VOA慢速英语2012 Special English - US Ambassador Killed in Libya

 

Special English - US Ambassador Killed in Libya

I'm Avi Arditti with more news in Special English. We spoke¹ with two VOA reporters about the killing² of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans at the United States consulate³ in Benghazi, Libya.

Senior correspondent Andre DeNesnera says an anti-Muslim film incited⁴ anger, but knowing who was responsible for the attack may be very difficult.

ANDRE DeNESNERA: "One remembers that last year when the rebels were fighting at that time Col. Moammar Gadhafi, the leader of Libya, there were about one hundred separate opposition⁵ groups. And so they are in the process now of trying to consolidate⁶ the country and put together a government. Other experts believe it may be the work of Ghadaffi loyalists who are now using that [film] as a pretext⁷ for attacking the Americans, who are seen, of course, as the driving force behind the elimination⁸, the death, of Col. Gadhafi."

AA: "So much attention recently has been on Syria, with the ongoing⁹ conflict there. What is the situation in Libya. I know you just talked about it a little bit, but how close are they to a government?"

ANDRE DeNESNERA: "Still quite unstable¹⁰. Now that it's out of the headlines, it's difficult to try to get a reading on it. But what they are trying to do is put Libya back on the footing of a, quote unquote, normal country -- in other words, with the help of the United States, with the help of Europe. But this, of course, when you have the death of four Americans including an ambassador, it is quite a shocking event, at a time when one was more or less lulled¹¹ into the Arab Spring."

AA: "And you've covered the State Department and diplomacy¹² over the years. How significant is this, the death of an ambassador -- when was the last time?"

ANDRE DeNESNERA: "The last time, to knowledge, was in Afghanistan in nineteen seventy-nine, and there were only five ambassadors who were killed in the line of duty. But what is interesting is that the ambassador was ironically, during the Libyan campaign, military campaign, last year, was the representative of the United States to the opposition groups. So he was a well-known quantity, apparently¹³ someone who was well respected, a Middle scholar, and to lose someone of that caliber¹⁴ is devastating¹⁵."

VOA's Cecily Hilleary has been following reaction to Tuesday's attacks in Libya and on the American embassy in Cairo in social media from the Arab world and elsewhere.

CECILY HILLEARY: "There are questions as to why we would allow these kinds of things to be aired. At the same time you have Americans saying this is an overreaction, that Muslims are being baited, and Muslims are rising to the occasion, and that this justifies¹⁶ Islamaphobia."

AA: "That they are being baited into -- incited to violence."

CECILY HILLEARY: "Incited to violence, and then the violence feeds ... "

AA: "More violence."

CECILY HILLEARY: "More Islamaphobia. What I'm seeing in social media is that there is a huge misunderstanding between the two sides. This movie was perceived as something mainstream¹⁷, Hollywood, possibly even government sanction. You know, that's the Arab perspective."

AA: "Which ... "

CECILY HILLEARY: "Which of course it was not. What we know is very little. It's still early. But these are -- they are handheld cameras. This is an amateur production. The full film, to my knowledge, hasn't even aired, just a trailer appeared on YouTube. There are questions as to whether YouTube, a private company, should be held culpable¹⁸ for allowing it to stay on the site. You know, these are interesting questions. In the Arab world, yeah, YouTube would be sanctioned. In the United States, like it or not ... "

AA: "It's very rare for any action to be taken against freedom of speech."

CECILY HILLEARY: "But it opens up new questions about freedom of speech. We are very reluctant to give that up in the United States. And the reaction -- this is a political year. You're immediately seeing the two camps, Obama and Romney, kind of polarizing on social media."

That was VOA's Cecily Hilleary. I'm Avi Arditti.

1 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。

2 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

3 consulate   

n.领事馆

参考例句：

• The Spanish consulate is the large white building opposite the bank.西班牙领事馆是银行对面的那栋高大的白色建筑物。
• The American consulate was a magnificent edifice in the centre of Bordeaux.美国领事馆是位于波尔多市中心的一座宏伟的大厦。

4 incited   

刺激，激励，煽动( incite的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He incited people to rise up against the government. 他煽动人们起来反对政府。
• The captain's example incited the men to bravery. 船长的榜样激发了水手们的勇敢精神。

5 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。

6 consolidate   

v.使加固，使加强；(把...)联为一体，合并

参考例句：

• The two banks will consolidate in July next year. 这两家银行明年7月将合并。
• The government hoped to consolidate ten states to form three new ones.政府希望把十个州合并成三个新的州。

7 pretext   

n.借口，托词

参考例句：

• He used his headache as a pretext for not going to school.他借口头疼而不去上学。
• He didn't attend that meeting under the pretext of sickness.他以生病为借口，没参加那个会议。

8 elimination   

n.排除，消除，消灭

参考例句：

• Their elimination from the competition was a great surprise.他们在比赛中遭到淘汰是个很大的意外。
• I was eliminated from the 400 metres in the semi-finals.我在400米半决赛中被淘汰。

9 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。

10 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。

11 lulled   

vt.使镇静，使安静（lull的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• They lulled her into a false sense of security. 他们哄骗她，使她产生一种虚假的安全感。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The movement of the train lulled me to sleep. 火车轻微的震动催我进入梦乡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

13 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

14 caliber   

n.能力；水准

参考例句：

• They ought to win with players of such high caliber.他们选手的能力这样高,应该获胜。
• We are always trying to improve the caliber of our schools.我们一直在想方设法提高我们学校的水平。

15 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

16 justifies   

证明…有理( justify的第三人称单数 )； 为…辩护； 对…作出解释； 为…辩解（或辩护）

参考例句：

• Their frequency of use both justifies and requires the memorization. 频繁的使用需要记忆，也促进了记忆。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• In my judgement the present end justifies the means. 照我的意见，只要目的正当，手段是可以不计较的。

17 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

18 culpable   

adj.有罪的，该受谴责的

参考例句：

• The judge found the man culpable.法官认为那个人有罪。
• Their decision to do nothing makes them culpable.他们不采取任何行动的决定使他们难辞其咎。