时间:2018-12-16 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语2012年(八月)


英语课

 


Fight for Aleppo Intensifies 1, Worries Grow About Possible Massacre 2



Syrian activists 3 say government forces are using helicopter gunships to blast rebel-held areas of Aleppo, the nation’s commercial capital.


In amateur video that can’t be independently verified, warplanes can be seen roaring over the sky above the city.


Rebels are bracing 4 for an all-out assault amid reports the army is massing tanks and reinforcements to retake the embattled city, home to more than 2.5 million people. Expressing concern about a possible massacre in Aleppo, the U.S. blames the Syrian government for the escalation 5 in bloodshed.


“Who bears responsibility for the preponderance of violence in Syria? Who is the one who is using now fixed-wing aircraft against their own people - helicopters, artillery 6, gunships, et cetera? It is the Assad regime," said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.


Syrian rebels have staged attacks in the country’s two biggest cities, Damascus and Aleppo, in recent weeks.


Government soldiers have responded with overwhelming firepower, leading to some of the worst violence the cities have seen since the conflict began.


Still, commanders in the Free Syrian Army, like Abdulaziz Salameh, are predicting victory.


“The fighters are now in Aleppo. They are steadfast 7 and in two days, God willing, Aleppo will be under the control of this brigade, and other brigades are working with us and hand in hand we'll liberate 8 Aleppo, God willing," said Salameh.


The Syrian government has been using tanks in populated civilian 9 areas, while the rebels have been fighting mostly with lighter 10 weapons.


Opposition 11 fighters have captured guns, knives, ammunition 12 and grenades from the Syrian military. And occasionally they even have been able to commandeer tanks.


Despite the government’s advantage in weapons, some Middle East analysts 14 say international intervention 15 is not necessary.


“The rebels are going to win,” said Ken 16 Katzman, who is an analyst 13 at the Congressional Research Service. “They almost won last week. They are very much about to win this thing without international help and I think that is much better for them because then they have more legitimacy 17.”


Since the beginning of the uprising, the Syrian government has sought to portray 18 the opposition as dominated by al-Qaida, and the recent rise in violence has raised concerns the group is trying to join the revolution.


“The worry is these foreign fighters are going to be in Syria, Syria will be a failed state and they might start planning acts of terrorism in the West, in Europe, in the United States. That is the concern,” said Katzman.


Katzman said any al-Qaida affiliated 19 fighters now in Syria are focused on the conflict there and are not planning attacks on the West.




1 intensifies
n.(使)增强, (使)加剧( intensify的名词复数 )v.(使)增强, (使)加剧( intensify的第三人称单数 )
  • A clear atmosphere intensifies the blue of the sky. 纯净的空气使天空变得更蓝。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Blowing on fire intensifies the heat. 吹火使热度加强。 来自《简明英汉词典》
2 massacre
n.残杀,大屠杀;v.残杀,集体屠杀
  • There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中,这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
  • If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀,大屠杀就有可能再次发生!
3 activists
n.(政治活动的)积极分子,活动家( activist的名词复数 )
  • His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
  • Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》
4 bracing
adj.令人振奋的
  • The country is bracing itself for the threatened enemy invasion. 这个国家正准备奋起抵抗敌人的入侵威胁。
  • The atmosphere in the new government was bracing. 新政府的气氛是令人振奋的。
5 escalation
n.扩大,增加
  • 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
6 artillery
n.(军)火炮,大炮;炮兵(部队)
  • This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
  • The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。
7 steadfast
adj.固定的,不变的,不动摇的;忠实的;坚贞不移的
  • Her steadfast belief never left her for one moment.她坚定的信仰从未动摇过。
  • He succeeded in his studies by dint of steadfast application.由于坚持不懈的努力他获得了学业上的成功。
8 liberate
v.解放,使获得自由,释出,放出;vt.解放,使获自由
  • They did their best to liberate slaves.他们尽最大能力去解放奴隶。
  • This will liberate him from economic worry.这将消除他经济上的忧虑。
9 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。
10 lighter
n.打火机,点火器;驳船;v.用驳船运送;light的比较级
  • The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色,色调明朗了一些。
  • The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。
11 opposition
n.反对,敌对
  • 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。
12 ammunition
n.军火,弹药
  • A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
  • They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。
13 analyst
n.分析家,化验员;心理分析学家
  • 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。
14 analysts
分析家,化验员( analyst的名词复数 )
  • 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。
15 intervention
n.介入,干涉,干预
  • The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
  • Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。
16 ken
n.视野,知识领域
  • Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
  • Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.
17 legitimacy
n.合法,正当
  • The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
  • Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。
18 portray
v.描写,描述;画(人物、景象等)
  • It is difficult to portray feelings in words.感情很难用言语来描写。
  • Can you portray the best and worst aspects of this job?您能描述一下这份工作最好与最坏的方面吗?
19 affiliated
adj. 附属的, 有关连的
  • The hospital is affiliated with the local university. 这家医院附属于当地大学。
  • All affiliated members can vote. 所有隶属成员都有投票权。
学英语单词
5GL
acrogamy
amerco
anelastic
aquarelles
bacteriological sterility
barrier complex
beam warping machine
bender and cutter
boundary compact space
capture velocity
Cebera
chief superintendent
complexification of a Lie algebra
craniocaudad
crece
crisis counseling
data terminal function
development support library
dextran-75
dies communes in banco
docible
dole out alms
doubty
drum coating
eka-radium
elastomeric property
etheredge
euler column formula
falling off the wagon
fat lava
film-processings
fizzling out
flat jack test
Flemish bends
get sb back
gigot sleeve
glossocatochus
hinge point
Hisyah
human information processing
income tax returnblank
jumping out
lift an embargo
Linnaeus's two-toed sloth
Lloyd's of London Press
mean avoiding speed
metadiscussion
moving half-lines
multiple eaves
musculus ischiourethralis
mutual interference
myzostoma
naval academies
nickel matrix cathode
No bottom sounding!
non-congression (darlington 1937)
open circular
orthofelsite
osipovich
pedunculus cerebellaris caudalis
peyotists
plasticviscosity
pre-committed
proximal contact
put one's heart into
rapid reading
re-lines
refrainment
relay assembly
Rocky Mountain oysters
Samilp'o
seasonal lake
second category gassy mine
semioccasionally
sex temptation
Shikar R.
sidecar wheel
sprayer jet arc
statistical differential enhancement
Stierlin's sign
stotting
struma cystica ossea
sub-arm
systat
telodynamic
tension-shear fault
the ecliptic
three-centered arch
throws obstacles in way
transduce pulse delay
truetone
two-minded
two-way automatic distributor
ultra-high pressure apparatus
vitol
vowless
wadis
washed
washwater
wire relaying