VOA标准英语2010-100,000 in Warsaw Mourn Dead Polish Presi

Tens of thousands of people attend a national memorial service in Pilsudski Square in Warsaw, 17 Apr 2010

Sirens wailed¹ and church bells rang as an estimated 100,000 people gathered in the Polish capital to say goodbye to their former president.

Many filed into Warsaw's Pilsudski Square carrying red and white Polish flags with black ribbons to mourn President Lech Kaczynski, his wife and 94 other people, including many top officials, killed in last Saturday's plane crash in Russia.

Interim² President Bronislaw Komorowski told the crowd that with the accident, their world came "crashing down."

Mr. Kaczynski and his wife will be buried Sunday after a state funeral in Krakow.  Dozens of world leaders had been planning to attend, but some have canceled their trips due to the ash cloud covering much of northern Europe.

Mr. Kaczynski had been traveling to a memorial service honoring 22,000 Polish military officers and others executed by the Soviets³ in the Katyn forest in World War Two.

Saturday's memorial service included a Catholic mass, hymns⁴ and a military gun salute⁵.  It will be followed by an overnight vigil for Mr. Kaczynski and his wife.

VOA's Sonja Pace, in Warsaw, said the crowd included people from across the country and from all parts of Polish society, from trade unionists to school children.

Many Poles said this is a sad time but that the tragedy has helped to bring people together as they say goodbye to the president for a final time.

In addition to Mr. Kaczynski, last Saturday's crash near Smolensk, Russia also killed the chief of Poland's armed forces, the director of the central bank and the deputy foreign minister. 

Others who perished include 90-year-old Ryszard Kaczorowski, who was the last president-in-exile while Poland was under communism, and iconic labor⁶ leader Anna Walentynowicz. 

Walentynowicz's firing from a job as a crane operator in Gdansk in 1980 touched off the strike that led to the founding of the Solidarity⁷ trade union and the eventual⁸ unraveling of communism in Poland.  She was 80.

Interim President Komorowski says the date for Poland's presidential election will be announced next week.

Pope John Paul celebrated⁹ a mass in Pilsudski Square during his first pilgrimage to Poland as pope in 1979.

 

Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.

 

1 wailed   

v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She wailed over her father's remains. 她对着父亲的遗体嚎啕大哭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The women of the town wailed over the war victims. 城里的妇女为战争的死难者们痛哭。 来自辞典例句

2 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

3 soviets   

苏维埃（Soviet的复数形式）

参考例句：

• A public challenge could provoke the Soviets to dig in. 公开挑战会促使苏联人一意孤行。
• The Soviets proposed the withdrawal of American ballistic-missile submarines from forward bases. 苏联人建议把美国的弹道导弹潜艇从前沿基地撤走。

4 hymns   

n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌( hymn的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• At first, they played the hymns and marches familiar to them. 起初他们只吹奏自己熟悉的赞美诗和进行曲。 来自英汉非文学 - 百科语料821
• I like singing hymns. 我喜欢唱圣歌。 来自辞典例句

5 salute   

vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮

参考例句：

• Merchant ships salute each other by dipping the flag.商船互相点旗致敬。
• The Japanese women salute the people with formal bows in welcome.这些日本妇女以正式的鞠躬向人们施礼以示欢迎。

6 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

7 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。

8 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

9 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。