VOA标准英语2009-Sri Lankan President Officially Declares Civil W

Sri Lanka is seeking to close a bloody¹ era of civil war by declaring total victory over rebels who split the island nation along an ethnic² and geographical³ divide. Just after the country's President pledged to achieve equal rights for all, the nation saw images of the purported⁴ corpse⁵ of the feared leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
　
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the presidential palace in Colombo, 18 May 2009

Sri Lanka's President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, in a nationally televised address to Parliament, formally declared an end to the decades-long civil war. He began his remarks in the Tamil language, recalling that the LTTE, in the last 30 years, killed many people, but contended the Sri Lankan military's fight was not against the Tamil people.

The president said protecting the Tamil-speaking population is his duty and responsibility. Everyone should live in the country equally without fear and suspicion.

Then he switched to the language of the majority Sinhalese, saying political, rather than military, solutions are needed to improve the plight⁶ of the Tamil minority.

But the president said Sri Lanka does not have the time to experiment with solutions suggested by other countries and will solve the issue on its own.

Nation sees video of LTTE leader

After the speech, Sri Lankan television repeatedly aired video of a wide-eyed corpse in battle fatigues⁷ clearly resembling Velupillai Prabhakaran. It appeared the LTTE founder⁸ had been shot in the head.

Some Tamils, despite viewing the images, are expressing doubt the LTTE leader is really dead.

Among them, wholesale⁹ supermarket owner Mailvaganam Rajkumar.

"The army commander has confirmed that it is Prabhakaran's body. But still I don't know what is really happening there," he said. "There is a lot of speculation¹⁰, you see, because the last few days they have said Prabhakaran is gone or is hiding in some place. Still we don't know."

Rebels will be treated with dignity

Government Minister Keheliya Rambukwella, who is the Defense¹¹ spokesman, says the remains¹² of the once-feared Tamil rebel would be treated with dignity.
　
Minister Keheliya Rambukwella, the Defense spokesman, answers reporters' questions during Colombo press conference, 19 May 2009

"Otherwise you go and wrap it in a piece of paper and throw it to the jungle, no? The undertaker needs to put it in the box because you have a certain amount of decency¹³ in life anyway," he said.

Prabhakaran pioneered the widespread use of suicide bombings. He and his cadres targeted Sinhalese, Tamil and Indian politicians for assassination¹⁴ in their ultimately failed quest to achieve an ethnic homeland.

Minister Rambukwella says when he first saw the images of Prabhakaran's corpse he felt regret that such a powerful figure had not chosen the path of peace to solve the island's ethnic conflict.

"If he was directed in the proper channels what an asset he could have been to this land," he said. "But I was happy that he's dead because he had gone beyond the point of no return."

International criticism for both sides of conflict

Many in the international community criticized both sides for their treatment of civilians¹⁵ during the war. It appears thousands of civilians died during this year's final offensive.

The fighting has displaced as many as 300,000 Tamils and returning them to their war-torn communities is the next major challenge Sri Lanka faces.

1 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

2 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

3 geographical   

adj.地理的；地区(性)的

参考例句：

• The current survey will have a wider geographical spread.当前的调查将在更广泛的地域范围內进行。
• These birds have a wide geographical distribution.这些鸟的地理分布很广。

4 purported   

adj.传说的，谣传的v.声称是…，（装得）像是…的样子( purport的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• the scene of the purported crime 传闻中的罪案发生地点
• The film purported to represent the lives of ordinary people. 这部影片声称旨在表现普通人的生活。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 corpse   

n.尸体，死尸

参考例句：

• What she saw was just an unfeeling corpse.她见到的只是一具全无感觉的尸体。
• The corpse was preserved from decay by embalming.尸体用香料涂抹以防腐烂。

6 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

7 fatigues   

n.疲劳( fatigue的名词复数 )；杂役；厌倦；（士兵穿的）工作服

参考例句：

• The patient fatigues easily. 病人容易疲劳。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Instead of training the men were put on fatigues/fatigue duty. 那些士兵没有接受训练，而是派去做杂务。 来自辞典例句

8 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

9 wholesale   

n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售

参考例句：

• The retail dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail.零售商批发购进货物，以零售价卖出。
• Such shoes usually wholesale for much less.这种鞋批发出售通常要便宜得多。

10 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

11 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。

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。

13 decency   

n.体面，得体，合宜，正派，庄重

参考例句：

• His sense of decency and fair play made him refuse the offer.他的正直感和公平竞争意识使他拒绝了这一提议。
• Your behaviour is an affront to public decency.你的行为有伤风化。

14 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

15 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。