voa标准英语2008-Mugabe Vows to Hold Onto Power Saying 'Zimbabwe

President Robert Mugabe said Friday that "Zimbabwe is mine" and vowed¹ never to surrender, saying no African nation is brave enough to topple him. Mr. Mugabe's statement comes as Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change party, said he will advise his party's national council to withdraw from any talks about an inclusive government, unless all abducted² party members and civil rights activists³ are released or charged by January 1.
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Robert Mugabe speaks at his ZANU-PF's 10th annual Congress in Bindura, 19 Dec 2008

Mr. Mugabe was addressing thousands of ZANU-PF officials and members at the party's annual conference when he vowed not to let go of power in Zimbabwe.

Maintaining Britain is trying to recolonize Zimbabwe, Mr. Mugabe said he has sent a letter to Mr. Tsvangirai inviting⁴ him to be sworn in as prime minister in an inclusive government.
　

MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai (file photo)

From Botswana, where Mr. Tsvangirai has been in exile for the last six weeks, the MDC leader said the situation in Zimbabwe, particularly from the humanitarian⁵ perspective, is worse than at anytime in Zimbabwe's history.

Mr. Tsvangirai said that more than 42 members of his opposition⁶ party and civil society have been abducted in the past two months. They include two journalists and their whereabouts remain unknown. He said that the MDC can no longer sit at the same negotiating table with a party that is abducting⁷ our members and other innocent civilians⁸ and refusing to produce any of them before a court of law.

He said he had signed a political agreement with Mr. Mugabe in September to form an inclusive government, but this would only be possible if there were two willing partners. He said Mr. Mugabe was unwilling⁹ to put the welfare of Zimbabwe and its people first.

He called upon the Southern African development Community and the African Union to ensure conditions are met to alleviate¹¹ the suffering of Zimbabwe's people in the shortest possible time.
　

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer (file photo)

Jendayi Frazer, U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs, said Thursday that "there is a complete collapse right now" in Zimbabwe, and said that Mr. Mugabe needs to step down.

Most neighboring countries including regional giant South Africa are opposed to military intervention¹³ in Zimbabwe, where more than 1,100 people have died from cholera¹⁴ and the United Nations nearly half the population needs emergency food aid.

Mr. Mugabe on Friday questioned which African countries "would have the courage" to order a military intervention.

Mr. Tsvangirai beat Mr. Mugabe in March presidential elections at which his party also ended the 28-year domination of parliament by Mugabe's party. But officials results said Mr. Tsvangirai did not win outright¹⁵, and he withdrew from a runoff because of state-sponsored violence.

To break the impasse¹⁶ over the presidential votes, Mr. Mugabe and Mr. Tsvangirai agreed to form a unity¹⁰ government three months ago but have been deadlocked¹⁷ since over how to share Cabinet posts.

1 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

2 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

3 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。

5 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。

6 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。

7 abducting   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的现在分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• She was charged with abducting a six-month-old child. 她被控诱拐一个6个月大的孩子。
• At the same time, the rate of abducting foreigners is going down. 同时，发生在外国人身上的绑架案正在下降。

8 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。

9 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

10 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

11 alleviate   

v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等)

参考例句：

• The doctor gave her an injection to alleviate the pain.医生给她注射以减轻疼痛。
• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。

12 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

13 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

14 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。

15 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

16 impasse   

n.僵局；死路

参考例句：

• The government had reached an impasse.政府陷入绝境。
• Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.谈判似乎已经陷入僵局。

17 deadlocked   

陷入僵局的；僵持不下的

参考例句：

• The plan deadlocked over the funds. 这个计划由于经费问题而搁浅了。
• The meeting deadlocked over the wage issue. 会议因工资问题而停顿下来。