VOA标准英语2008年-International Indignation Over Zimbabwe Politic

Britain's call for unified¹ global action on Zimbabwe and Monday's U.N. Security Council condemnation² of the government of President Robert Mugabe are part of a growing international outcry against the political crisis and violence in the southern African nation. However, as Tendai Maphosa reports from London, it is still not clear how the world intends to move beyond condemnation.
　
President Robert Mugabe speaks to supporters at a rally in Banket, 70 kms from Harare, 24 June 2008

The unanimous U.N. Security Council statement against Mr. Mugabe and his government is viewed as a victory by Britain.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown's condemnation has become increasingly harsh. He spoke³ before the House of Commons on Monday.

"I think the whole world now sees the regime for what it is, the consensus⁴ in this House is that what has happened is intolerable, we want an immediate⁵ end to violence because the loss of life is unacceptable," he said.

There is a growing international consensus that something must be done to resolve the election-related violence in Zimbabwe.

The political crisis has been brewing⁶ for months, especially during the election campaign prior to the March 29 balloting⁷. The opposition⁸, Movement for Democratic Change, or MDC, won a majority in parliament, but its leader Morgan Tsvangirai could not score a decisive enough victory against incumbent⁹ Robert Mugabe in the presidential vote. A runoff is scheduled for Friday, but Tsvangirai has pulled out because of the violent repression¹⁰ of the opposition and its supporters.

The international community has already taken some action by imposing¹¹ sanctions and a travel ban on Mr. Mugabe's inner circle. On Monday Prime Minister Brown vowed¹² Britain would push for tightening¹³ and expanding those sanctions.

Speaking with VOA, former minister for Africa and prominent anti-apartheid activist¹⁴ Peter Hain said actions must follow words and the world must show Mr. Mugabe it means business.

"The international community must follow up its fine words from the United Nations Security Council and also from other world leaders and actually implement¹⁵ action and that action must involve stronger sanctions against Mugabe and his elite," he said. "And then for South Africa to pull the plug on the electricity supplies so that the regime then is without the power that they need to continue to enforce their tyranny."

Hain added that African leaders must also play their part by distancing themselves from Mr. Mugabe, whom he described as a dictator.

Some British news reports have gone a step further - mentioning a military option. A report in Monday's Times daily newspaper says the Ministry¹⁶ of Defense¹⁷ has two contingency¹⁸ plans for military action in Zimbabwe - one for a possible deployment¹⁹ of troops to resolve a humanitarian²⁰ crisis, the other to provide military support if a national evacuation for British residents in the country is ordered. The report says, however, the Ministry insists that intervention²¹ is not "a plausible²² course".

In a separate report, the Times quotes Paddy Ashdown, the former European Union Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, as saying that military action would be justified²³. Speaking on British radio, Ashdown however took exception with the report.

"I said that I thought that the conditions for a military intervention were not in place, secondly²⁴ I said I didn't think they would be in place until there was a clear genocide of the sort that happened in Rwanda taking place," he said. "Thirdly if any such intervention were in the future to happen it would be up to the African nations to lead that and Britain would not have a role in the process, except to provide moral support for something that is backed by the Security Council."

Military intervention is not a viable²⁵ option, says Knox Chitiyo a Zimbabwean who heads the Africa Program at the Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies in London.

"There's no global agreement that a: there should be military intervention in Zimbabwe and b: if there was to be who would the lead actors be and certainly the African countries have not bought into of the military intervention," he said. "I think Africa is looking more at some sort of negotiation²⁶ between the two parties."

Chitiyo says, however, that the situation in Zimbabwe is of grave concern and some cohesive²⁷ plan to resolve the crisis is needed.

Expressions of concern about events in Zimbabwe came from an unlikely source on Tuesday. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman called on the relevant parties in Zimbabwe to resolve their problems through dialogue. China is a leading trading partner of Zimbabwe and has blocked previous attempts to censure²⁸ the Mugabe government at the United Nations.

At the same time, the leader of South Africa's ruling party Jacob Zuma said Tuesday that the situation in Zimbabwe has gone out of control and the United Nations and the Southern African Development Community, or SADC, should do something about it.

 

1 unified   

(unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的

参考例句：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。

2 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

5 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

6 brewing   

n. 酿造, 一次酿造的量 动词brew的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• It was obvious that a big storm was brewing up. 很显然，一场暴风雨正在酝酿中。
• She set about brewing some herb tea. 她动手泡一些药茶。

7 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

8 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。

9 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

10 repression   

n.镇压，抑制，抑压

参考例句：

• The repression of your true feelings is harmful to your health.压抑你的真实感情有害健康。
• This touched off a new storm against violent repression.这引起了反对暴力镇压的新风暴。

11 imposing   

adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的

参考例句：

• The fortress is an imposing building.这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。
• He has lost his imposing appearance.他已失去堂堂仪表。

12 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。

13 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。

14 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

15 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

16 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

17 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。

18 contingency   

n.意外事件，可能性

参考例句：

• We should be prepared for any contingency.我们应该对任何应急情况有所准备。
• A fire in our warehouse was a contingency that we had not expected.库房的一场大火是我们始料未及的。

19 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。

20 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。

21 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。

22 plausible   

adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的

参考例句：

• His story sounded plausible.他说的那番话似乎是真实的。
• Her story sounded perfectly plausible.她的说辞听起来言之有理。

23 justified   

a.正当的，有理的

参考例句：

• She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
• The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。

24 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

25 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

26 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

27 cohesive   

adj.有粘着力的；有结合力的；凝聚性的

参考例句：

• She sealed the parcel with cohesive tape.她用粘胶带把包裹封起来。
• The author skillfully fuses these fragments into a cohesive whole.作者将这些片断巧妙地结合成一个连贯的整体。

28 censure   

v./n.责备；非难；责难

参考例句：

• You must not censure him until you know the whole story.在弄清全部事实真相前不要谴责他。
• His dishonest behaviour came under severe censure.他的不诚实行为受到了严厉指责。