2006年VOA标准英语-Former Yugoslav President Milosevic Dies i

By Barry Wood
Washington
11 March 2006

Slobodan Milosevic (2000 file photo)   
  
Slobodan Milosevic, for 13 years the dictatorial¹ leader of Serbia and later Yugoslavia, and the person most directly associated with the brutal² wars of Yugoslav secession, is dead.

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Milosevic, 64, was found dead in his cell at The Hague, where for four years he had been on trial facing more than 60 counts of war crimes and genocide. His trial was interrupted repeatedly because of his poor health resulting from a heart condition and high blood pressure.

Defiant³ to the last, Milosevic insisted on representing himself, and denounced the U.N. tribunal as false.

Milosevic was a lawyer and banker before turning to politics. He was born in a town east of Belgrade, where his father and mother were teachers. Both eventually committed suicide. He came of age in the early 1960s when non-aligned, communist Yugoslavia under Marshal Jozip Broz Tito was at the height of its power.

Former Yugoslav diplomat⁴ Vladimir Matic, a professor of politics at America's Clemson University, attended law school in Belgrade with Milosevic.

"He was very ambitious, energetic, and I would say, already at that young age, manipulative and ruthless," he said.

After graduating from law school in 1964, Milosevic joined the communist party and gradually rose through its ranks. Deceptively charming and fluent in English, Milosevic held various government positions, and, in 1983, headed a major Yugoslav bank, but a year later, became communist party leader in the capital, Belgrade.

After Tito's death in 1980, Yugoslavia was ruled by a weak, rotating, eight-member presidency⁵, comprised of the leaders of the country's six republics and two provinces. Ethnic⁶ and religious tension, suppressed in the multi-ethnic Yugoslav federation⁷ under Tito, surfaced in the 1980s, and Yugoslavia stagnated⁸, amid hyperinflation and mounting friction⁹ among its constituent¹⁰ republics.  

 
Poster of Slobodan Milosevic hangs on facade¹¹ of building in Belgrade
  
Milosevic became communist party chief in Serbia in 1986.  A year later, he gained prominence¹² by demanding that the province of Kosovo be stripped of its autonomy, and increased power be given to Serbs in the Albanian-majority territory.

In a 1999 interview, author and Balkans expert Laura Silber said the speech he delivered in Kosovo commemorating¹³ the Serbs' epic¹⁴ military loss to the Turks in 1387, catapulted Milosevic to power.

"This is where he really sets the wheels in motion beyond the party apparatus¹⁵, to take control of the provinces of Vojvodina, to the north, and Kosovo - the mostly Albanian province - to the south," said Ms. Silber.  "And that is how he began to make his bid to lead the former Yugoslavia. Because, what he really wanted then, was to become the next Josip Broz Tito."

In 1989, the year the Iron Curtain collapsed¹⁶, Milosevic became president of Serbia. Now presenting himself as a hard-line Serb nationalist, Milosevic's increased power set off alarm bells throughout Yugoslavia.

In 1991, Slovenia and Croatia declared independence, triggering the start of what would be nearly a decade of the most barbaric warfare¹⁷ seen in Europe since the second world war, spreading to Bosnia-Herzegovina and later to Kosovo.

Vladimir Matic says Milosevic failed to understand how the end of the Cold War had changed global politics, and spelled the end to communist Yugoslavia. He says Milosevic's wars impoverished¹⁸ Serbia, and most of the former Yugoslavia.

"In the long-run, this is to be the legacy¹⁹, as well as that Serbia, as part of the former Yugoslavia was about, in 1990, in its development - [it] was, perhaps, 15 years ahead of East European countries. And, all those former communist societies today are maybe 15 years ahead of Yugoslavia," said Mr. Matic.

As the 1990s progressed, and the wars spread from Croatia to Bosnia-Herzegovina and to Kosovo, Milosevic's grip on power tightened²⁰. During his 12 years in power, all of the wars he started were lost.

In 1999, when nearly three months of NATO bombing in defense²¹ of Kosovo's Albanians forced Serbian troops out of Kosovo, Milosevic was indicted²² for war crimes by the United Nations tribunal in the Hague.

In October 2000, a popular uprising forced Milosevic to accede²³ defeat in elections, and a year later, a democratically elected government in Serbia sent Milosevic to The Hague for trial.

Richard Holbrooke, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, knew Milosevic well from hours of negotiating the Dayton peace accords that ended the Bosnian war. He calls Milosevic a "monster."

"Probably the worst leader, other than the communist leaders, in Europe since World War II," he said.  "300,000, 2.5 million are homeless because of Slobodan Milosevic. He fought and lost four wars, then he lost his job, then his freedom, and went to The Hague, and, now, he has ended his days with some form of rough, incomplete justice in his cell in The Hague."

Milosevic suffered from a chronic²⁴ heart condition. During his unfinished trial, he rejected counsel and defended himself. He described himself as misunderstood, and the last defender²⁵ of a proud people who suffered what he called NATO aggression²⁶ and Western-backed terrorism.

Milosevic was the first head of state to face an international war crimes court.

1 dictatorial   

adj. 独裁的，专断的

参考例句：

• Her father is very dictatorial.她父亲很专横。
• For years the nation had been under the heel of a dictatorial regime.多年来这个国家一直在独裁政权的铁蹄下。

2 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

3 defiant   

adj.无礼的，挑战的

参考例句：

• With a last defiant gesture,they sang a revolutionary song as they were led away to prison.他们被带走投入监狱时，仍以最后的反抗姿态唱起了一支革命歌曲。
• He assumed a defiant attitude toward his employer.他对雇主采取挑衅的态度。

4 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

5 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

6 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

7 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

8 stagnated   

v.停滞，不流动，不发展( stagnate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The balloting had stagnated, he couldn't win. 投票工作陷于停顿，他不能得胜。 来自辞典例句
• His mind has stagnated since his retirement. 他退休后头脑迟钝了。 来自辞典例句

9 friction   

n.摩擦，摩擦力

参考例句：

• When Joan returned to work,the friction between them increased.琼回来工作后，他们之间的摩擦加剧了。
• Friction acts on moving bodies and brings them to a stop.摩擦力作用于运动着的物体，并使其停止。

10 constituent   

n.选民；成分，组分；adj.组成的，构成的

参考例句：

• Sugar is the main constituent of candy.食糖是糖果的主要成分。
• Fibre is a natural constituent of a healthy diet.纤维是健康饮食的天然组成部分。

11 facade   

n.(建筑物的)正面，临街正面；外表

参考例句：

• The entrance facade consists of a large full height glass door.入口正面有一大型全高度玻璃门。
• If you look carefully,you can see through Bob's facade.如果你仔细观察，你就能看穿鲍勃的外表。

12 prominence   

n.突出；显著；杰出；重要

参考例句：

• He came to prominence during the World Cup in Italy.他在意大利的世界杯赛中声名鹊起。
• This young fashion designer is rising to prominence.这位年轻的时装设计师的声望越来越高。

13 commemorating   

v.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was presented with a scroll commemorating his achievements. 他被授予一幅卷轴，以表彰其所做出的成就。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The post office issued a series commemorating famous American entertainers. 邮局发行了一个纪念美国著名演艺人员的系列邮票。 来自互联网

14 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

15 apparatus   

n.装置，器械；器具，设备

参考例句：

• The school's audio apparatus includes films and records.学校的视听设备包括放映机和录音机。
• They had a very refined apparatus.他们有一套非常精良的设备。

16 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

17 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

18 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

20 tightened   

收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧

参考例句：

• The rope holding the boat suddenly tightened and broke. 系船的绳子突然绷断了。
• His index finger tightened on the trigger but then relaxed again. 他的食指扣住扳机，然后又松开了。

21 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。

22 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。

23 accede   

v.应允，同意

参考例句：

• They are ready to accede to our request for further information.我们要是还需要资料，他们乐于随时提供。
• In a word,he will not accede to your proposal in the meeting.总而言之，他不会在会中赞成你的提议。

24 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

25 defender   

n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人

参考例句：

• He shouldered off a defender and shot at goal.他用肩膀挡开防守队员，然后射门。
• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。

26 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。