VOA标准英语2008年-Thai Protesters Demand Prime Minister Step Down

Tens of thousands protesters have rallied outside Thailand's government house in a bid to force Prime Minister Samak Sundarvej from office. As Ron Corben reports from Bangkok, protesters pushed their way into the compound surrounding the building and early in the day also entered the studios of a state broadcaster and temporarily halted transmission.
　
Thai demonstrator displays sign calling for ouster of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej during rally outside Government House in Bangkok, 26 Aug 2008

An alliance of anti-government groups organized Tuesday's rally, bringing tens of thousands of people onto roads surrounding the Thai government's administration building. Protesters say they plan to blockade other key government buildings.

They demand that Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej stand down. They accuse his government of corruption¹ and say he is merely a stand-in for former Prime Minister Thakshin Shinawatra.

There have been smaller protests nearly every day for three months. Opposition² leaders called for massive rally for what they call D-Day to pressure Mr. Samak's seven-month-old administration to resign.

Khun Nanthana has tended many of the protests.

"We don't want the Samak government because he's very corrupted³ and he is a nominee⁴ from the Thaksin government," Khun said. "Thaksin is not really gone - he's a billionaire - he exploited Thailand and took everything, and he's got lots o money so he can pull strings⁵.

Mr. Thaksin held office from 2001 to 2006, when he was ousted⁶ in a military coup⁷ after being accused of abusing his power. He faces several court cases on corruption charges. Earlier this month he fled to Britain, saying he could not get a fair trial. Mr. Thaksin denies any wrongdoing.

Earlier Tuesday, up to 80 armed men, claiming they were anti-government activists⁸, broke into the studios of a state television broadcaster and temporarily disrupted broadcasts. While rally protesters cheered news of the incident, it is not clear who organized it.

Police made several arrests at the television station but the overall police presence has been modest, apparently⁹ as the government seeks to avoid violence.

Chum Lelayuwa, an advertising¹⁰ industry executive, says many people are attending the rally to literally¹¹ "blow the whistle" on corruption.

"People blow the whistle - we blow the whistle now," Chum said. "We send a signal to all the Thai people that the government [is] no longer legal. He's [Mr. Samak] got to go out."

Protest organizers were expecting as many as 300,000 to attend the rally over the length of the day, although around midday, police estimated the crowd was around 30,000.

Thailand has been wracked by political divisions for nearly four years, as the Thai middle class turned against Mr. Thaksin.

But Mr. Thaksin remains¹² a popular figure among the urban and rural poor largely thanks to his plans cheap health care and low-cost loans for village projects. Mr. Samak's government has maintained many of these programs.

The rally led to share prices tumbling on the Thai stock exchange in early trading.

 

1 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

2 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。

3 corrupted   

（使）败坏( corrupt的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）腐化； 引起（计算机文件等的）错误； 破坏

参考例句：

• The body corrupted quite quickly. 尸体很快腐烂了。
• The text was corrupted by careless copyists. 原文因抄写员粗心而有讹误。

4 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

5 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

6 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

7 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

8 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》

9 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

10 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

11 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

12 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。