VOA标准英语2012--For Egypt's Coptic Christians, No Easy Choice
时间:2018-12-16 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语2012年(六月)
For Egypt's Coptic Christians 2, No Easy Choice
It's not easy being Christian 1 in Egypt, a minority among the Sunni Muslim majority. But some times are worse than others. For Amal Beshara, the first moments of 2011 were as bad as they come.
She was at a New Year's church service in Alexandria. Her husband, Magdi, left a few minutes before the end.
She says she heard the explosion when they were still inside. Amal asked what happened and was told, "there are bodies scattered 3 everywhere."
Her husband was severely 4 injured, later succumbing 5 to his wounds. He was one of 23 people killed in the attack.
The government accused Islamic militants 6 of the blast, part of a long line of anti-Christian attacks. Copts blamed the government for not protecting them, some going as far as to say Interior Minister Habib el Adly was involved as part of anti-Islamist machinations.
Amal says she heard el Adly was behind the bombing, but notes the case has still not been solved.
Within weeks of the blast, a revolution swept that government from office. But now, a year and half later, Amal is being asked to choose a new president -- either an Islamist or a member of the old government.
The Coptic schoolteacher says she is afraid - afraid the old guard candidate will perpetuate 7 the old government's ways, and afraid the Islamists will persecute 8 Christians.
The Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi has promised an inclusive Egypt. The last prime minister under the old guard, Ahmed Shafiq, vows 9 he will boost security.
Amal Beshara's son, Antwan, who held his father as he lay dying, had hoped for a third way.
He had wished there would have been a candidate of the revolution, someone with no ties to the past. He wanted leftist Hamdeen Sabahi, but is resigned to the candidates running.
It is a hard choice, but Antwan, Amal and a majority of Copts are backing Shafiq. His side may have failed to protect Christians, but for the most part, is not the side doing the attacking.
Professor Said Sadek of the American University in Cairo says Copts are understandably afraid.
“If you have some of those fanatics 10 all the time targeting them, how are you going to protect them? And, we have many experiences in Egypt of minorities leaving the country because of political conditions. Look what happened to the Egyptian Jews,” he said.
Sadek says his Coptic friends are weighing if they too will leave. Not Amal. Egypt is where her husband is buried. It is her country. Despite everything, she wishes it well.
She says regardless of who wins -- "whether it is the old regime or the Islamist" -- she hopes it will be good for Egypt and that there will be peace.
- They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
- His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。
- Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
- His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。
- Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来,塞进文件夹里。
- 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。
- Mrs. Smith washed and ironed clothes for him, succumbing to him. 史密斯太太被他迷住了,愿意为他洗衣烫衣。
- They would not in the end abandon their vital interests by succumbing to Soviet blandishment. 他们最终决不会受苏联人的甜言蜜语的诱惑,从而抛弃自己的切身利益。
- 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。
- This monument was built to perpetuate the memory of the national hero.这个纪念碑建造的意义在于纪念民族英雄永垂不朽。
- We must perpetuate the system.我们必须将此制度永久保持。
- They persecute those who do not conform to their ideas.他们迫害那些不信奉他们思想的人。
- Hitler's undisguised effort to persecute the Jews met with worldwide condemnation.希特勒对犹太人的露骨迫害行为遭到世界人民的谴责。