2006年VOA标准英语-Sri Lanka Elections May Affect Direction o
时间：2019-01-13 作者：英语课 分类：2006年VOA标准英语（三月）
By Anjana Pasricha
New Delhi
30 March 2006
Sri Lanka has held local government elections that are being widely seen as a referendum on President Mahinda Rajapakse's handling of a peace process with the Tamil Tiger rebels. Anjana Pasricha reports from New Delhi on how these polls could affect the future of the country's two-decade-long ethnic 1 conflict.
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Sri Lankans went to the polls Thursday to choose local councils, four months after President Mahinda Rajapakse narrowly won national elections with the support of hard-line nationalist parties.
At that time, both Mr. Rajapakse and his allies promised to take a tough line with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Tiger Eelam, who are demanding an autonomous 2 homeland for the ethnic Tamil minority in the north and the east.
But as violence flared 3 and the country faced the prospect 4 of a return to war, the new president struck a more conciliatory tone, and reopened a dialogue with the rebels.
The rebels responded favorably. The violence has lessened 5 and peace talks have resumed, if somewhat hesitantly.
However, there are fears that President Rajapakse's peace efforts may receive a setback 6 if one of its coalition 7 partners, the People's Liberation Front, or JVP, fares well in Thursday's vote. The Marxist JVP is running its own candidates for the local councils.
The polls are being held in the south of the country, which is dominated by the majority Sinhalese. Because of security concerns, the vote has been postponed 8 for six months in the north and east, where the rebels hold sway.
Analysts 9 say if the hard-line JVP increases its share of votes, the president's flexibility 10 in negotiating with the rebels could be severely 11 restricted. The JVP has consistently opposed making concessions 12 to the Tamil rebels, who are also known by their initials, the LTTE.
Jehan Perera, the head of the National Peace Council in Colombo, says the polls are being seen as a test of public opinion on the fragile peace process.
"If the popular expectation that the JVP will do better than expected comes about, then the JVP might be able to claim that people voted for it because it is critical of the present peace process," said Perera. "And it will give the JVP more power to dissuade 13 the President from going on the path that he has agreed to, which is try and meet the LTTE and accommodate them. In that sense a good performance by the JVP would probably negatively impact upon the peace process."
The Tamil Tigers and the government are due to meet next month in Geneva for a second round of resumed peace talks, but in recent weeks both sides have accused the other of breaking promises made at an earlier round.
The Tamil struggle for an independent homeland erupted in 1983. A cease-fire signed in 2002 put the two-decade long war on hold, but there has been little headway in negotiating a solution to the conflict since then.
- This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
- The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。
- They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
- This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。
- This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
- The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。
- Listening to the speech through an interpreter lessened its impact somewhat. 演讲辞通过翻译的嘴说出来，多少削弱了演讲的力量。
- The flight to suburbia lessened the number of middle-class families living within the city. 随着迁往郊外的风行，住在城内的中产家庭减少了。
- Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
- She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。
- The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
- Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。
- The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
- The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。
- City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
- I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。
- Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
- The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。
- He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
- He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。
- The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
- The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。