VOA常速英语2007年-British Leader Calls for Immediate Release of 5

By Tom Rivers
London
09 December 2007

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called for the immediate¹ release of 5 British hostages abducted² in Baghdad last May. For VOA, Tom Rivers reports from London.

For the first time since the 5 Britons were abducted on May 29 from a Finance Ministry³ compound by gunmen posing as police officers, a video released Tuesday by a group called the Islamic Shia Resistance in Iraq showed one of the men being held. It was the first public evidence that the men might still be alive.

"My name is Jason and today is the 18th of November," said one of the hostages.

In that video, the captors say they will start to kill the hostages, who include four security guards and one computer expert, if Britain does not withdraw all of its remaining troops from Iraq soon.

Over the months, little if anything has been disclosed about what Britain is doing to gain the release of those held. On Sunday, Prime Minister Brown underlined that behind the scenes, things were being done.

"We will do everything in our power to secure what is our objective and that is the immediate release of the hostages," said Mr. Brown.

Speaking on Sky News, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband spoke⁴ of the stress the families of those being held are under.

"It is important that publicity⁵ is never confused with activity, and especially in a case like this, it is very, very important that we follow a very careful strategy," said Miliband. "The stress of the families is going to be huge. It is bad enough to have the hostage-taking. To then have the video coming out last week is just going to add, has added, hugely to the distress⁶. But the whole of the British government is working very, very actively⁷ on this."

And as for Gordon Brown, he again stressed that Britain will not be making any kind of deal to gain the release of the five.

"The taking of hostages is completely unjustified, wholly unacceptable and we are making it absolutely clear that it will not change out policy in any way," said Mr. Brown.

 

Brown also praised Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki and his government for their efforts to free the men.

 

1 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

2 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

3 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。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

6 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

7 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。