2007年VOA标准英语-Sri Lankan Peace Hopes Suffer Military, Politic
时间：2019-02-04 作者：英语课 分类：2007年VOA标准英语（一月）
By Steve Herman
Washington
17 January 2007
Hopes for a political solution to Sri Lanka's ethnic 1 conflict appear to have suffered a new setback 2. Media in the region report that Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse has rejected an appeal by former prime minister and opposition 3 leader Ranil Wickremasinghe to accept opposition politicians into the government. Officials of the opposition right-wing UNP (United National Party) have said such a negative response by the president would scuttle 4 their joint 5 pledge to work on a united proposal for negotiations 7 with ethnic Tamil rebels. VOA's Steve Herman reports from Washington on the fading hopes for peace in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan soldiers man a post close to forward defense 8 lines of Tamil Tiger rebels in Jaffna, northeast of Colombo, 21 Jun 2006
While government troops on Tuesday clashed with rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, known as the LTTE or Tamil Tigers, there was also a new setback for peace on the political front in Colombo.
Three months ago, hopes to end the island's ethnic conflict blossomed after a landmark 9 deal was reached between Sri Lanka's governing party and the main opposition party. But that agreement appears to have collapsed 10 due to bickering 11 on domestic political matters.
Heritage Foundation South Asia research fellow Lisa Curtis says a united negotiating front by the two Sinhalese political parties has been viewed as the final chance to broach 12 a political settlement with the Tamil Tiger rebels.
Lisa Curtis
"This is sort of our last hope at this point if we want to avoid an all-out return to civil war, more devastating 13 consequences for the civilian 14 population, [and] possible chaos 15 for the economy," she said.
Regional observers believe the government in Colombo now feels emboldened 16 to try to defeat the rebels on the battlefield.
Curtis, a former U.S. Central Intelligence Agency analyst 17, says a military push to defeat the Tamils is a "risky 18 gambit" for Sri Lanka's military and not a strategy the international community will support.
Another veteran expert on Sri Lanka, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, Karl Inderfurth, says more than two decades of armed conflict should have demonstrated to both sides they must bridge the ethnic divide through negotiation 6.
Karl Inderfurth
"I do not believe that there is a military solution to what's taking place in Sri Lanka. This has to be resolved through political means," he said. "One side or the other may think that they have the upper hand at one time or another but that is ephemeral - things will change."
Inderfurth, a professor of international affairs at the George Washington University, cautions that arm twisting with punititive threats by diplomats 19, however, will not force the feuding 20 parties back to the negotiating table.
"I don't believe that any one government - whether it be the United States of America, the Indian government, the Japanese government or Norway, that has played such an important mediating 21, facilitating role, can force either the Sri Lankan government or the LTTE to do something that they are not committed to doing themselves," he said.
But Curtis, who also served as the U.S. State Department's senior advisor 22 on South Asia, is more optimistic about the opportunity for diplomacy 23 and for Washington's ability to assert influence.
"The fact that a civil war would bring a devastating humantarian situation [and] have negative reprecussions throughout South Asia, I think it would serve the U.S. well to become more involved. A little bit of U.S. diplomacy could go a long way," he said.
Recent diplomacy by others, however, has yielded no significant progress following a 2002 truce 24. Now even that tentative agreement appears to be tattered 25.
International humanitarian 26 organizations are continuing to operate in the primarily Tamil north despite the resumption of military attacks.
There, amid the onset 27 of infectious diseases and food shortages, the United Nations' High Commission for Refugees and its partners are trying to rebuild basic infrastructure 28 to get those who have fled their villages to return.
Shantayanan Devarajan
The World Bank's South Asia lead economist 29, Shantayanan Devarajan, says such programs could achieve what diplomacy has failed to accomplish.
"People might actually feel better about going back to the areas they had fled from and this might actually help to build the peace," he said.
Meanwhile, concern is mounting that the escalation 30 in fighting will create a new refugee crisis. Reports from the northern part of Sri Lanka say thousands of Tamil civilians 31 are trapped in rebel-held territory while an estimated 20,000 have fled to government-controlled areas in recent weeks to escape artillery 32 exchanges.
Sri Lanka's government has rejected rebel demands for a Tamil homeland in the north and east, prompting the LTTE to threaten to resume its guerilla war. The ethnic violence has claimed more than 67,000 lives since 1983.
- 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。
- 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 party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
- The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。
- There was a general scuttle for shelter when the rain began to fall heavily.下大雨了，人们都飞跑着寻找躲雨的地方。
- The scuttle was open,and the good daylight shone in.明朗的亮光从敞开的小窗中照了进来。
- I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
- We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。
- They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
- The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。
- negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
- Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。
- The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
- The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。
- The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
- The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。
- 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。
- The children are always bickering about something or other. 孩子们有事没事总是在争吵。
- The two children were always bickering with each other over small matters. 这两个孩子总是为些小事斗嘴。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
- It's a good chance to broach the subject.这是开始提出那个问题的好机会。
- I thought I'd better broach the matter with my boss.我想我最好还是跟老板说一下这事。
- It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
- Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。
- There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
- He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。
- After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
- The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。
- Emboldened by the wine, he went over to introduce himself to her. 他借酒壮胆，走上前去向她作自我介绍。
- His success emboldened him to expand his business. 他有了成就因而激发他进一步扩展业务。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
- The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。
- It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
- He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。
- These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
- The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Riccardo and Cafiero had been feuding so openly that the whole town knew about it. 里卡多和卡菲埃罗一直公开地闹别扭，全城的人都知道此事。 来自辞典例句
- The two families have been feuding with each other for many generations. 这两个家族有好多代的世仇了。 来自互联网
- So many factors are mediating. 如此众多的因素在起作用。
- The contrast in mediating noted in the sitting room. 客厅中注重了调和中的对比。
- They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
- The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。
- The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
- This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。
- The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
- She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。
- Her tattered clothes in no way detracted from her beauty.她的破衣烂衫丝毫没有影响她的美貌。
- Their tattered clothing and broken furniture indicated their poverty.他们褴褛的衣服和破烂的家具显出他们的贫穷。
- She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
- The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。
- The drug must be taken from the onset of the infection.这种药必须在感染的最初期就开始服用。
- Our troops withstood the onset of the enemy.我们的部队抵挡住了敌人的进攻。
- We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
- We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。
- He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
- He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。
- The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
- Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句
- 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。