英闻天下——330 A Second "Tomb Flattening Movement" in Henan?

 　　The local government in Central China's Zhoukou city forcibly flattened² over two million rural tombs over the last year in order to "increase arable³ land".

 

　　By the end of this Spring Festival, more than half of those flattened tombs were restored by local villagers.

 

　　Some local officials threaten to initiate⁴ a second "tomb-flattening movement" to re-flatten¹ the restored tombs.

 

　　But according to a revised law, it is now illegal to force anyone to flatten the tombs of their relatives.

 

　　Yun Yang says on blog.sina.com,

 

　　Where people cannot vote by their hands, they vote by their deeds. People in Zhoukou have clearly expressed their points of view by restoring their relatives' tombs overnight. In a country where the government is so powerful, of course local officials have the power to issue an administrative⁵ order and force their people to follow it. But people did so against their will, which results in the overnight restoration of tombs.

 

　　Hong Qiaojun says on ycwb.com,

 

　　As a government claiming itself to "serve the people", the Zhoukou government should learn to respect the will of their people. The strong resistance encountered by government officials in the process of the "tomb-flattening movement" last year as well as the quick restoration of tombs at the beginning of this year have clearly shown the will of the people. The local government should respect them.

 

　　Wang Chuantao says on blog.ifeng.com,

 

　　Paying respect to the dead is a Chinese tradition lasting⁶ for thousands of years. I believe it's also a common point for all human races. How can the local government in Zhoukou be so cruel as to deprive people's rights to pay their respect to the dead? That's their only connection to their dead relatives. It's simply inhumane to make such a decision!

 

　　Hong Qiaojun writes on bjnews.com,

 

　　The local government in Zhoukou claims itself to flatten villagers' family tombs for more "arable land". But as a matter of fact, everyone knows it clearly that the government just wants more land from farmers for the development of real estate. What it actually did is to win itself more benefits by scarifying farmers' interests. No wonder it encountered fierce protests from local farmers.

 

　　Xi Yu Guo Ke says on weibo.com,

 

　　Even if the Zhoukou government launched such a "tomb-flattening movement" out of good will, it should have carried it out in a milder way, easier to be accepted by local people. Forcible enforcement of any policy will only result in the rebound⁷ of people's will. The Zhoukou government should really draw a lesson from the mass restoration of tombs this time. It should also respect the new law and not interfere⁸ into local tomb restoration any more.

1 flatten   

v.把．．．弄平，使倒伏；使(漆等)失去光泽

参考例句：

• We can flatten out a piece of metal by hammering it.我们可以用锤子把一块金属敲平。
• The wrinkled silk will flatten out if you iron it.发皱的丝绸可以用熨斗烫平。

2 flattened   

[医]（水）平扁的，弄平的

参考例句：

• She flattened her nose and lips against the window. 她把鼻子和嘴唇紧贴着窗户。
• I flattened myself against the wall to let them pass. 我身体紧靠着墙让他们通过。

3 arable   

adj.可耕的，适合种植的

参考例句：

• The terrain changed quickly from arable land to desert.那个地带很快就从耕地变成了沙漠。
• Do you know how much arable land has been desolated?你知道什么每年有多少土地荒漠化吗？

4 initiate   

vt.开始，创始，发动；启蒙，使入门；引入

参考例句：

• A language teacher should initiate pupils into the elements of grammar.语言老师应该把基本语法教给学生。
• They wanted to initiate a discussion on economics.他们想启动一次经济学讨论。

5 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

6 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

7 rebound   

v.弹回；n.弹回，跳回

参考例句：

• The vibrations accompanying the rebound are the earth quake.伴随这种回弹的振动就是地震。
• Our evil example will rebound upon ourselves.我们的坏榜样会回到我们自己头上的。

8 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。