2006年VOA标准英语-G-8 Leaders Denounce Hezbollah Attacks on Israe

By Deborah Block
Washington, DC
18 July 2006
 
watch Middle East report

Israeli military planes bombed the port of the Lebanese capital of Beirut and other sites in Lebanon Monday. It was the sixth day of an offensive against the Hezbollah militant¹ group.  Meanwhile, political leaders at the G-8 Summit in St. Petersburg, Russia denounced the attacks on Israel by Hezbollah. 

---------

Israeli missiles struck Lebanon Monday in a massive retaliation² after Hezbollah rockets hit the Israeli city of Haifa a day earlier, killing³ eight people. Officials say more than three dozen people died during Israeli airstrikes.  They included at least eight Lebanese soldiers and 10 civilians⁵ in southern Lebanon.  The officials say the attacks on the capital of Beirut hit a fuel depot⁶, factories, and civilian⁴ installations.  

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert    
  
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the Israeli parliament the fighting would end when two Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah are freed, rocket attacks on Israel have stopped, and the Lebanese army is deployed⁷ along the border. 

Iran and Syria are the main supporters of Hezbollah.  Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has called for a ceasefire and a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hezbollah.  The militant group has offered to swap⁸ the two kidnapped Israeli soldiers for an unspecified number of Arab prisoners.   

Fouad Siniora, the Prime Minister of Lebanon  
  
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora has called for the fighting to stop. "An immediate⁹ and comprehensive ceasefire under the auspices¹⁰ of the United Nations which will enable the U.N., the Arab countries and other international parties, in cooperation with the Lebanese government, to responsibly resolve all issues arising from the events of the past few days as well as their underlying¹¹ causes."

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan appealed to Israel to abide¹² by international law and spare civilian lives.  "I think we need to get the parties to agree as soon as practicable to a cessation of hostilities¹³, but to do that they need to give diplomacy¹⁴ time and space for us to work."

World leaders at the G-8 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia released a statement blaming Hezbollah for the violence and urging Israel to show restraint.  U.S. President George W. Bush said Hezbollah was clearly responsible for the problem.  "We have to clarify a root of instability in the Middle East and that's Hezbollah and Hezbollah's relationship with Syria, and Hezbollah's relationship to Iran and Syria's relationship with Iran."

French President Jacques Chirac expressed concern about Israel's response to the Hezbollah attacks.  "The whole of the G-8 expressed grave reservations about the disproportionate nature of Israel's response, which I must say, had been provoked.  And secondly¹⁵, we stressed the imperative¹⁶ need to put an end to the bombings, which ultimately are targeting the things which are nothing to do with restoring peace."

British Prime Minister Tony Blair called for the deployment¹⁷ of international forces to stop the bombardment of Israel.  "The most immediate priority is to create the conditions in which the cessation of violence can happen. But this is a very, very serious situation indeed, and it is going to be vital that we use every single effort we can possibly can to make sure over the next few days that we put in place those conditions that can actually allow us to have that cessation of violence."         

Russian President Vladimir Putin says Russia is using all its Middle East channels to try to win the release of the two Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah.

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 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 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。

4 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

5 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。

6 depot   

n.仓库，储藏处；公共汽车站；火车站

参考例句：

• The depot is only a few blocks from here.公共汽车站离这儿只有几个街区。
• They leased the building as a depot.他们租用这栋大楼作仓库。

7 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

8 swap   

n.交换；vt.交换，用...作交易

参考例句：

• I will swap you my bicycle for your radio.我想拿我的自行车换你的收音机。
• This comic was a swap that I got from Nick.这本漫画书是我从尼克那里换来的。

9 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

10 auspices   

n.资助，赞助

参考例句：

• The association is under the auspices of Word Bank.这个组织是在世界银行的赞助下办的。
• The examination was held under the auspices of the government.这次考试是由政府主办的。

11 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

12 abide   

vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受

参考例句：

• You must abide by the results of your mistakes.你必须承担你的错误所造成的后果。
• If you join the club,you have to abide by its rules.如果你参加俱乐部，你就得遵守它的规章。

13 hostilities   

n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事

参考例句：

• Mexico called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. 墨西哥要求立即停止敌对行动。
• All the old hostilities resurfaced when they met again. 他们再次碰面时，过去的种种敌意又都冒了出来。

14 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

15 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

16 imperative   

n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的

参考例句：

• He always speaks in an imperative tone of voice.他老是用命令的口吻讲话。
• The events of the past few days make it imperative for her to act.过去这几天发生的事迫使她不得不立即行动。

17 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。