VOA常速英语2007年-Palestinians Unveil Monument to Arafat

By Robert Berger
Jerusalem
10 November 2007

Palestinians have paid tribute to their late president Yasser Arafat, a legendary¹ Arab leader in the Middle East. As Robert Berger reports from VOA's Jerusalem bureau, the ceremony comes against the background of new peace moves between Israel and the Palestinians.

Palestinians unveiled a posh mausoleum in the West Bank for Mr. Arafat, the longtime symbol of the Palestinian cause and the first president of the Palestinian Authority. The ceremony took place at Mr. Arafat's former headquarters in the town of Ramallah, one day before the third anniversary of his death.

The $1.75 million monument is made of glass and stone. A railroad track underneath² symbolizes³ its temporary nature. Officials say they hope to move the structure to Jerusalem one day, when it is the capital of a future Palestinian state. For now, Israel will not allow Mr. Arafat to be buried there.

At the ceremony, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is far less powerful and popular than his predecessor⁴, vowed⁵ to continue in Mr. Arafat's footsteps.

He said the Palestinians are continuing on the path to establish an independent Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital.

Mr. Arafat died in 2004 and since then his Fatah movement, now led by Mr. Abbas, has lost ground to the Islamic militant⁶ group Hamas. Hamas routed Fatah forces and seized control of the Gaza Strip in a Palestinian civil war in June.

Hamas refuses to renounce⁷ violence or recognize Israel, but Mr. Abbas, who heads a more moderate government in the West Bank, is trying to negotiate a peace deal with the Jewish state.

The unveiling of the mausoleum is meant to give a boost to Mr. Abbas's legitimacy⁸ ahead of an international peace conference in the United States planned for the end of this month.

1 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

2 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

3 symbolizes   

v.象征，作为…的象征( symbolize的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The use of light and dark symbolizes good and evil. 用光明与黑暗来象征善与恶。
• She likes olive because It'symbolizes peace. 她喜欢橄榄色因为它象征着和平。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

5 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

6 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。

7 renounce   

v.放弃；拒绝承认，宣布与…断绝关系

参考例句：

• She decided to renounce the world and enter a convent.她决定弃绝尘世去当修女。
• It was painful for him to renounce his son.宣布与儿子脱离关系对他来说是很痛苦的。

8 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。