VOA标准英语2013--Iran Tightens Information Stream Ahead of Vote

Iran Tightens¹ Information Stream Ahead of Vote

Four years ago when the election results were announced in Iran, the world of social media was abuzz, with cell phone video pouring out of the country - the reformist Green Movement showing its discontent over what it saw as a fraudulent win by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

But in many ways, since then, social media activity has flatlined.

Geneive Abdo at the Washington-based Stimson Center said don't expect that to change.

“The Green movement has been crushed for the most part and people just don’t have that much of an appetite for protesting anymore,” Abdo stated.

Abdo said the reason is an aggressive regime as good as any in the world at cracking down on messengers it does not like.

“They started very sophisticated technology to filter the Internet, to intercept² emails, this sort of thing. That’s how they arrested a lot of people," explained Abdo. "Because they could identify them very easily. But in recent weeks, the Internet in Iran has become so slow one newspaper lamented³ “The Internet is in a coma⁴.”

That has left many Iranians - and the candidates themselves - dependent on state-run media.  Yet even there, authorities have not been afraid to intervene.

Mohammad Reza Aref, a former vice⁵ president seen by some as the leading reformist candidate, had part of his appearance cut off.

Mohsen Rezaei, a former Revolutionary Guards commander, complained parts of his first campaign-related interview had been censored⁶.

Rezaei's campaign later used its own website to show what it claimed to be the cut-out video.

Other candidates are also finding ways to venture online, including the likely frontrunner, chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, who has his own Twitter feed.

Still, the international concern is so great that the United States is relaxing sanctions on Iran to allow American companies to sell mobile phones - such as Apple's iPhone - software and other technology in hopes of helping⁷ Iranians skirt the censors⁸.

1 tightens   

收紧( tighten的第三人称单数 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧

参考例句：

• One set of provisions tightens emission standards. 一套使排放标准更加严格的规定。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Requires no special tools or fittings; hand tightens to relief valve outlet. 不需要专用工具或管件；用手将其紧固到安全阀上即可。

2 intercept   

vt.拦截，截住，截击

参考例句：

• His letter was intercepted by the Secret Service.他的信被特工处截获了。
• Gunmen intercepted him on his way to the airport.持枪歹徒在他去机场的路上截击了他。

3 lamented   

adj.被哀悼的，令人遗憾的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• her late lamented husband 她那令人怀念的已故的丈夫
• We lamented over our bad luck. 我们为自己的不幸而悲伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 coma   

n.昏迷，昏迷状态

参考例句：

• The patient rallied from the coma.病人从昏迷中苏醒过来。
• She went into a coma after swallowing a whole bottle of sleeping pills.她吃了一整瓶安眠药后就昏迷过去了。

5 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

6 censored   

受审查的，被删剪的

参考例句：

• The news reports had been heavily censored . 这些新闻报道已被大幅删剪。
• The military-backed government has heavily censored the news. 有军方撑腰的政府对新闻进行了严格审查。

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

8 censors   

删剪（书籍、电影等中被认为犯忌、违反道德或政治上危险的内容）( censor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The censors eviscerated the book to make it inoffensive to the President. 审查员删去了该书的精华以取悦于总统。
• The censors let out not a word. 检察官一字也不发。