英语听力精选进阶版 9388

It paved the way for the three decades-long rule of President Mobutu. They didn't come any greedier in Africa. It's estimated he stole around half of the 12 billion dollars his country received in aid. The West helped to keep him in power. A people and a country finally breaking under the strain of 26 years of autocratic and brutal¹ dictatorship. But Mobutu's era ended in the most unexpected of ways. Genocide in Rwanda, the country next door, saw millions flee into Congo. War followed them. Rwanda and Uganda sponsored a rebellion that overthrow² Mobutu and installed the Kabila family in power. In a decade of war, more than five million people are estimated to have died.

As nine African nations and numerous rebel groups fought each other for territory, for control of Congo's riches. Warlords dominated swathes of the country. The word used to describe you is warlord, not peacemaker—warlord. I'm not a warlord. It always, always comes back to the money. We're going to make some history together today. With the tech boom of the new millennium³, Congolese coltan was in high demand. As there is a new commodity that we all want for our mobile phones or for our electric vehicles, the reality often is that Congo has it. And so we started to see the unscrupulous businessmen and women, we started to see the corrupt⁴ leaders. Human rights group allege⁵ that around 750 million dollars in mining revenues has been stolen under the rule of President Joseph Kabila and his cronies. Congo is a country where more than 70% of the population live below the poverty line, where women suffer some of the highest rates of sexual violence in the world. And human rights can often be abused with impunity⁶. This soil on which we sleep is the same soil where we buried our children. Such suffering isn't the natural condition of these people, it's man-made. And that is the tragedy of Congo.

这件事(指刚果(民)首任总理帕特里斯·卢蒙巴被暗杀)为蒙博托总统三十年的统治铺平了道路。在非洲没有比他更贪婪的人了。据估计，刚果所接受的120亿美元援助中，大概一半都被蒙博托归为己有。西方国家助他保住权位。在蒙博托26年的独裁和残酷统治下，一个民族和一个国家终于崩塌了。但是蒙博托时代是以最意想不到的方式结束的。在刚果的邻国卢旺达，爆发了种族屠杀，上百万的卢旺达人逃离到了刚果。而战争也随之爆发。卢旺达和乌干达资助反叛军推翻了蒙博托政权，并把卡比拉家族推上了最高位。在长达10年的战争里，估计有超过500万人丧生。多达九个非洲国家和多如牛毛的反叛组织为了争夺领土，为了控制刚果的财富爆发了冲突。军阀们控制了这个国家的大片领土。过去形容你的词汇是“军阀”，而不是“和平缔造者”，是军阀。我不是军阀。所有的事情最终最终都会回到钱上来。今天，我们将一起创造历史。随着新千年技术革命的兴盛，刚果产的钶钽需求旺盛。有一种新商品是我们的手机或是我们的电动车都要用到的，而现实往往是刚果才拥有它。所以我们开始看到不择手段谋利的男男女女的生意人，我们开始看到腐败的领导人们。人权组织声称，刚果大约有7.5亿美元的矿产收入被约瑟夫·卡比拉总统和他的亲信们据为己有。刚果有超过70%的人生活在贫困线以下，这个国家也是女性性侵犯发生率最高的国家之一。在这里，人权经常遭到践踏，但是却免受惩罚。我们休息的这片土地也是我们掩埋我们孩子们尸体的土地。刚果人民遭受的这样的苦难并不是在自然状况下形成的，而是人为的。这才是刚果真正的悲剧。

1 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

2 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

3 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。

4 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

5 allege   

vt.宣称，申述，主张，断言

参考例句：

• The newspaper reporters allege that the man was murdered but they have given no proof.新闻记者们宣称这个男人是被谋杀的，但他们没提出证据。
• Students occasionally allege illness as the reason for absence.学生时不时会称病缺课。

6 impunity   

n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除

参考例句：

• You will not escape with impunity.你不可能逃脱惩罚。
• The impunity what compulsory insurance sets does not include escapement.交强险规定的免责范围不包括逃逸。