VOA标准英语2011--North Korea Bids A Snowy, Dramatic Farewell to Kim Jong Il

North Korea Bids A Snowy, Dramatic Farewell to Kim Jong Il

Snowy streets and wails¹ of grief dominated the live broadcast from North Korea state television Wednesday, as the reclusive state bid farewell to its absolute leader, Kim Jong Il. International media were barred from the event.

The reason for reported delays in the start of Wednesday's funeral procession was immediately apparent in images broadcast by North Korea's official television network: streets in the capital, Pyongyang, were coated in snow.

A gigantic portrait of leader Kim Jong Il mounted on a black limousine² sedan led the slow drive. Just behind it, a car carried an enormous wreath from his son and successor, Kim Jong Un.

The third car in line was the hearse itself, with the coffin³ apparently⁴ bearing Kim Jong Il's body rested on the roof of the vehicle on top of a bed of flowers. The younger Kim walked on the street alongside the vehicle for at least a portion of the procession.

Melodrama⁵ rose as the vehicle made their way through billowing clouds of snow along the city route.

In 5,000 years of history, asks a North Korean anchor voicing over the procession, can anybody tell us when we have suffered such emotional pain?

Thousands of wailing⁶, weeping North Korean soldiers and civilians⁷ contorted their faces in dramatic anguish⁸ as official television cameras went in for close ups.

In many ways, Wednesday's procession was a bad-weather replay of a similar choreographed⁹ event 17 years earlier: the funeral of Kim Jong Il's father, Kim Il Sung.

The elder Kim, who died in 1994, still holds the title "Eternal President." He is revered¹⁰ as a divine figure in North Korea's education and propaganda systems, and researchers say his persona is the single most potent¹¹ source of political legitimacy¹² in the North's unique form of government.

Ryoo Kihl-jae is a dean at Seoul's Kyungnam Graduate School of North Korean Studies. He says the choice of officials walking along with Kim Jong Un in the procession sends a signal about the transition of power.

He says most of them were Kim Jong Il's key advisors¹³. Ryoo says that shows a continuity not just along the family lines of father to son, but along political lines of one regime to another.

Kim Jong Il's death leaves a young man in his late 20s in charge of the nuclear armed country. Experts say his next six to 12 months will be a careful balancing act between courting the support of the hardline military, and exploring the economic reforms the impoverished¹⁴ country so desperately¹⁵ needs.

1 wails   

痛哭，哭声( wail的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The child burst into loud wails. 那个孩子突然大哭起来。
• Through this glaciated silence the white wails of the apartment fixed arbitrary planes. 在这冰封似的沉寂中，公寓的白色墙壁构成了一个个任意的平面。 来自英汉非文学 - 科幻

2 limousine   

n.豪华轿车

参考例句：

• A chauffeur opened the door of the limousine for the grand lady.司机为这个高贵的女士打开了豪华轿车的车门。
• We arrived in fine style in a hired limousine.我们很气派地乘坐出租的豪华汽车到达那里。

3 coffin   

n.棺材，灵柩

参考例句：

• When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
• The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。

4 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。

5 melodrama   

n.音乐剧；情节剧

参考例句：

• We really don't need all this ridiculous melodrama!别跟我们来这套荒唐的情节剧表演！
• White Haired Woman was a melodrama,but in certain spots it was deliberately funny.《白毛女》是一出悲剧性的歌剧，但也有不少插科打诨。

6 wailing   

v.哭叫，哀号( wail的现在分词 )；沱

参考例句：

• A police car raced past with its siren wailing. 一辆警车鸣着警报器飞驰而过。
• The little girl was wailing miserably. 那小女孩难过得号啕大哭。

7 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。

8 anguish   

n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼

参考例句：

• She cried out for anguish at parting.分手时，她由于痛苦而失声大哭。
• The unspeakable anguish wrung his heart.难言的痛苦折磨着他的心。

9 choreographed   

v.设计舞蹈动作( choreograph的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• There was some carefully choreographed flag-waving as the President drove by. 总统的车经过时，人们按精心编排的动作挥舞着旗帜。
• Achim had choreographed the dance in Act II himself. 阿希姆自己设计了第2幕的舞蹈动作。 来自辞典例句

10 revered   

v.崇敬，尊崇，敬畏( revere的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A number of institutions revered and respected in earlier times have become Aunt Sally for the present generation. 一些早年受到尊崇的惯例，现在已经成了这代人嘲弄的对象了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Chinese revered corn as a gift from heaven. 中国人将谷物奉为上天的恩赐。 来自辞典例句

11 potent   

adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的

参考例句：

• The medicine had a potent effect on your disease.这药物对你的病疗效很大。
• We must account of his potent influence.我们必须考虑他的强有力的影响。

12 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

13 advisors   

n.顾问，劝告者( advisor的名词复数 )；（指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• The governors felt that they were being strung along by their advisors. 地方长官感到他们一直在受顾问们的愚弄。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• We will consult together with advisors about her education. 我们将一起和专家商议她的教育事宜。 来自互联网

14 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 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。