Anger Grows in Cyprus Over Munitions Blast

 　　Thousands of demonstrators continued their march through the country's capital as anger spreads over the government’s apparent involvement in an explosion at a naval¹ base on Monday that left 12 people dead.  At least 20 people have been arrested in connection with the protests.

　　The crowd in central Nicosia swelled² into thousands, with people streaming to the main Freedom Square to express solidarity³ with the families of those killed.

　　Many people waved placards reading: “Criminals”, “State: Killer⁴ of your children” and “President Christofias Resign.”

　　Dozens of containers of gunpowder⁵ seized years ago from an Iranian cargo⁶ ship exploded on Cyprus' main naval base on Monday in a massive blast that killed 12 people, wounded 62.

　　Police said Wednesday that they arrested 20 people during the protest. They said protesters hurled⁷ rocks, flares⁸ and fire bombs at riot police, who responded with tear gas. Five police officers were slightly injured.

　　Student Emma Charalambous says that it was there that security forces dispersed⁹ many of the protesters by using tear gas late Tuesday.

　　"Well at first it was quite peaceful and everyone was just doing a march for mourning and they had candles and everything lit, but then rocks started flying and tear gas from all directions coming everywhere," she said. "Literally¹⁰ you could not see.  Grandchildren, grandparents - there were all ages there."

　　Meanwhile, funeral services for eight of the twelve dead that included the island's navy chief were held Wednesday, with crowds applauding the victims as their caskets were carried into churches.

　　Petitions on the internet for the president to resign have also gathered pace, with thousands of people signing a Face book campaign.

　　Monday's blast also wrecked¹¹ a key power plant and forced the resignations of the defense¹² minister and the military chief.

　　The spokesman for the Cyprus Electricity Authority says that the island was already having extensive power cuts, which are causing blackouts in most districts.

　　"We must cut supplies in some areas, in turn, for two to three hours every day," said the spokesman. "I must clarify that airports, hospitals, tourist areas and industrial estates will not be affected¹³ from the power cuts in an effort not to cause problems for our economy - only residential¹⁴ areas will be affected."

　　The military base stored munitions¹⁵ from the Monchegorsk, which Cyprus intercepted¹⁶ sailing from Iran to Syria in 2009, confiscating¹⁷ its cargo for being in violation¹⁸ of UN sanctions on Iran.(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

2 swelled   

增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情）

参考例句：

• The infection swelled his hand. 由于感染，他的手肿了起来。
• After the heavy rain the river swelled. 大雨过后，河水猛涨。

3 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。

4 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

5 gunpowder   

n.火药

参考例句：

• Gunpowder was introduced into Europe during the first half of the 14th century.在14世纪上半叶，火药传入欧洲。
• This statement has a strong smell of gunpowder.这是一篇充满火药味的声明。

6 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

7 hurled   

v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂

参考例句：

• He hurled a brick through the window. 他往窗户里扔了块砖。
• The strong wind hurled down bits of the roof. 大风把屋顶的瓦片刮了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 flares   

n.喇叭裤v.（使）闪耀( flare的第三人称单数 )；（使）（船舷）外倾；（使）鼻孔张大；（使）（衣裙、酒杯等）呈喇叭形展开

参考例句：

• The side of a ship flares from the keel to the deck. 船舷从龙骨向甲板外倾。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He's got a fiery temper and flares up at the slightest provocation. 他是火爆性子，一点就着。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 dispersed   

adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的

参考例句：

• The clouds dispersed themselves. 云散了。
• After school the children dispersed to their homes. 放学后，孩子们四散回家了。

10 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

11 wrecked   

adj.失事的，遇难的

参考例句：

• the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
• the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞

12 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。

13 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

14 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

15 munitions   

n.军火，弹药；v.供应…军需品

参考例句：

• The army used precision-guided munitions to blow up enemy targets.军队用精确瞄准的枪炮炸掉敌方目标。
• He rose [made a career for himself] by dealing in munitions.他是靠贩卖军火发迹的。

16 intercepted   

拦截( intercept的过去式和过去分词 )； 截住； 截击； 拦阻

参考例句：

• Reporters intercepted him as he tried to leave the hotel. 他正要离开旅馆，记者们把他拦截住了。
• Reporters intercepted him as he tried to leave by the rear entrance. 他想从后门溜走，记者把他截住了。

17 confiscating   

没收（confiscate的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• There was Mame by my side confiscating my intellects and attention. 有玛米坐在我身边，害得我心不在焉。
• Intimidate book sellers by confiscating books deemed unfavourable to the Barisan government. 充公被视为对国阵不利的书籍，威胁书商。

18 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。