VOA标准英语2013--在埃及支持军事统治的人在增长

 

Support for Military Rule Growing Among Egyptians 在埃及支持军事统治的人在增长

CAIRO — Opponents of Egypt’s new rulers say a carefully orchestrated media and advocacy campaign is underway in Egypt to generate support for the country’s military and its leader.

In their luxury chocolate shop in an affluent¹ neighborhood in Cairo, the Bartaw family sells chocolates emblazoned with the face of the man they hope will become Egypt’s next president - General Abdel Fattah el-Sissi.  

Shopowner Sherif Bartaw hopes the military leader will reach the stature² of a previous national hero, Gamal Abdel Nasser, who died in 1970.

“This is our President Nasser, and the small guy, it’s Sissi,” he said, pointing to the chocolates.

Bartaw, who used to work in Cairo’s now-decimated tourism industry, says Egyptians are sick of political instability and the economic upheaval³ that has come with it.  He hopes Sissi will be a strong enough leader to end the on-going political and social crisis.

Egypt's interim⁴ government took office after the military led by Sissi ousted⁵ democratically-elected President Mohamed Morsi in July. Subsequent crackdowns reportedly left more than 1,000 protesters dead and at least 2,000 were jailed.

Despite the crackdown, there’s an upsurge of pro-military feeling in Cairo and a renewed taste for political strongmen.  Rights groups say this is being carefully choreographed⁶ though campaigns in the state and private media.

"Since the military is in control, is calling all the shots in Egypt, that’s also then allowed them to, through heavy handed military propaganda, frame themselves as the only reliable strong consistent voice in Egypt today,” said Heba Morayef, Egypt Director for Human Rights Watch.

In an office across town, leaders of the group "Complete Your Favor" are collecting 40 million signatures calling for Sissi to run for president. They supported the military action in August clearing the protest camps of supporters of Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood⁷, despite the numerous casualties.  

“It was not a peaceful sit-in, it was an armed sit-in," said the group's spokesman Abd el Nabi Abd Sattar.  "The Brotherhood tried to alter and forge the image to the extent that they bought buried corpses⁸ to suggest and give the illusion to the Western or international media that the victims are numerous.”

Still, the Brotherhood continues its protests - despite being banned by an Egyptian court earlier this week.

In a Cairo suburb last week, several thousand Brotherhood supporters voiced their continued anger at the ouster of their president and the killings⁹ of fellow protesters.

“There are those voices that are calling for an exclusion¹⁰ of the Brotherhood and of political Islam as a fundamental threat to the Egyptian state," Morayef said. "And they then justify¹¹ that by using a discourse¹² of terrorism, to say that the Brotherhood are terrorists, and therefore should be excluded completely. And I think that’s incredibly dangerous, and incredibly destabilizing."

General Sissi says he has no ambitions to run for president and aides say he’ll only do so if the Egyptian people demand it. In the current climate, those demands seem to be growing. 

1 affluent   

adj.富裕的，富有的，丰富的，富饶的

参考例句：

• He hails from an affluent background.他出身于一个富有的家庭。
• His parents were very affluent.他的父母很富裕。

2 stature   

n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材

参考例句：

• He is five feet five inches in stature.他身高5英尺5英寸。
• The dress models are tall of stature.时装模特儿的身材都较高。

3 upheaval   

n.胀起，(地壳)的隆起；剧变，动乱

参考例句：

• It was faced with the greatest social upheaval since World War Ⅱ.它面临第二次世界大战以来最大的社会动乱。
• The country has been thrown into an upheaval.这个国家已经陷入动乱之中。

4 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。

5 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

6 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

7 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

8 corpses   

n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The living soldiers put corpses together and burned them. 活着的战士把尸体放在一起烧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Overhead, grayish-white clouds covered the sky, piling up heavily like decaying corpses. 天上罩满了灰白的薄云，同腐烂的尸体似的沉沉的盖在那里。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

9 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

10 exclusion   

n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行

参考例句：

• Don't revise a few topics to the exclusion of all others.不要修改少数论题以致排除所有其他的。
• He plays golf to the exclusion of all other sports.他专打高尔夫球，其他运动一概不参加。

11 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

12 discourse   

n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述

参考例句：

• We'll discourse on the subject tonight.我们今晚要谈论这个问题。
• He fell into discourse with the customers who were drinking at the counter.他和站在柜台旁的酒客谈了起来。