CNN 2011-10-24

 Hi, I’m Carl Azuz. As we wrap up the week here on CNN Students News. We are talking about earthquake and basketball. You are going to hear some students’ advice on staying safe when you behind the wheel. And we are going to share some your opinions from a story we aired earlier in the week.  

 

But we are beginning in Libya with news of the country’s former leader Moammar Gadhafi is dead. He was killed Thursday by revolutionary forces, who were finally able to get control of Sirte, that is Gadhafi’s hometown. 

 

Reaction to the news came in from all over world. President Obama saying Gadhafi’s death quote: marks the end of a long and painful chapter for the people of Libya, who now have the opportunity to determine their own destiny. Many of those people were out on the streets celebrating yesterday. Cars were honking¹ their horns. Some people fired sharts into the air. They weren’t just celebrating the news about Gadhafi. They were also cheering what’s probably the end of their country’s civil war. That started an uprising back in February. Protesters spoke² out against Gadhafi. They wanted him out of power. Security forces started fighting with the protesters, and eventually the violence and tension boiled over into an all out civil war. The rebels were supported by military forces including the United States. And now that the war is ending, Libya still has a long road to head. 

 

Clearly, this day marks a * for Libya. In the coming days, we will witness a scene of celebration as well as grief for those who lost so much. Yet let us recognize, immediately, that this is only the end of the beginning. 

 

Now, Libya’s new leaders will have to figure out how they want to rebuild the country and its government. Before we look ahead, H* G* looks back at the man who ruled the nation for more than 40 years.  

 

As a 27-year old army officer, Moammar Gadhafi overthrew³ Libya’s king in 1969, and then set about wiping all foreign influence from the country including all vestiges⁴ of communism or capitalism⁵, publishing his personal philosophy in a three volume green book. Gadhafi always said that his goal was to change the world. But the way he set out to do it that amused, confused and often infuriated. But while he sometimes appeared a clown on the world’s stage, his actions were often deadly. 

 

In the mid⁶ 80s, he funnal the money and weapons to support the Palestine Liberation Organization’s fight against Israel. The Irish Republican Army’s efforts to defeat British rule in Northern Ireland, and he viciously targeted Americans. In 1986, Libyan agents were accused of bombing a Berlin nightclub killing⁷ two Americans and a Turk. U.S. President Ronald Reagan responded by bombing Tripoli, targeting Gadhafi’s house. The raid killed more than 100 people, including Gadhafi’s own daughter. Two years later, Pan Am Flight 103 blew up over the tiny village of Lockerbie, Scotland, raining debris⁸ and taking 270 lives. Investigators⁹ traced the attack to Libya. When Libya refused to turn over the suspects, the U.N. imposed top sanctions, leaving the country isolated¹⁰ and increasingly destitute¹¹. 

 

After 11 years as an international outcast, Gadhafi cut a deal. He gave up the Lockerbie bombing suspects for trial, and after the U.S. invaded Iraq, he surprised the world by agreeing to destroy all of his chemical, nuclear and biological weapons. Gadhafi soon welcomed western oil company like BP and T* into Libya. But questions lingered about whether some Western oil contracts will treated for Scotland’s release as one of the convicted Lockerbrie bombers¹². Back home, patience was running thin. After more 40 years, rebelling bubbled up in the eastern part of the country, quickly spreading across the Libya. As his government disingdigrated, he addressed the nation from the same house bombed by the U.S. in 1986. 

 

This is my country, that country of my grandfathers. 

1 honking   

v.（使）发出雁叫似的声音，鸣（喇叭），按（喇叭）( honk的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Cars zoomed helter-skelter, honking belligerently. 大街上来往车辆穿梭不停，喇叭声刺耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Flocks of honking geese flew past. 雁群嗷嗷地飞过。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 overthrew   

overthrow的过去式

参考例句：

• The people finally rose up and overthrew the reactionary regime. 人们终于起来把反动的政权推翻了。
• They overthrew their King. 他们推翻了国王。

4 vestiges   

残余部分( vestige的名词复数 )； 遗迹； 痕迹； 毫不

参考例句：

• the last vestiges of the old colonial regime 旧殖民制度最后的残余
• These upright stones are the vestiges of some ancient religion. 这些竖立的石头是某种古代宗教的遗迹。

5 capitalism   

n.资本主义

参考例句：

• The essence of his argument is that capitalism cannot succeed.他的论点的核心是资本主义不能成功。
• Capitalism began to develop in Russia in the 19th century.十九世纪资本主义在俄国开始发展。

6 mid   

adj.中央的，中间的

参考例句：

• Our mid-term exam is pending.我们就要期中考试了。
• He switched over to teaching in mid-career.他在而立之年转入教学工作。

7 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• 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。

8 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

9 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

11 destitute   

adj.缺乏的；穷困的

参考例句：

• They were destitute of necessaries of life.他们缺少生活必需品。
• They are destitute of common sense.他们缺乏常识。

12 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》