VOA常速英语2007年-After Military Gains, DRC Rebels Poised Above T

By Selah Hennessy
Goma
12 December 2007

Rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo have won a series of military victories against army forces. Some rebels are now perched on a hill overlooking a densely¹ populated town only 30 kilometers from the regional capital. Selah Hennessy reports for VOA from Goma that the rebels say they want to hold talks with the government.

Only days ago, the Congolese army was celebrating a rapid advance against rebel forces in Congo's eastern province, North Kivu.

But in a sudden turn-around, the insurgents², led by renegade general Laurent Nkunda, have retaken all the villages they lost last week.

Now, a group of Nkunda's men stand on a grassy³ hill overlooking the large town of Sake, around 30 kilometers northwest of the regional capital Goma, the same place they controlled before the government's 20,000-strong offensive began last week.

The insurgents say they want to hold talks with the government to resolve the situation politically rather than militarily.

But General Indrajeet Narayan of MONUC, the United Nations peacekeeping force in DRC, says the army is consolidating⁴ its power and will come out stronger than it has been.

"Reversals take place in war. Sometimes you have victories, sometimes you have reversals," he said. "I am sure this reversal is a very temporary reversal in nature. The FARDC [government forces] will consolidate⁵ and will come out stronger than ever it was."

Speaking from one of the many grassy hills surrounding Sake, Narayan says the town is safe and its population should return home.

He says U.N. and army forces have Sake surrounded, and the insurgents will not be able to take the town.

Residents of Sake had fled the fighting. On Wednesday, thousands of people could be seen lining⁶ the road that heads toward Goma. They were walking slowly, weighed down by wood, fuel, babies, and food.

Narayan says protecting Sake's population is a priority for the national army and MONUC.

"We have to secure Sake, because if we allow the negative elements to come inside Sake they will carry out a lot of looting, plundering⁷, and a certain amount of the civilian⁸ population which is there will get trouble," he said. "And probably then they will move onto Goma."

Rebel and army forces have clashed in a series of armed conflicts since late August.

Rebel leader Nkunda says he is fighting to protect local ethnic⁹ Tutsis from Rwandan ethnic Hutus.

General Narayan says over 100,000 civilians¹⁰ have been forced to flee their homes in the last few days.

1 densely   

ad.密集地；浓厚地

参考例句：

• A grove of trees shadowed the house densely. 树丛把这幢房子遮蔽得很密实。
• We passed through miles of densely wooded country. 我们穿过好几英里茂密的林地。

2 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

3 grassy   

adj.盖满草的；长满草的

参考例句：

• They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
• Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。

4 consolidating   

v.（使）巩固， （使）加强( consolidate的现在分词 )；（使）合并

参考例句：

• These measures are meant for consolidating the system of basic medical care. 这些举措旨在夯实基层医疗体系，让老百姓看大病不必出远门。 来自互联网
• We are consolidating the Chinese and English versions of our homepage. 我们将为您提供中英文版本一起的主页。 来自互联网

5 consolidate   

v.使加固，使加强；(把...)联为一体，合并

参考例句：

• The two banks will consolidate in July next year. 这两家银行明年7月将合并。
• The government hoped to consolidate ten states to form three new ones.政府希望把十个州合并成三个新的州。

6 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

7 plundering   

掠夺，抢劫( plunder的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The troops crossed the country, plundering and looting as they went. 部队经过乡村，一路抢劫掳掠。
• They amassed huge wealth by plundering the colonies. 他们通过掠夺殖民地聚敛了大笔的财富。

8 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

9 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

10 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。