2006年VOA标准英语-India's Holy City Hums with Life as Kashmi

By Anjana Pasricha
New Delhi
09 March 2006

In India, the holy Hindu city of Varanasi has bounced back to normal two days after it was hit by deadly bomb blasts. An unknown Muslim militant¹ group in Kashmir has claimed responsibility for the attacks, which killed 20 people and wounded dozens.

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Sadhus, or Hindu holy men, go about their daily morning rituals in front of idols² of Hindu Gods on the banks of the River Ganges in Varanasi, India, Thursday, March 9, 2006   
  

Shops reopened, streets bustled³ with traffic and devotees flocked to temples in Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh state on Thursday. Hundreds of tourists and Hindu pilgrims returned for a holy dip in the famed bathing areas on the banks of the Ganges River, which flows along the city.

Security has been tight in the wake of the bomb blasts that targeted an ancient temple and the city's rail station on Tuesday - but fears that sectarian violence could convulse the Hindu holy town are subsiding⁴. A previously⁵ unknown Islamist group, the Lashkar-e-Kahar or "Army of Terror" called a news agency in Kashmir claiming responsibility for the blasts.

A spokesman threatened to carry out more such attacks if "India does not stop excesses against Kashmiri Muslims."

Security analyst⁷, Bharat Karnad at New Delhi's Center for Policy Research says the group is probably a front for a more prominent Islamic group fighting to end Indian rule over part of the Kashmir region.

"Lashkar-e-Kahar is obviously a cover, Lashkar-e-Taiba being the real culprit," he said.

Police officials say it is too early to say who was responsible for the blasts, but the Lashkar-e-Taiba group is on the list of suspects.

They released sketches⁸ of two suspected bombers⁹, and said that according to witnesses they looked and spoke⁶ like Kashmiris. Two of the bombs that exploded within minutes of each other had been placed inside pressure cookers.

Police had managed to defuse two other bombs before they could explode.

Varanasi was rocked by explosions four months after coordinated¹⁰ blasts killed dozens of people in the Indian capital New Delhi, just before the main Hindu festival of Diwali.

Karnad says Islamic militant groups are mounting such attacks to create a divide between the majority Hindus and Muslims, who make up 12 percent of the country's population.

"These blasts are not merely to bloody¹¹ a few people or kill a few people here and there," he said. "The idea is they are banking¹² on some kind of Hindu backlash or majoritarian backlash so that in turn would radicalize the common Muslim population, and that I think is the larger aim"

Varanasi, is one of the world's oldest cities and a prominent center of Hinduism.

It is usually packed with Hindu pilgrims and foreign tourists.

1 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

2 idols   

偶像( idol的名词复数 )； 受崇拜的人或物； 受到热爱和崇拜的人或物； 神像

参考例句：

• The genii will give evidence against those who have worshipped idols. 魔怪将提供证据来反对那些崇拜偶像的人。 来自英汉非文学 - 文明史
• Teenagers are very sequacious and they often emulate the behavior of their idols. 青少年非常盲从，经常模仿他们的偶像的行为。

3 bustled   

闹哄哄地忙乱，奔忙( bustle的过去式和过去分词 )； 催促

参考例句：

• She bustled around in the kitchen. 她在厨房里忙得团团转。
• The hostress bustled about with an assumption of authority. 女主人摆出一副权威的样子忙来忙去。

4 subsiding   

v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的现在分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上

参考例句：

• The flooded river was subsiding rapidly. 泛滥的河水正在迅速退落。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Gradually the tension was subsiding, gradually the governor was relenting. 风潮渐渐地平息了。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

5 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

6 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。

7 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

8 sketches   

n.草图( sketch的名词复数 )；素描；速写；梗概

参考例句：

• The artist is making sketches for his next painting. 画家正为他的下一幅作品画素描。
• You have to admit that these sketches are true to life. 你得承认这些素描很逼真。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

11 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

12 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。