VOA标准英语2008年-South African Army Helps Police Fight Violence

By Scott Bobb
Johannesburg
23 May 2008
 

South Africa deployed¹ soldiers to parts of Johannesburg Thursday, to help end a wave of violence against foreigners that has killed 42 people. Officials emphasize soldiers will only be used to help police quell² unrest. Meanwhile, Relief agencies are appealing for additional aid to care for thousands of people displaced since the attacks began in the Johannesburg area more than a week ago. The violence has lessened³ in recent days but sporadic⁴ incidents continue and officials say they worry that it could spread. VOA's Scott Bobb reports from Johannesburg.

In South Africa, sporadic attacks aimed primarily at foreigners continue but have declined. In the past week, angry mobs have attacked in Johannesburg's poorest neighborhoods. The city is home to hundreds of thousands of immigrants.

"People are coming in our places, beating us. Saying that 'you are taking our jobs,'" said Prince Thole, who is an immigrant from Zimbabwe.

Authorities say, however, the motive⁵ has become mostly criminal. Now relief officials are appealing for aid to care for the thousands of victims who took refuge in churches and community centers.

The provincial⁶ director the South African Red Cross, Mbuso Mthembu, tripled an earlier appeal for aid saying his group needs $1.5 million because the number of victims has doubled. , "They almost need everything. So from our side we have been able to respond with things like blankets. We have been able to respond with food. We have been able to respond with health kits," Mthembu said.

Two dozen people have been killed and more than 100 severely⁷ wounded in the attacks that broke out in northeastern Johannesburg but subsequently spread to other parts of the city.

Red Cross Secretary-General David Stephens said his group now needs funds to prepare for the long-term needs of the victims. "After this is over we have to continue to look at reconstructing lives, psycho-social support to people, physical support to people, looking at where we can link people with their families overseas because this is one of our programs," Stephens said.

He says many South Africans are frustrated⁸ because expectations raised after the end of apartheid 14 years ago have not been met.

"There's a lot of issues in the community that we may not have dealt with," Stephens said. "And so we need to look at how we talk about these issues and in a healthy environment and how can we alleviate⁹ the cooker pressure."

He says their hopes have been further frustrated by economic hardship from 40 percent unemployment, 10 percent inflation and severe price increase for food and basic goods.

The Red Cross is launching an anti-discrimination campaign and its volunteers will work with community leaders to discuss their differences and the need for tolerance¹⁰. South African leaders have condemned¹¹ the attacks and many citizens have donated food and clothing to the victims.

1 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

2 quell   

v.压制，平息，减轻

参考例句：

• Soldiers were sent in to quell the riots.士兵们被派去平息骚乱。
• The armed force had to be called out to quell violence.不得不出动军队来镇压暴力行动。

3 lessened   

减少的，减弱的

参考例句：

• Listening to the speech through an interpreter lessened its impact somewhat. 演讲辞通过翻译的嘴说出来，多少削弱了演讲的力量。
• The flight to suburbia lessened the number of middle-class families living within the city. 随着迁往郊外的风行，住在城内的中产家庭减少了。

4 sporadic   

adj.偶尔发生的 [反]regular；分散的

参考例句：

• The sound of sporadic shooting could still be heard.仍能听见零星的枪声。
• You know this better than I.I received only sporadic news about it.你们比我更清楚，而我听到的只是零星消息。

5 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

6 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

7 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

8 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 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。

10 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

11 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。