VOA慢速英语2014 美国国会批准武装叙利亚反对派以对抗ISIS

 

US Congress Approves Plan to Arm Syrian Rebels 美国国会批准武装叙利亚反对派以对抗ISIS

The U.S. Congress has approved a plan to arm and train Syrian rebels to fight Islamic State militants¹ and forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Some Democratic Party politicians are concerned that the U.S. is getting into another war in the Middle East. Republican Party politicians say Mr. Obama’s plan will not do enough to defeat the Islamic State group.

In France, President Francois Hollande said his country is ready to launch airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq. But the French president rejected extending the airstrike to Syria.

Islamic State fighters seize Kurdish areas

Islamic State fighters with tanks have captured 16 Kurdish villages in Northern Iraq near the Turkish border. The group also captured the Kurdish area of Kobani in Syria.

Nawaf Khalil is a spokesman for Syria's Kurdish Democratic Union Party. He said the Kurdish fighters withdrew from 20 villages in the Kobani area.  He also said they moved civilians³ to safer areas.

Kobani local leader Anwer Moslem⁴ spoke² with VOA's Kurdish service.  He expressed his fears about the situation. He said:

"ISIL are attacking with American tanks and heavy weapons that they captured in Mosul.  They are attacking Kobani and want to control it and carry out a massacre⁵ there just like what happened [to Yezidis] in Sinjar where people had to leave their homes, where people were killed, women were abducted⁶, children were killed.”

Obama reaffirms U.S. support for Ukraine

President Barack Obama has offered additional security assistance to Ukraine to help it in its conflict with Russia. Mr. Obama met with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko Thursday at the White House.  The U.S. leader said Ukraine will receive $53 million in new aid. He 46 million of it will help with Ukraine's security.  The other $7 million is for humanitarian⁷ needs.

Mr. Obama also said that the U.S. will continue to seek a diplomatic solution with help from the international community.

Earlier in the day, the Ukrainian president spoke to the full U.S. Congress. Mr. Poroshenko told lawmakers that his country needed weaponry to fight separatist forces.

George Clooney to receive the Cecil B. DeMille Award

American actor George Clooney will receive the Cecil B. DeMille Award, an honorary Golden Globe for his work in the movie industry.

The 53-year-old Clooney is one of Hollywood's leading men.  He has also directed and produced movies. The Hollywood Foreign Press will honor him in January at the Golden Globes Awards.

1 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。

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 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。

4 Moslem   

n.回教徒，穆罕默德信徒；adj.回教徒的，回教的

参考例句：

• Moslem women used to veil their faces before going into public.信回教的妇女出门之前往往用面纱把脸遮起来。
• If possible every Moslem must make the pilgrimage to Mecca once in his life.如有可能，每个回教徒一生中必须去麦加朝觐一次。

5 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

6 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

7 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。