voa标准英语2008-US Says Well Past Time for Zimbabwe's Mugabe to

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says it is past time for Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe to step down. Her call comes amid an increasing economic and now humanitarian¹ crisis in the southern African nation.
　

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice speaks during a joint2 press conference with Danish PM Anders Fogh Rasmussen in Copenhagen, 05 Dec 2008

Speaking during a visit to Denmark on Friday, Secretary Rice said President Mugabe's departure is long overdue³.

"It's well past time for Robert Mugabe to leave," she said. "I think that's now obvious."

Zimbabwe has been in political turmoil⁴ for most of this year, amid election violence, an increasing crackdown against opposition⁵ politicians and supporters, flawed elections, an economic meltdown and now an outbreak of cholera⁶.

"The fact is that there was a sham⁷ election, then there has been a sham process of power-sharing talks and, now, we are seeing not only the political and economic toll⁸ that is being taken on the people of Zimbabwe, but the humanitarian dimension as this cholera epidemic⁹ has broken out," Rice said.
　

Cholera patients wait for treatment at Budiriro Polyclinic in Harare, 26 Nov 2008

Zimbabwe has declared a national emergency and acknowledged that its collapsing¹⁰ health care system is unable to cope with the outbreak of the disease. According to the World Health Organization, the epidemic has thus far claimed nearly 600 lives, and is affecting neighboring countries, as desperate Zimbabweans seek to leave the country.

On Monday, the European Union is expected to ratchet up the pressure on the Mugabe government. A draft statement, expected to be adopted by EU foreign ministers, calls for tightening¹¹ sanctions further, unless progress is made on a fair power-sharing agreement.

Nobel laureate South African archbishop Desmond Tutu went further than Secretary Rice, saying, if Mr. Mugabe does not go willingly, he should be forced out of office - if need be, by the threat of indictment¹² at The Hague for human rights violations¹³.
　

Robert Mugabe (file)

Robert Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe since the country's independence from Britain in 1980. Conditions in Zimbabwe deteriorated¹⁴ markedly this year, since the March elections in which the opposition gained control of parliament and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai won the most votes for president, but not enough to avoid a run-off. Tsvangirai pulled out of the second round of balloting¹⁵ because of increasing attacks against the opposition, and Mr. Mugabe claimed victory. The two sides have been in power-sharing talks, but without a successful outcome thus far.

1 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

2 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

3 overdue   

adj.过期的，到期未付的；早该有的，迟到的

参考例句：

• The plane is overdue and has been delayed by the bad weather.飞机晚点了，被坏天气耽搁了。
• The landlady is angry because the rent is overdue.女房东生气了，因为房租过期未付。

4 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

5 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。

6 cholera   

n.霍乱

参考例句：

• The cholera outbreak has been contained.霍乱的发生已被控制住了。
• Cholera spread like wildfire through the camps.霍乱在营地里迅速传播。

7 sham   

n./adj.假冒(的)，虚伪(的)

参考例句：

• They cunningly played the game of sham peace.他们狡滑地玩弄假和平的把戏。
• His love was a mere sham.他的爱情是虚假的。

8 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

9 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

10 collapsing   

压扁[平]，毁坏，断裂

参考例句：

• Rescuers used props to stop the roof of the tunnel collapsing. 救援人员用支柱防止隧道顶塌陷。
• The rocks were folded by collapsing into the center of the trough. 岩石由于坍陷进入凹槽的中心而发生褶皱。

11 tightening   

上紧，固定，紧密

参考例句：

• Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前，检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
• It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。

12 indictment   

n.起诉；诉状

参考例句：

• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
• They issued an indictment against them.他们起诉了他们。

13 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

14 deteriorated   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her health deteriorated rapidly, and she died shortly afterwards. 她的健康状况急剧恶化，不久便去世了。
• His condition steadily deteriorated. 他的病情恶化，日甚一日。

15 balloting   

v.（使）投票表决( ballot的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Clark took a commanding leading in the early balloting. 在最初投票时，克拉克遥遥领先。 来自辞典例句
• The balloting had stagnated, he couldn't win. 投票工作陷于停顿，他不能得胜。 来自辞典例句