2007年VOA标准英语-World Leaders Express Condolences for Victims o

By Meredith Buel
Washington
17 April 2007

Leaders from countries throughout the world are offering their condolences to victims of the brutal¹ massacre² at a U.S. university that left 33 people dead, including the gunman. VOA correspondent Meredith Buel has details from Washington.

Officials from South Korea were among the first to react to Monday's massacre at Virginia Tech after learning the suspected gunman was a South Korean national.

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South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Byung-je

Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Byung-je spoke⁴ in Seoul. "We here in Korea also were very much shocked at the horrific incident, and we Korean people and the Korean government would like to express our heartfelt condolences to the victims and the bereaved⁵ families of the American people," he said.

Police identified the gunman as 23-year-old Cho Seung-hui, a legal resident alien who moved to the United States as a boy.

Cho, an English major in his final year of college, fired guns into groups of students and faculty⁶ members before killing⁷ himself in the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, a former South Korean foreign minister, spoke with reporters in New York. "I feel very much sorry and troubled and any such rampant⁸ killing of innocent citizens and children is totally not acceptable and I condemn⁹ it in the strongest terms possible," he said.

In London, Britain's Queen Elizabeth said she was saddened by the shootings. The queen is scheduled to visit Virginia next month to commemorate¹⁰ the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in the United States.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair also offered his condolences. "I would like to express, on behalf of Britain and the British people, our profound sadness at what has happened and to send the American people, and most especially the families of the victims, our sympathy and our prayers," he said.

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, a former student and teacher at Virginia Tech, expressed his deepest condolences to the families of the victims.

The victims of the massacre at Virginia Tech came from throughout the United States and many countries around the world.

One of those killed was Liviu Librescu, an engineering and math professor at the university. Librescu's students sent e-mails to his wife telling her how he saved their lives by blocking the doorway¹¹ of a classroom to keep the gunman out.

Librescu, who was born in Romania and was a Holocaust¹² survivor¹³, was shot and killed, but his students survived.

Professor Nicolae Tomescu, a lecturer at Bucharest Polytechnic¹⁴ Institute and a friend of the victim, said Librescu always had strong feelings for his students. "Librescu always showed himself to be a man of great and strong character, very dignified¹⁵, and that is the way he died. He has huge affection for his students and he sacrificed his life for them," he said.

At the Polytechnic Institute, where Librescu received an honorary degree in 2000, his picture was placed on a table, a candle was lit, and people left flowers nearby.

1 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

2 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

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 bereaved   

adj.刚刚丧失亲人的v.使失去（希望、生命等）( bereave的过去式和过去分词)；（尤指死亡）使丧失（亲人、朋友等）；使孤寂；抢走（财物）

参考例句：

• The ceremony was an ordeal for those who had been recently bereaved. 这个仪式对于那些新近丧失亲友的人来说是一种折磨。
• an organization offering counselling for the bereaved 为死者亲友提供辅导的组织

6 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

7 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

8 rampant   

adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的

参考例句：

• Sickness was rampant in the area.该地区疾病蔓延。
• You cannot allow children to rampant through the museum.你不能任由小孩子在博物馆里乱跑。

9 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

10 commemorate   

vt.纪念，庆祝

参考例句：

• This building was built to commemorate the Fire of London.这栋大楼是为纪念“伦敦大火”而兴建的。
• We commemorate the founding of our nation with a public holiday.我们放假一日以庆祝国庆。

11 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

12 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

13 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

14 polytechnic   

adj.各种工艺的，综合技术的；n.工艺(专科)学校；理工(专科)学校

参考例句：

• She was trained as a teacher at Manchester Polytechnic.她在曼彻斯特工艺专科学校就读，准备毕业后做老师。
• When he was 17,Einstein entered the Polytechnic Zurich,Switzerland,where he studied mathematics and physics.17岁时，爱因斯坦进入了瑞士苏黎士的专科学院，学习数学和物理学。

15 dignified   

a.可敬的，高贵的

参考例句：

• Throughout his trial he maintained a dignified silence. 在整个审讯过程中，他始终沉默以保持尊严。
• He always strikes such a dignified pose before his girlfriend. 他总是在女友面前摆出这种庄严的姿态。