时间:2018-12-16 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语2009年(九月)


英语课

By Sean Maroney
Islamabad
29 September 2009



 Local officials in southern Afghanistan say a roadside bomb blasted a passenger bus Tuesday, killing 1 30 civilians 3 and wounding at least 39 others. The latest violence comes days after a U.N. report declared August the deadliest month of the year for civilians in Afghanistan. 


The Afghan government is blaming the Taliban for the latest attack outside the southern city of Kandahar.


No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, which killed dozens of civilians, including women and children riding on the bus.


Afghan presidential spokesman Humayoon Hamedzada says authorities are investigating.


"We are deeply sorry for the loss of life, but our provincial 4 authorities and the security agencies have received instructions to complete the investigations," Hamedzada said.


Tuesday's explosion occurred just west of the city on a highway where a similar blast killed three civilians a day earlier.


Late last week, the United Nations issued a report that said it had recorded some 1,500 civilian 2 casualties between January and August. August was this year's deadliest month, as the Taliban sought to discourage people from voting in the presidential election.


The report also said almost three times as many civilian deaths were attributed to anti-government elements than to pro-government forces.


The spokesman for international forces in Afghanistan, U.S. Army Colonel Wayne Shanks, says NATO troops are working with local populations to clear the roads of Taliban bombs.


"Every time [the Taliban kills] innocent civilians, they are hurting themselves," Shanks said. "Just like if we make a mistake and we hurt innocent civilians, we are hurting ourselves. And we are trying to absolutely fix that."


Meanwhile in Pakistan, authorities say another suspected U.S. missile strike targeted militants 5 in South Waziristan. Officials believe the insurgents 6 in Pakistan's tribal 7 regions have ties to the Taliban and al-Qaida and use the area as a base of operations for strikes in Afghanistan against foreign troops.



1 killing
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财
  • Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
  • Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。
2 civilian
adj.平民的,民用的,民众的
  • 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。
3 civilians
平民,百姓( civilian的名词复数 ); 老百姓
  • 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。
4 provincial
adj.省的,地方的;n.外省人,乡下人
  • City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
  • Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。
5 militants
激进分子,好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )
  • The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来,反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
  • Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此,巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。
6 insurgents
n.起义,暴动,造反( insurgent的名词复数 )
  • The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子,这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网
7 tribal
adj.部族的,种族的
  • He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
  • The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。
学英语单词
active gelatin
actuating rod
aryepigiottcus
assume tremendous importance in
automatic succession
azobisformamide
bacteriologic(al) filter
Baring, Mt.
benzene acetonitrile
brooder house
burets
burst trapping code
camshaft annular combustion chamber
card punching machine
chrome-nickel
circumferential register screw
city punch
claustrophile
compactness of soil
copper phenolsulfonate
core maker
counter-security
croncled
cudgel-play
Diemelsee
downsamples
drink shops
efficiency of heat exchanger
electrical thermometer
empanelments
estivate
exit slit
fibre cargo net
front-mounted implement
Generation XL
George Herbert
gestural transducer
go on ahead
have mixed feelings about
hog bung
homburgs
hook scarf
humid cabinet
Hydroascharite
hypervelocity
ice cold storage
ice danger zone
image maker
isolation and energy dissipation
jockey wheel
lacustrine ecosystem
laocon
lateral oblique position
lucifers
main-vault shielding
mandatory securities valuation reserve
milk cleaner
montmorillonite
Mullerian ducts
mycobacillin
natural wood filler
neltnerite
New Brigden
nogging piece
non-dangerous oil
nonhistories
Oprahfication
optional courses
paijama
pelecorhynchid
pin type flexible coupling
plebicolar
polyanode flip-flop tube
pseudoscalar meson
pulmonary arterial pressure
put the call through
quide path
re-sound
recasters
sagemont
searing irons
self contain
shifting linkages
single bar
stability test model
statimeter
Still waters run deep
string line
subscripting formula
suitability
taking part
tax on capital profit
to ditch something
transactionalities
trichia contorta iowensis
Typhlocarcinus villosus
unfamiliarity
Warren Pt.
whac-a-mole
without any point
wunt
ytak