2007年VOA标准英语-Pro, Anti-Government Groups Clash in Beirut

By Challiss McDonough
Cairo
25 January 2007

At least two people have been killed and at least 20 others wounded at a Beirut university campus in clashes between opposition¹ and government supporters. The army declared a curfew in an effort to restore calm. VOA Correspondent Challiss McDonough reports from our Middle East bureau in Cairo.

 
Two Lebanese pro-government supporters, extinguish a burning car after confrontations² erupt between government and opposition supporters in Beirut, 25 Jan 2007
Students said the violence started as a lunchtime fight in the cafeteria, but the quickly spread to the entire campus of Beirut Arab University, and then spilled over into the nearby streets.

Gangs of young men threw rocks and attacked each other with sticks. Later, some were seen firing automatic weapons. They smashed parked cars, or set them on fire along with piles of rubber tires. Clouds of black smoke rose into the sky as the violence continued.

Some people stood on rooftops and balconies, pelting³ the people below with stones. Some opposition supporters said they were being shot at from the rooftops, but those reports could not be verified.

The Lebanese army rolled in with armored vehicles, and shot into the air trying to keep the two sides apart. The army declared an overnight curfew to keep the unrest from spreading.

Volleys of gunfire could still be heard as the sun set, but the violence appeared to subside⁴ after darkness fell over the city. The office of a small pro-Syrian party near the campus was set on fire.

 
Demonstrators in Beirut help a wounded comrade (25 Jan 2007)
Beirut has not seen sectarian clashes like this since the end of the civil war in 1990. The fighting was mainly between Shi'ite supporters of Hezbollah and Sunni members of the Future Movement, led by Saad Hariri. Each side blamed the other for the violence.

Leaders of both groups called for calm. Hariri urged self-restraint from his supporters, while Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah issued a fatwa, or religious decree, ordering his followers⁵ off the streets.

"Everybody should be committed to empty the streets, remain calm, restrain themselves and leave the stage to the Lebanese Army and security forces to bear full responsibility for controlling the current tense situation," he said.

 
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice with Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora speaks to the media
Prime Minister Fuad Siniora was out of the country when the violence erupted, attending a donors⁶ conference in Paris where foreign governments pledged more than $7.6 billion in grants and loans to help Lebanon recover from war.

The country was still rebuilding from the 15-year civil war when conflict erupted in June between Israel and Hezbollah, which has its stronghold in southern Lebanon. Heavy bombardment damaged much of Lebanon's infrastructure⁷ and left scores of southern Shi'ite villages devastated⁸ or destroyed.

This is the second eruption⁹ of deadly violence since Tuesday, when the opposition, led by Hezbollah, called a general strike and blocked roads. Street battles with government supporters left three people dead.

1 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。

2 confrontations   

n.对抗，对抗的事物( confrontation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• At times, this potential has escalated into actual confrontations. 有时，这一矛盾升级为实际的对抗。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• These confrontations and uncertainties were bing played out for the first time on a global scale. 所有这一切对抗和不稳定，第一次在全球范围内得到充分的表演。 来自辞典例句

3 pelting   

微不足道的，无价值的，盛怒的

参考例句：

• The rain came pelting down. 倾盆大雨劈头盖脸地浇了下来。
• Hailstones of abuse were pelting him. 阵阵辱骂冰雹般地向他袭来。

4 subside   

vi.平静，平息；下沉，塌陷，沉降

参考例句：

• The emotional reaction which results from a serious accident takes time to subside.严重事故所引起的情绪化的反应需要时间来平息。
• The controversies surrounding population growth are unlikely to subside soon.围绕着人口增长问题的争论看来不会很快平息。

5 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

6 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

8 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

9 eruption   

n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作

参考例句：

• The temple was destroyed in the violent eruption of 1470 BC.庙宇在公元前1470年猛烈的火山爆发中摧毁了。
• The eruption of a volcano is spontaneous.火山的爆发是自发的。