2007年VOA标准英语-Guinea Strike Leaders Reject President's Offer

By Nico Colombant
Dakar
17 January 2007

Authorities in Guinea have detained several leaders of an escalating¹ general strike that has paralyzed the African nation.   A government plea issued Tuesday night for workers to return to their jobs was rejected.  VOA's Nico Colombant reports from our West Africa bureau in Dakar.

Journalist Maseco Conde was on the scene of unrest amid tear gas Wednesday in Conakry.  He says security forces coming from several directions roughed up a group of several hundreds protesters trying to march toward the national assembly.

Some of them, major union leaders, were injured and detained.  Others were able to make it to the parliament to discuss their demands and deliver a letter to lawmakers. 

Workers at Guinea's CBG national bauxite² company also downed tools, in one of the country's most lucrative³ mines at Sangaredi.  Conakry remained mostly deserted⁴, with schools, shops and offices closed on the eighth day of the protest action.

The strike's continuation came despite a statement read out by the president of the national assembly Tuesday night, saying the government was ready to cut gas prices, stop some exports, including fish, promote youth employment and discipline police.

The statement asked Guineans to get back to work.

Lansana Conte (File)

Union leaders say they want a new government of national unity⁵ and the return to jail of two allies of President Lansana Conte in a corruption⁶ investigation⁷.

A unilateral intervention⁸ by the president to release the two men prompted the protest action, amid soaring prices, grinding poverty and crumbling⁹ government services.

With no end in sight to the protest, the New-York-based group Human Rights Watch called on security forces to exercise restraint.

Analyst¹⁰ Dustin Sharp is closely monitoring the situation. He says the government seems to have the upper hand over union leaders at this point.

"The vast majority of Guineans live day by day," he said.  "They live hand to mouth and it is very difficult for them to sustain a strike for more than a week or two.  So people simply run out of food, they run out of money, and they need to work.  So maybe the government is counting on that and time is on their side in that sense."

President Conte has been in power since a 1984 coup¹¹, despite deteriorating¹² health and repeated reports he is gravely ill.

1 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

2 bauxite   

n.铝土矿

参考例句：

• Aluminum is made from bauxite.铝是从铝土矿中提炼出的。
• The United States was vulnerable to shortages of chrome,bauxite,and platinum.美国的弱点是缺少铬、矾土和铂。

3 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

4 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

5 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

6 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

7 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

8 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

9 crumbling   

adj.摇摇欲坠的

参考例句：

• an old house with crumbling plaster and a leaking roof 一所灰泥剥落、屋顶漏水的老房子
• The boat was tied up alongside a crumbling limestone jetty. 这条船停泊在一个摇摇欲坠的石灰岩码头边。

10 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。

11 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

12 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。