2006年VOA标准英语-Fighting Breaks Out in Congo Capital

By Nico Colombant
Dakar
11 November 2006

Clashes between fighters loyal to rival presidential candidates in the Democratic Republic of Congo left two civilians¹ dead on Saturday as fresh partial election results showed the gap between the contenders narrowing

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Soldiers who support Jean-Pierre Bemba carry a wounded colleague to safety in Kinshasa, Congo  
  
A journalist stuck inside a United Nations bunker said mortars² were being fired around a residence of candidate and former rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba.

U.N. peacekeepers said it appeared the fighting was between Bemba's militia³ and security forces.

Peacekeepers say the fighting started when police tried to disperse⁴ a pro-Bemba demonstration⁵.

Protesters set tires on fire, saying there was vote-rigging in favor of transitional President Joseph Kabila.

An official on Bemba's election team, Eve Baz, told VOA her side believes Congolese are being cheated again.

"We want to have a correct election, to have a fair election and transparency in all these operations," she said.  "I feel that there is not transparency now, because we have many problems now of our members , of all our representatives in the tally⁶ centers."

Jean-Pierre Bemba  
  
Results so far of the second round October 29 runoff give Mr. Kabila a huge overall lead, due to a strong advantage in the east, but Bemba still largely dominates in early vote-counting in the west, including in the capital.

First round results in August led to deadly fighting between security guards loyal to the rival candidates. The guards have yet to be reintegrated into a national army. 

The international community has paid hundreds-of-millions of dollars for what many analysts⁷ call the most important African election since the post-apartheid vote in South Africa in 1994. 

United Nations officials say the aim of the election in the vast mineral-rich Congo is to end decades of misrule, corruption⁸ and plundering⁹.

1 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。

2 mortars   

n.迫击炮( mortar的名词复数 )；砂浆；房产；研钵

参考例句：

• They could not move their heavy mortars over the swampy ground. 他们无法把重型迫击炮移过那片沼泽地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Where the hell are his mortars? 他有迫击炮吗？ 来自教父部分

3 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

4 disperse   

vi.使分散；使消失；vt.分散；驱散

参考例句：

• The cattle were swinging their tails to disperse the flies.那些牛甩动着尾巴驱赶苍蝇。
• The children disperse for the holidays.孩子们放假了。

5 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

6 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。

7 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

8 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

9 plundering   

掠夺，抢劫( plunder的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The troops crossed the country, plundering and looting as they went. 部队经过乡村，一路抢劫掳掠。
• They amassed huge wealth by plundering the colonies. 他们通过掠夺殖民地聚敛了大笔的财富。