2007年VOA标准英语-Israel Marks 1st Anniversary of Lebanon War

By Robert Berger
Jerusalem
12 July 2007

Israel is marking the anniversary of last year's Lebanon war. As Robert Berger reports from VOA's Jerusalem bureau, Israel is still casting a wary¹ eye over its northern border.

artillery2 piece fires into southern Lebanon from a position on the border near Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel , Saturday, July 15, 2006" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070714/1027140.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

Israeli gunners cover their ears as an artillery piece fires into southern Lebanon from a position on the border near Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel , Saturday, July 15, 2006

Israel went to war in Lebanon after Hezbollah guerrillas killed three Israeli soldiers and kidnapped two others in a cross-border raid. That sparked a 34-day Israeli assault with the stated aim of crushing Hezbollah and winning the release of the captive soldiers. Neither goal has been accomplished³.  

"There were many difficulties and many failures during the war; the war itself was a failure," said Former Defense⁴ Minister Moshe Arens.

Arens says the failure has harmed Israeli deterrence⁵.

Israeli troops near Lebanese border

"We lost, and we lost against a group of some 4,000 Hezbollah fighters," he added.  "The IDF [Israel Defense Forces] which is a mighty⁶ and very efficient and very good army, we lost. And that is going to give people on the other side of the fence, people in the enemy camp, some ideas."

An official inquiry⁷ also declared the war a failure, saying Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rushed into the conflict without a battle plan. It accused him of a serious failure in judgment⁸, caution and responsibility. As a result, Mr. Olmert's approval rating plunged⁹ to single digits¹⁰.

Ehud Olmert, 24 Jun 2007

But during a tour Thursday of northern Israel, which was hit by more than 4,000 Hezbollah rockets, Mr. Olmert defended the war.

He says the northern border is quiet today, and residents are much more secure than they were a year ago.

But the question is: How long will it last? Both Israel and the United Nations say Hezbollah is re-arming despite the deployment¹¹ of 13,000 U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon.

rubble12 of one of three destroyed houses hit by two Israeli air strikes Sunday in the village of Brital, Monday, August 14, 2006" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070714/1027143.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

Lebanese woman reacts after looking at rubble of one of three destroyed houses hit by two Israeli air strikes Sunday in the village of Brital, Monday, August 14, 2006

"The arms smuggling¹³ unfortunately still goes on. Illicit¹⁴ arms transfers from Syria to Lebanon to Hezbollah," said Israeli spokesman Mark Regev.

Therefore, the assessment¹⁵ in the Israeli army is that another conflict with Hezbollah is inevitable¹⁶.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International accused both Israel and Hezbollah of failing to investigate alleged¹⁷ war crimes during the conflict. Amnesty criticized Hezbollah for firing rockets at Israeli cities and towns, and Israel for bombing civilian¹⁸ areas and using cluster bombs.

1 wary   

adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的

参考例句：

• He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
• Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头，突然警惕起来。

2 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

3 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

4 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

5 deterrence   

威慑，制止； 制止物，制止因素； 挽留的事物； 核威慑

参考例句：

• An extreme school of "disarmers" pronounced stable deterrence was a dangerous deception. “裁军论者”中的极端派声称，稳定的威摄是一种危险的骗局。
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。

6 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

7 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

8 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

9 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

10 digits   

n.数字( digit的名词复数 )；手指，足趾

参考例句：

• The number 1000 contains four digits. 1000是四位数。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The number 410 contains three digits. 数字 410 中包括三个数目字。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

11 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

12 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

13 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

14 illicit   

adj.非法的，禁止的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He had an illicit association with Jane.他和简曾有过不正当关系。
• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year.今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。

15 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

16 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

17 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

18 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。