2006年VOA标准英语-Lebanese Soldiers Take Positions Along Southern

By Jim Teeple
Jerusalem
18 August 2006

Lebanese army troops took up positions along Israel's border on Friday as part of the U.N.- mediated¹ ceasefire in Lebanon. The development comes as violence flared² in the Palestinian territories.

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civilians3 upon arrival in Lebanese village of Shebaa, 18 August 2006 " src="/upimg/allimg/070416/1521370.jpg" width="210" border="0" /> Lebanese soldier holding child, waves to civilians upon arrival in Lebanese village of Shebaa, 18 August 2006

Lebanese soldiers took up positions in the village of Shebaa near the disputed enclave known as Shebaa Farms.  The territory is claimed by Lebanon, but occupied by Israel, which says it is part of the Golan Heights and actually belongs to Syria.  Israel seized the area during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

Shebaa Farms has long been a flashpoint for conflict in the region.  Hezbollah militants⁴ cite Israel's continued presence there as a justification⁵ for their attacks on Israel, such as the one that sparked the current conflict on July 12 when Hezbollah militants seized two Israeli soldiers. 

So far, the 2,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, has not been reinforced.  U.N. officials say they plan to send 13,000 additional troops to Lebanon to help Lebanon's army demilitarize southern Lebanon and stop the flow of weapons to Hezbollah militants. They say they hope to have an advance force of 3,500 troops to Lebanon within two weeks.  Israel's Foreign Ministry⁶ spokesman, Yigal Palmor says the longer the delay, the more chance for instability in southern Lebanon.

"We do not understand why the international community is not stepping up the pace of organizing around this question.  If they go on postponing⁷ the organization of this force and its deployment⁸, it will only mean that the council's resolution will not be carried out as planned and we will stay a bit longer," he said.  "This will give Hezbollah the chance to foment⁹ some instability and violence around the border and that is certainly not in anybody's interest."

Meanwhile, Israel says it killed two Palestinian militants Friday after a two-hour standoff near the West Bank town of Bethlehem.

Aides to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told newspapers Friday that because of the conflict in Lebanon Israel was putting on hold its plan to withdraw from large parts of the West Bank, and demarcate its border with the Palestinians - a proposal that was broadly endorsed¹⁰ by Israeli voters when they elected Mr. Olmert prime minister in national elections on March 28. 

1 mediated   

调停，调解，斡旋( mediate的过去式和过去分词 )； 居间促成； 影响…的发生； 使…可能发生

参考例句：

• He mediated in the quarrel between the two boys. 他调解两个孩子之间的争吵。
• The government mediated between the workers and the employers. 政府在工人与雇主间搞调和。

2 Flared   

adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The match flared and went out. 火柴闪亮了一下就熄了。
• The fire flared up when we thought it was out. 我们以为火已经熄灭，但它突然又燃烧起来。

3 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。

4 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

5 justification   

n.正当的理由；辩解的理由

参考例句：

• There's no justification for dividing the company into smaller units. 没有理由把公司划分成小单位。
• In the young there is a justification for this feeling. 在年轻人中有这种感觉是有理由的。

6 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

7 postponing   

v.延期，推迟( postpone的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He tried to gain time by postponing his decision. 他想以迟迟不作决定的手段来争取时间。 来自辞典例句
• I don't hold with the idea of postponing further discussion of the matter. 我不赞成推迟进一步讨论这件事的想法。 来自辞典例句

8 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。

9 foment   

v.煽动，助长

参考例句：

• The rebels know the truth and seek to foment revolution.那些叛乱者知道真相，并且想办法来挑起革命。
• That's an attempt to foment discord.这是挑拨。

10 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》