VOA标准英语2009-France Sets up Commission to Study Wearing o

The French National Assembly has agreed to set up a commission to study the wearing of the head-to-toe Islamic covering known as the burqa. The decision was made a day after the country's president, Nicolas Sarkozy, spoke¹ out against the garment.
　
A woman wearing the niqab walks in the Belsunce district of downtown Marseille, France, 19 Jun 2009

The parliamentary commission will be made up of about 30 lawmakers from the political right and left. They will take a look at the prevalence of the burqa in France, following criticism by prominent politicians that the all-covering garment demeans Muslim women who wear it.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy waded² into the debate during an address Monday at the Chateau³ of Versailles, outside Paris.

Mr. Sarkozy said the burqa is not a religious symbol, but rather one that lowers the status of women. He said France cannot accept that a woman should be imprisoned⁴ behind a cloth grill⁵, deprived of all dignity. The French president backed the idea of a parliamentary inquiry⁶ into the burqa.

The inquiry may ultimately pave the way for burqas to be banned in France. The country already bars female public servants from wearing headscarves at work and girls from wearing them in public schools.

But the matter has divided the French government, with some members saying a law banning the burqa is not the best way to proceed. It has also divided France's five million member Muslim community.

Several Muslim leaders, including the head of France's Representative Muslim Council Mohammed Moussaoui, are against the wearing of burqas. But Mr. Moussaoui has warned an inquiry commission risks stigmatizing⁷ the Muslim community.

1 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。

2 waded   

（从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She tucked up her skirt and waded into the river. 她撩起裙子蹚水走进河里。
• He waded into the water to push the boat out. 他蹚进水里把船推出来。

3 chateau   

n.城堡，别墅

参考例句：

• The house was modelled on a French chateau.这房子是模仿一座法国大别墅建造的。
• The chateau was left to itself to flame and burn.那府第便径自腾起大火燃烧下去。

4 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

5 grill   

n.烤架，铁格子，烤肉；v.烧，烤，严加盘问

参考例句：

• Put it under the grill for a minute to brown the top.放在烤架下烤一分钟把上面烤成金黄色。
• I'll grill you some mutton.我来给你烤一些羊肉吃。

6 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

7 stigmatizing   

v.使受耻辱，指责，污辱( stigmatize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Laing regards the concept of mental illness as both unscientific and stigmatizing. 菜恩认为精神病的概念是不科学的和诬蔑性的。 来自辞典例句
• The existing social benefits are considered to be stigmatizing and repressive. 现存的社会福利被指责为是无价值的、残暴的。 来自互联网