VOA慢速英语2014 以色列和巴勒斯坦同意停火

 

Israel and the Palestinians Agree to Truce¹ 以色列和巴勒斯坦同意停火

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators announced Tuesday that they have agreed to an extended ceasefire after seven weeks of deadly fighting in Gaza.

The ceasefire took effect at 7 p.m. local time (1600 GMT). Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced the truce from his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah. 

Egypt organized the truce.  It calls for Israel to ease its blockade of Gaza. The agreement will permit shipments of humanitarian² aid and building materials for repair and reconstruction³ in Gaza. The two sides will continue talks about Israel’s demand that Hamas militants⁴ surrender their weapons.

The United States said it strongly supports the truce.

Over 2,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians⁵, and more than 60 Israelis were killed in the almost two month long conflict.

Belarus Meeting Fails to End Fighting in Ukraine

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko and Russia's President Vladimir Putin met in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, Tuesday.  They failed to reach agreement about the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Mr. Poroshenko said the conflict would end with a secure border for Ukraine. He said there must be a block to transports of arms from Russia to the rebels.

Mr. Putin demanded that Russia be permitted to meet with the rebels and supply humanitarian aid.

Cambodian Opposition⁶ Gets Parliamentary Commissions

This week lawmakers from Cambodia’s opposition party are being voted onto 10 parliament committees. The vote is one term of a political deal to end the country’s political crisis.

The opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party boycotted⁷ the parliament after winning 55 seats in the 132-seat National Assembly. The opposition accused Prime Minister Hun Sen of cheating to keep a small majority.

Son Chhay, a leader of the opposition expressed hope for the future.  He said the agreement was a very good beginning.

Old Favorites ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘Modern Family’ Win Emmys

“Breaking Bad” was honored at the Primetime Emmy Awards on Monday as the top drama series on U.S. television. The show received the Emmy for a second straight year.  It also won three acting⁸ awards.

In comedy, “Modern Family” won the Emmy for best series. It has won the award the last four years as well.

The award program also honored actor Robin⁹ Williams whose recent suicide shocked people around the world.  Williams was found dead in his California home on August eleventh.

1 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

2 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

3 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

4 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• 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。

5 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

6 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

7 boycotted   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Athletes from several countries boycotted the Olympic Games. 有好几国的运动员抵制奥林匹克运动会。
• The opposition party earlier boycotted the Diet agenda, demanding Miyaji's resignation. 反对党曾杯葛国会议程，要宫路下台。

8 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

9 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。