VOA标准英语2010年-National Strike Ordered by Maoists Bri

A merchant locking his shop to avoid getting caught violating the Maoist's strike, in Kathmandu, 3 May 2010

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See more pictures of the strike here

A power struggle in Nepal between the government of Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and the Maoists, who hold the most legislative¹ seats, is seeing the local folk and foreign tourists caught in the middle. Since May Day, most of the country has ground to a halt with a Maoist-initiated strike intended to force the collapse² of the year-old government.

 

 In the middle of an intersection³ in Kathmandu, villagers from the remote northwest mountainous Karnali zone -- one of the poorest in Nepal -- sing and dance in a circle around a traffic control post.

While riot policemen sit nearby, paying little attention to thousands of Maoist supporters and spectators milling in the avenues deserted⁴ of vehicles, the Karnali villagers sing a Maoist-inspired ditty calling for the prime minister to resign.

This is part of what one Maoist leader calls a "peaceful war" to install a people's government in Nepal.

Markets here are only permitted by the Maoists to open two hours per day in the evening for people to buy food and other necessary supplies.

Only a few shops, restaurants or hotels in the capital are willing to defy the ban on commerce.

Some merchants in the Thamel tourist district signal furtively⁵ to passing foreigners that they are potentially open for business.

A row of shuttered shops

 

The shutters⁶ go up to allow the customers to enter and then are quickly brought down again.

 

Stick-wielding Maoist cadres can be seen patrolling for violators. Merchants say those who defy the ban and do not pay extortion money to the Maoists are often being threatened with violence.

At the front desk of the Hotel Mandap, manager Binaya Thapa Magar was asked by VOA News how long his establishment could hold out before suffering a financial disaster.

"Five more days or six days. It's difficult but somehow we'll survive, I hope. If this political situation would not be solved, the situation would be the worst. This must be solved," Magar said.

The Maoists say the strike will continue until the prime minister quits. But they have also issued a long list of other demands in recent days.

Chinese tourist Vianne Cai sits in a bicycle rickshaw, one of the few means of transport around the capital. She's visiting with two girlfriends from Beijing. Cai says they've never experienced anything like this.  Cai says because it's such an unusual situation it is a bit exciting, but there is confusion and the inconvenience of not being able to easily move around the city or visit any shops.

Richard Gardner and his wife, Samanthi Selva, from Sydney Australia, walk on a nearly deserted lane usually bustling⁷ with tourists and hawkers. They just returned from a trek⁸ to the Mount Everest base camp and had planned to spend five days in the capital.

"There's really nothing we can do," he said. "We can't really do any sightseeing, it's a bit of a hassle to try and plan to go to Pokhara (200 km west of Kathmandu) or anywhere else in the country at the moment."

"You can see nothing is open, so, yeah, all our plans at the moment are kind of hindered in the fact that there's a strike on," Selva stated. "Unfortunately, not much to do. And we're not very happy, but what can we do?"   

The Maoists have ordered all motorized forms of transport off the roads -- except for ambulances, water delivery and garbage removal trucks and diplomatic and media vehicles, as well as special airport buses for the stranded⁹ tourists.

Some visitors say they are giving up, unsure how long the strike will continue.

Tourism officials confirm thousands of foreigners are trying to fly out of Nepal early, taking with them spending money this poor Himalayan nation's struggling economy, so dependent on tourism, desperately¹⁰ needs.

1 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

2 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

3 intersection   

n.交集，十字路口，交叉点；[计算机] 交集

参考例句：

• There is a stop sign at an intersection.在交叉路口处有停车标志。
• Bridges are used to avoid the intersection of a railway and a highway.桥用来避免铁路和公路直接交叉。

4 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

5 furtively   

adv. 偷偷地, 暗中地

参考例句：

• At this some of the others furtively exchanged significant glances. 听他这样说，有几个人心照不宣地彼此对望了一眼。
• Remembering my presence, he furtively dropped it under his chair. 后来想起我在，他便偷偷地把书丢在椅子下。

6 shutters   

百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 )； （照相机的）快门

参考例句：

• The shop-front is fitted with rolling shutters. 那商店的店门装有卷门。
• The shutters thumped the wall in the wind. 在风中百叶窗砰砰地碰在墙上。

7 bustling   

adj.喧闹的

参考例句：

• The market was bustling with life. 市场上生机勃勃。
• This district is getting more and more prosperous and bustling. 这一带越来越繁华了。

8 trek   

vi.作长途艰辛的旅行；n.长途艰苦的旅行

参考例句：

• We often go pony-trek in the summer.夏季我们经常骑马旅行。
• It took us the whole day to trek across the rocky terrain.我们花了一整天的时间艰难地穿过那片遍布岩石的地带。

9 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

10 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。