2007年VOA标准英语-Funeral Held in Beirut for Slain Anti-Syrian Le

By Edward Yeranian
Beirut
21 September 2007

Lebanon's top political leaders and hundreds of ordinary citizens turned out for the funeral Friday, of slain¹ Christian² lawmaker Antoine Ghanem. Edward Yeranian reports from Beirut.

Church bells tolled³ as thick clusters of mourners crowded the streets leading to the Sacred Heart church, where funeral services were held to honor slain Christian member of parliament Antoine Ghanem.

Ghanem died Wednesday after a car bomb targeting his vehicle exploded during rush hour traffic in an East Beirut suburb, killing⁴ him and six others.

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Relatives and friends of Ghanem carry coffin draped with Lebanese flag, 21 Sep 2007

Ghanim's coffin, draped with the flags of Lebanon, was carried into the church as young supporters waved flags of his Phalange political party.

Family members, including his widow and daughter, greeted a long-line of celebrities⁶ and politicians come to pay their last respects.

Lebanon's top leaders, including pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud were present for the service, alongside former President Amine Gemayel, Druze Leader Walid Jumblatt, Christian Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and pro-government coalition⁷ leader Sa'ad Hariri.

Former president Gemayel, whose party the Ghanem belonged to, delivered the eulogy⁸ saying that Lebanon's upcoming presidential elections will proceed next week, as scheduled.

Every martyr⁹ that falls among us, he said, is a force propelling us forward, to a more prosperous future, but the time has come to get rid of our fear for one another because fear of outsiders unites a people, but fear amongst ourselves divides us.

Schools, universities, stores, and many government offices were closed.

Security remains¹⁰ extremely tight along arteries¹¹ leading to the funeral and vehicles were towed from busy commercial districts to prevent the occurrence of another car bomb.

Ghanem was a member of the pro-government coalition locked in a power struggle with opposition¹² groups backed by Syria.

Supporters of the embattled pro-government coalition were angry, accusing Syria of killing Ghanem to make way for their own candidate for president.

Syria has denies the charges. Pro-Syrian Parliament speaker Nabih Berri insists that parliament will meet as scheduled this Tuesday, despite the assassination¹³, to chose a new president for Lebanon.

Ghanem was the fourth member of parliament and eighth prominent anti-Syrian figure to be killed in Lebanon in the last two years. Syria has denied involvement in any of the attacks.

1 slain   

杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词)

参考例句：

• The soldiers slain in the battle were burried that night. 在那天夜晚埋葬了在战斗中牺牲了的战士。
• His boy was dead, slain by the hand of the false Amulius. 他的儿子被奸诈的阿缪利乌斯杀死了。

2 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

3 tolled   

鸣钟（toll的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Bells were tolled all over the country at the King's death. 全国为国王之死而鸣钟。
• The church bell tolled the hour. 教堂的钟声报时。

4 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。

5 coffin   

n.棺材，灵柩

参考例句：

• When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
• The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。

6 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目

7 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

8 eulogy   

n.颂词；颂扬

参考例句：

• He needs no eulogy from me or from any other man. 他不需要我或者任何一个人来称颂。
• Mr.Garth gave a long eulogy about their achievements in the research.加思先生对他们的研究成果大大地颂扬了一番。

9 martyr   

n.烈士，殉难者；vt.杀害，折磨，牺牲

参考例句：

• The martyr laid down his life for the cause of national independence.这位烈士是为了民族独立的事业而献身的。
• The newspaper carried the martyr's photo framed in black.报上登载了框有黑边的烈士遗像。

10 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

11 arteries   

n.动脉( artery的名词复数 )；干线，要道

参考例句：

• Even grafting new blood vessels in place of the diseased coronary arteries has been tried. 甚至移植新血管代替不健康的冠状动脉的方法都已经试过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This is the place where the three main arteries of West London traffic met. 这就是伦敦西部三条主要交通干线的交汇处。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

13 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。