanitarian assistance. We’ve seen similar tactics before from the regime through its despicable ‘kneel or starve’ campaign.”

Ms. Psaki noted⁶ that U.S. concern about the humanitarian situation on the ground in Syria extends to other besieged communities in the country in desperate need of humanitarian aid.

The brutality⁸ of the Syrian regime against the Syrian people over the past three years, including the use of starvation as a weapon of war, gas attacks against civilians⁹, torture, executions, and indiscriminate bombings constitute the reason why Syrian President Bashar al-Assad cannot be a part of a negotiated transitional government for Syria, the most important goal of the Geneva talks, which were convened¹⁰ to discuss the implementation¹¹ of the June 2012 Geneva communique, which called for such a government.

 

As Secretary of State John Kerry has said, “There is no way that the man who has led the brutal⁷ response to his own people could regain¹² the legitimacy¹³ to govern.  One man and those who have supported him can no longer hold an entire nation and region hostage.”

1 convoy   

vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队

参考例句：

• The convoy was snowed up on the main road.护送队被大雪困在干路上了。
• Warships will accompany the convoy across the Atlantic.战舰将护送该船队过大西洋。

2 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

3 besieged   

包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Paris was besieged for four months and forced to surrender. 巴黎被围困了四个月后被迫投降。
• The community besieged the newspaper with letters about its recent editorial. 公众纷纷来信对报社新近发表的社论提出诘问，弄得报社应接不暇。

4 deplored   

v.悲叹，痛惜，强烈反对( deplore的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They deplored the price of motor car, textiles, wheat, and oil. 他们悲叹汽车、纺织品、小麦和石油的价格。 来自辞典例句
• Hawthorne feels that all excess is to be deplored. 霍桑觉得一切过分的举动都是可悲的。 来自辞典例句

5 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

8 brutality   

n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• a general who was infamous for his brutality 因残忍而恶名昭彰的将军

9 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。

10 convened   

召开( convene的过去式 )； 召集； （为正式会议而）聚集； 集合

参考例句：

• The chairman convened the committee to put the issue to a vote. 主席召集委员们开会对这个问题进行表决。
• The governor convened his troops to put down the revolt. 总督召集他的部队去镇压叛乱。

11 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

12 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

13 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。