VOA慢速英语2014 博科圣地威胁喀麦隆学校

 

AS IT IS 2014-09-26 Boko Haram Threatening Schools in Cameroon 博科圣地威胁喀麦隆学校

From VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report.

The school year has begun in Cameroon. But thousands of students and teachers are fleeing their schools in towns that border Nigeria’s Borno state.  The state is the home of the Boko Haram terrorist group.

One thousand children were expected to start classes in government schools in the border town of Kolofata. But only a few arrived.  

Seventeen-year-old Foncha Rene was one of those who did come to school.  He says Boko Haram attacks in the area have frightened away other students. Recent armed conflict between the Nigerian Boko Haram rebels and Cameroon soldiers collapsed¹ the school’s walls.

Pamela Singeth works at the government school in Kolofata. She spoke² to VOA while taking refuge in a military camp.

“I cannot advise any child to go to school in the border zone because it is dangerous. Look at some classrooms that have been destroyed by Boko Haram. They even come here to pray, so I would not allow or advise any child to go to school in this area.”

Like Kolofata, Mora is also a town on the border with Borno State. Seven hundred students were expected at school there. But only 100 students appeared. And those who arrived found more than 2,000 Nigerian refugees in their school building.

Babila Akao serves as an administrative³ official for the area. He says, “People are suffering; the situation is a bad situation.” He says he is asking the Ministry⁴ of Education to postpone⁵ the start of the school year.

Kolofata and Mora are just two of the 25 schools on the border with Nigeria’s Borno State. Monouna Fotso is Cameroon’s secretary of state of the Ministry of Secondary Education. He says the government plans to move students from local schools for security reasons. He says at that time, the government will bring the staff and the students to the new sites. He says the goal of Boko Haram is “to traumatize the citizens.”

Over time, Cameroon has worked to extend and improve its educational system. Fourteen years ago, the government began providing free education. The action was part of efforts to increase school attendance. Cameroon is also trying to educate all of the youngest school-age children.

Boko Haram is a threat to Cameroon’s students and educational goals. The group has killed, kidnapped and stolen from villages along the 2,000 - kilometer border with Nigeria. The group has gained energy and strength in its fight to establish a government ruled by a religious leader and sharia, Islamic law, in northern Nigeria. Cameroonian and Nigerian military action has failed to stop the violence.  

1 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

4 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

5 postpone   

v.延期，推迟

参考例句：

• I shall postpone making a decision till I learn full particulars.在未获悉详情之前我得从缓作出决定。
• She decided to postpone the converastion for that evening.她决定当天晚上把谈话搁一搁。