VOA标准英语2008年-Explosion Targets Bus in Lebanese City of Tripo

At least 18 people were killed, seven of them Lebanese Army soldiers, and more than 45 people were wounded, in an explosion targeting an intercity passenger bus in the northern port city of Tripoli. The explosion follows weeks of tensions in Tripoli and comes just hours before Lebanon's new president Michel Suleiman was due to make his maiden¹ visit to Syria, as Edward Yeranian reports from Beirut.
　
Lebanese investigators² inspect the scene near a damaged bus in the northern city of Tripoli, Lebanon, 13 Aug 2008

Red Cross rescue workers, firefighters and army troops pulled victims out of the wreckage³ of a passenger bus hit by an explosion, early Wednesday, in the northern Lebanese port city of Tripoli.

Broken glass, blood-stained clothing, and tattered⁴ back-packs littered the street surrounding the scene of the explosion, as police cordoned⁵ off the area.

Lebanon's National News Agency reports that at least seven of the dead were Lebanese Army soldiers who were commuting⁶ to their posts of duty.

Tripoli has been the scene of weeks of bitter fighting between rival pro⁷ and anti-Syrian factions⁸, and the Lebanese Army has been deployed⁹ there, since May, to keep the peace.

Veteran pro-Western Member of Parliament Butros Harb insists that the explosion was a political message, because of it's timing¹⁰. He said the victims are martyrs¹¹ for Lebanon and he said he thinks the explosion carries a message, because of its timing. Harb said the blast comes as Lebanon's president was set to visit Syria and just after the government has won a vote of confidence and it follows the army's deployment¹² to Tripoli.

Rival member of parliament Musbah Ahdab, who represents Tripoli, claimed that Syria had no interest in causing trouble in Tripoli, just before the long-awaited visit of President Michel Suleiman to Damascus.

Many anti-Syrian Lebanese politicians have accused Damascus of responsibility in a long series of previous explosions, following the slaying¹³ of former Prime Minister Rafiq al Hariri in a massive car-bomb attack in 2005.

No one has claimed responsibility for Wednesday's explosion, but several Lebanese commentators¹⁴ are accusing the Sunni-militant Fatah al Islam group, which fought the Lebanese Army in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al Bared, last summer.

Dr. Paul Salem of the Carnegie Center for Peace in the Middle East, argues that this attack is related to last summer's fighting between the army and Fatah al Islam:

"It seems to be linked to the battles of last year between Fatah al Islam and the army, because the target was clearly the Lebanese Army, and that's an ongoing¹⁵ fight. It doesn't seem to be a continuation of the troubles that Tripoli is having, the last couple of months. It seems to have a different nature," he said. "It's also curious that it's done on the day that the president is going to Syria, which might be a signal to both Lebanon and Syria that the radical¹⁶ jihadi groups are still capable of inflicting¹⁷ harm, even if Lebanon and Syria cooperate, they're still around"

Fatah al Islam's leader, Chaker al Abssi, is still at large, and his group has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks on army posts, across Lebanon, in recent months.

Scores of Fatah al Islam prisoners are also holding a hunger strike in Lebanese prisons, as they await trial for trying to overthrow¹⁸ the government.

 

1 maiden   

n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的

参考例句：

• The prince fell in love with a fair young maiden.王子爱上了一位年轻美丽的少女。
• The aircraft makes its maiden flight tomorrow.这架飞机明天首航。

2 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

4 tattered   

adj.破旧的，衣衫破的

参考例句：

• Her tattered clothes in no way detracted from her beauty.她的破衣烂衫丝毫没有影响她的美貌。
• Their tattered clothing and broken furniture indicated their poverty.他们褴褛的衣服和破烂的家具显出他们的贫穷。

5 cordoned   

v.封锁，用警戒线围住( cordon的过去式 )

参考例句：

• Police cordoned off the area until the bomb was defused. 警方封锁了这个地区直到炸弹被拆除为止。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Police cordoned off the road and diverted commuter traffic. 警察封锁了道路并分流交通。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 commuting   

交换（的）

参考例句：

• I used the commuting time to read and answer my mail. 我利用上下班在汽车中的时间来阅读和答复给我的函电。
• Noncommuting objects are as real to the mathematicians as commuting objects. 对于数学家来说，不可交换的对象与可交换的对象是一样真实的。

7 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

8 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

9 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。

10 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

11 martyrs   

n.martyr的复数形式；烈士( martyr的名词复数 )；殉道者；殉教者；乞怜者（向人诉苦以博取同情）

参考例句：

• the early Christian martyrs 早期基督教殉道者
• They paid their respects to the revolutionary martyrs. 他们向革命烈士致哀。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 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。

13 slaying   

杀戮。

参考例句：

• The man mimed the slaying of an enemy. 此人比手划脚地表演砍死一个敌人的情况。
• He is suspected of having been an accomplice in the slaying,butthey can't pin it on him. 他有嫌疑曾参与该杀人案，但他们找不到证据来指控他。

14 commentators   

n.评论员( commentator的名词复数 )；时事评论员；注释者；实况广播员

参考例句：

• Sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 体育解说员翻来覆去说着同样的词语，真叫人腻烦。
• Television sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 电视体育解说员说来说去就是那么几句话，令人厌烦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

16 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

17 inflicting   

把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was charged with maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm. 他被控蓄意严重伤害他人身体。
• It's impossible to do research without inflicting some pain on animals. 搞研究不让动物遭点罪是不可能的。

18 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。