2007年VOA标准英语-Car Bombings Strike Shi'ite Areas in Baghdad

By Jim Randle
Baghdad
31 January 2007

At least 25 people died and many more were wounded in car bombings in Baghdad and elsewhere Wednesday.  VOA's Jim Randle reports from Baghdad.

 
Iraqis stand by car bomb wreck¹ in Baghdad, 31 Jan 2007

Most of the car bombs exploded in areas of Baghdad that are predominantly Shi'ite.

One blast hit a waiting area for minibuses.

Another blew up in a mixed neighborhood in the western part of the city.

North of Baghdad, at a checkpoint close to an Iraqi army headquarters, a bomber² blew himself up along with the oil truck he was driving. Several soldiers were wounded in the explosion.

Tuesday, insurgents³ killed more than 50 people, many of them Shi'ite Muslims performing rituals for the Shi'ite holy day of Ashura.

U.S. authorities said two U.S. soldiers and a Marine⁴ that were wounded in fighting Tuesday in al-Anbar province have died.

 
Nancy Pelosi
In Washington, a critic of President Bush's approach to Iraq, Speaker of the House of Representatives  Nancy Pelosi said she was disappointed by what she saw on a recent trip to Baghdad.

"We went with the hope and expectation that what we would see in Iraq was some coordinated⁵ effort to have political solutions, to relieve the civil strife⁶ and violence there, and diplomatic efforts to bring stability to the region," she said.  "We saw no evidence of either, sadly."

Polls show that in the United States public sentiment has turned against the war that has cost more than 3,000 American lives in nearly four years.

And a new audit⁷ of reconstruction⁸ projects in Iraq published Wednesday says reconstruction efforts have lost millions of dollars to waste, fraud, and abuse.

1 wreck   

n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难

参考例句：

• Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
• No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。

2 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

3 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

4 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

5 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

6 strife   

n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争

参考例句：

• We do not intend to be drawn into the internal strife.我们不想卷入内乱之中。
• Money is a major cause of strife in many marriages.金钱是造成很多婚姻不和的一个主要原因。

7 audit   

v.审计；查帐；核对；旁听

参考例句：

• Each year they audit our accounts and certify them as being true and fair.他们每年对我们进行账务审核，以确保其真实无误。
• As usual,the yearly audit will take place in December.跟往常一样，年度审计将在十二月份进行。

8 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。