2006年VOA标准英语-Indian Army Deputy Chief Apologizes for Sexist

By Anjana Pasricha
New Delhi
25 June 2006

Indian Army soldiers display arms and ammunition¹ at an army camp in Nagrota, about 15 kilometers (9 miles) northeast of Jammu   
  
The second-in-command of India's army has apologized for saying that the force could do without women in its ranks, a remark that caused instant uproar².  

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The deputy army chief's original comments, which unleashed³ a barrage⁴ of angry protests from women's groups, were first reported in the national daily, The Hindustan Times.

The newspaper quoted Lieutenant⁵ General S. Pattabhiraman as saying that the comfort level with lady officers in the Indian army is low, and in his words, "We can do without them."

The general immediately came under fire from women across the spectrum⁶. A leader of the opposition⁷ Bharatiya Janata Party, Sushma Swaraj, said the government should tell the general "the Indian army can do without him."

Women's groups insisted that the deputy army chief's remarks betrayed a gender⁸ bias⁹ in the army, and condemned¹⁰ the remarks as "very irresponsible."

The Secretary of the National Federation¹¹ of Indian Women, Krishna Mazumdar Lahiri, says women can perform as well as men in any sphere.

"I don't think in this day and age, you can talk about any activity where women are not necessary, they are not wanted. In fact, all branches of work, education should be open to women. They don't have to be stuck in low-paying jobs that really don't empower them at all. If they have to be empowered they must also have the choice to enter any profession that they can qualify for," she said.

The army engaged in quick damage control, saying the general had been quoted out of context. Defense¹² Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the government would like to see more women in the army.

But the storm refused to die down, and this week women activists¹³ won the apology they were demanding. General Pattabhiraman issued a statement saying that he had a personal commitment and healthy respect for the role of women officers in the Indian army.

The apology may have calmed the controversy¹⁴, but the spotlight¹⁵ remains¹⁶ on the army, which has been criticized as one of the country's last male bastions.

The million-strong force is one of the largest in the world. It opened its doors to women 14 years ago, but so far it has fewer than 1,000 female officers, and, unlike their counterparts in other countries, all of them are in non-combat roles.

Although many sections of Indian society continue to be male-dominated, women are gradually breaking age-old shackles¹⁷ and have emerged on the frontlines in numerous professions. A woman prime minister, Indira Gandhi, led the country for more than 15 years starting in 1966

1 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

2 uproar   

n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸

参考例句：

• She could hear the uproar in the room.她能听见房间里的吵闹声。
• His remarks threw the audience into an uproar.他的讲话使听众沸腾起来。

3 unleashed   

v.把（感情、力量等）释放出来，发泄( unleash的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The government's proposals unleashed a storm of protest in the press. 政府的提案引发了新闻界的抗议浪潮。
• The full force of his rage was unleashed against me. 他把所有的怒气都发泄在我身上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 barrage   

n.火力网，弹幕

参考例句：

• The attack jumped off under cover of a barrage.进攻在炮火的掩护下开始了。
• The fierce artillery barrage destroyed the most part of the city in a few minutes.猛烈的炮火几分钟内便毁灭了这座城市的大部分地区。

5 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。

6 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

7 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。

8 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

9 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

10 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

11 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。

12 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。

13 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

15 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

16 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

17 shackles   

手铐( shackle的名词复数 )； 脚镣； 束缚； 羁绊

参考例句：

• a country struggling to free itself from the shackles of colonialism 为摆脱殖民主义的枷锁而斗争的国家
• The cars of the train are coupled together by shackles. 火车的车厢是用钩链连接起来的。