VOA标准英语2011--Egypt's Coptic Christians Fear Fewer Rights After Elections
时间:2018-12-16 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语2011年(十一月)
Egypt's Coptic Christians 2 Fear Fewer Rights After Elections
With Islamist groups expected to do well in Egypt's parliamentary elections, many Coptic Christians are concerned that their limited rights will come under greater threat.
The trash of millions of people collects in Cairo's Garbage City, the narrow lanes filled with plastic, metal, wood - anything the district residents can resell to eke 3 out a living.
The slum, on the outskirts 4 of the capital, is home to a large Coptic Christian 1 community. Many are trash collectors, or zabaleen. And above the squalor is a testament 5 to their faith - the largest Christian church in the Middle East, cut into the hillside that begins the plateau east of Cairo.
For Christians, Egypt is the land revered 6 for sheltering a young Jesus and his family. But it has long been the province of an Islamic majority, a fact that some Coptic Christians say Muslims are quick to point out.
Said, who gives only his first name, says Christians are discriminated 7 against.
He says Coptic Christians do not have the same rights as other people in the country, and that others look down on them as if they are not human. Said says discrimination was institutionalized under the old government, with restrictions 8 on church construction and the ability to change one's faith. The current military government has proved no better, he says, cracking down on a Coptic protest march last month, in a violent night that left 25 people dead.
Residents of the Cairo settlement of Manshiet Nasser collect garbage in the streets of the neighborhood. The settlement, populated by Egyptian Christians, is where Cairo, Africa's biggest city, dumps its garbage. Residents then sort it out. They are known as "zabbaleen", literally 9 trash people, (File).
Now, some Christians say, it can only get worse. The elections that started this week are expected to favor Islamist parties, including the conservative Salafis.
Medhat Sa'ad, a resident of Garbage City, fears that if Salafis are in charge, a woman walking on the streets without a veil "could be slaughtered 10."
Although Salafi-inspired violence has dominated newspaper headlines in recent months, some experts say widespread fear is not justified 11.
"I know a lot of people, even very practicing Muslims, who take their faith very seriously, who do not want to see this kind of interpretation 12 of Islam being overrepresented in parliament. I would say, in general, most Egyptians are more leaning to the more moderate interpretation of Islam or moderate involvement of Islam in political life," political analyst 13 Rania el-Malki says.
Even if extremist views prevail, some Coptic Christians in Garbage City say they will never leave.
Adel Gad 14 el-Rab is a former garbage collector who says God protects everyone in Egypt. When reminded that the country's once thriving Jewish community is all but gone, he declares he will never leave until, as he puts it, he goes to "his homeland in heaven."
El-Rab says the people here are the poorest in Cairo. "We are the garbage collectors," he says, "but we live on a mountain of faith."
- 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。
- They had to eke out a livinga tiny income.他们不得不靠微薄收入勉强度日。
- We must try to eke out our water supply.我们必须尽量节约用水。
- Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
- They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。
- This is his last will and testament.这是他的遗愿和遗嘱。
- It is a testament to the power of political mythology.这说明,编造政治神话可以产生多大的威力。
- A number of institutions revered and respected in earlier times have become Aunt Sally for the present generation. 一些早年受到尊崇的惯例,现在已经成了这代人嘲弄的对象了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- The Chinese revered corn as a gift from heaven. 中国人将谷物奉为上天的恩赐。 来自辞典例句
- His great size discriminated him from his followers. 他的宽广身材使他不同于他的部下。
- Should be a person that has second liver virus discriminated against? 一个患有乙肝病毒的人是不是就应该被人歧视?
- I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
- a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制
- He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
- Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候,她不走到真正要昏厥了,决不肯坐下来。
- The invading army slaughtered a lot of people. 侵略军杀了许多人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Hundreds of innocent civilians were cruelly slaughtered. 数百名无辜平民遭残杀。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
- The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。
- His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
- Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。