2006年VOA标准英语-23 Iraqis Die in Bomb Explosions

By Ben Gilbert
Baghdad
19 January 2006

Two bombs exploded moments apart killing¹ 23 people in downtown Baghdad, and 35 kidnapped police recruits are also feared dead. Meanwhile, Arab satellite channel Al Jazeera showed new tape of kidnapped reporter Jill Carroll, as her family and colleagues appealed for her release.

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Jill Carroll appears in a silent 20-second video aired Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2006 by Al-Jazeera  
  

The new Al Jazeera video shows kidnapped American journalist Jill Carroll flanked by armed and masked men. Al Jazeera told The Associated Press that the footage was from the same tape broadcast Tuesday, which showed Carroll seated in front of a white wall, talking to the camera.

The new tape aired the same day Christian² Science Monitor Washington Bureau Chief David Cook appealed for Carroll's release.

"It would be wrong to murder someone who has devoted³ herself unselfishly to promoting understanding of the Iraqi people," he said.

Several high-level Sunni clerics and political leaders in Iraq and around the Arab world have also called for Carroll's release. Her kidnappers⁴ demand that all female detainees be released by Iraqi and U.S. forces or Carroll will be killed Friday.

The U.S. military says it holds only eight female prisoners, and that those detainees will be processed according to normal procedures.

Carroll was kidnapped and her translator shot dead on January 7 in a lawless neighborhood on the city's largely Sunni west side.

An injured man walks through the debris⁵ from one of two neighboring bomb attacks in Baghdad  
  
Violence continued in central Baghdad, as two bombs blew up on a busy commercial strip. In the first incident, a suicide bomber⁶ walked into a coffee shop and detonated his explosive vest, sending body parts and bloodied⁷ furniture flying onto the street. Almost simultaneously⁸, a nearby bomb exploded near a popular restaurant.

Meanwhile, 35 police applicants⁹ missing since Monday are all probably dead, the U.S. military says. The men had been returning to the northern Iraqi town of Samarra from Baghdad, after failing to be admitted to the Baghdad police academy.

U.S. Army Lieutenant¹⁰ Colonel Frederick Wellman says the men got caught in an insurgent¹¹ checkpoint as their public bus took a detour¹² on their way back home.

"Insurgents¹³ stopped the bus, and while searching the bus discovered the men were police recruits, they separated them from the other civilians¹⁴ on the bus, then took those men and the bus and departed the area," he said.

Wellman said based on reports he received, there was reason to believe the applicants were executed.

In a bit of good news, Iraq's Deputy Foreign Minister Labeed Abawi tells VOA that nine Iraqi sailors detained yesterday by Iran were to be released.

The nine sailors were investigating an Iranian boat that they suspected of illegally smuggling¹⁵ oil from Iraqi territory. When the Iraqi sailors boarded the Iranian boat, the captain radioed for help, and an Iranian patrol attacked the Iraqis, then detained them. Abawi says one Iraqi sailor was injured in the incident.

1 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。

2 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

3 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

4 kidnappers   

n.拐子，绑匪( kidnapper的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They were freed yesterday by their kidnappers unharmed. 他们昨天被绑架者释放了，没有受到伤害。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The kidnappers had threatened to behead all four unless their jailed comrades were released. 帮匪们曾经威胁说如果印度方面不释放他们的同伙，他们就要将这四名人质全部斩首。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

6 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

7 bloodied   

v.血污的( bloody的过去式和过去分词 )；流血的；屠杀的；残忍的

参考例句：

• his bruised and bloodied nose 他沾满血的青肿的鼻子
• His pants leg was torn and bloodied when he fell. 他跌交时裤腿破了，还染上了血。 来自辞典例句

8 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

9 applicants   

申请人，求职人( applicant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were over 500 applicants for the job. 有500多人申请这份工作。
• He was impressed by the high calibre of applicants for the job. 求职人员出色的能力给他留下了深刻印象。

10 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

11 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

12 detour   

n.绕行的路，迂回路；v.迂回，绕道

参考例句：

• We made a detour to avoid the heavy traffic.我们绕道走，避开繁忙的交通。
• He did not take the direct route to his home,but made a detour around the outskirts of the city.他没有直接回家，而是绕到市郊兜了个圈子。

13 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

14 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。

15 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。