欧洲－意大利为牺牲的情报局官员举行国葬

 

Italy Holds State Funeral for Slain¹ Intelligence Officer

 

The state funeral for Italian intelligence officer Nicola Calipari was held Monday morning in a church in central Rome. Mr. Calipari was killed by U.S. troops in Baghdad, in what the United States says was an accidental shooting, as he was taking a just freed Italian hostage to safety.

 

Thousands of sorrowful mourners turned out for the solemn and emotional service. There was applause as the coffin² was carried into the packed church. Mr. Calipari's distraught wife sat next to her two children.

 

Among those attending were Italy's president and prime minister and other top state officials. The U.S. Ambassador to Italy was also present.

 

During the service, the undersecretary to the prime minister's office, Gianni Letta described Mr. Calipari as a serious, intelligent and responsible servant of the state, an extraordinary person who carried out his job with great passion. He was a man, Mr. Letta added, who gave you faith and security.

 

Mr. Letta also said this is a time for the country to honor the heroic sacrifice of Nicola Calipari without divisions and without controversy³.

 

In his sermon a military chaplain spoke⁴ of the grandeur⁵ of Mr. Calipari's soul who sacrificed his life to save another one.

 

Mr. Calipari was killed Friday evening when U.S. troops opened fire on his car. He was traveling towards Baghdad airport after having secured the release of Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena, who had been held captive by Iraqi insurgents⁶ for one month.

 

Ms. Sgrena works for the Communist daily Il Manifesto⁷. She was wounded in the shooting. In a vivid account of the events that was published by her newspaper Sunday she said Mr. Calipari died shielding her from the shooting.

 

The intelligence officer was a highly experienced hostage negotiator. In the eyes of Italians he is a hero who sacrificed his life with selfless courage.

 

The journalist has charged that U.S. troops may have deliberately⁸ targeted her since the Italians had paid a ransom⁹, a practice America opposes. But in an interview published Monday in a leading Italian paper, Ms. Sgrena appeared to be backtracking by saying she does not know what led to the attack.

 

Accounts of what happened differ. U.S. forces say the car was approaching at high speed and did not stop after warning signals. Ms. Sgrena says the car was driving at a regular speed and there was no justification¹⁰ for shooting.

 

The United States has called the killing¹¹ of Mr. Calipari a "horrific accident" and promised a full investigation¹².

 

But the incident has led to an increase in anti-American sentiment in Italy, where a large part of public opinion opposed the war in Iraq. Italy has 3,000 troops based in the country and there have been increasing calls for those soldiers to be pulled out.

 

Sabina Castelfranco for VOA news, Rome.

 

注释：

hostage [5hCstidV] n. 人质

solemn [5sClEm] adj. 庄严的，隆重的

undersecretary [5QndE5sekritEri] n. 次长，副部长

sermon [5sE:mEn] n. 训诫，说教

chaplain [5tFAplin] n. (私人、社团、军中等的)牧师

manifesto [7mAni5festEu] n. 宣言，声明

deliberately [di5libErEtli] adv. 故意地

backtrack [5bAktrAk] vi. 原路返回，撤退

1 slain   

杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词)

参考例句：

• The soldiers slain in the battle were burried that night. 在那天夜晚埋葬了在战斗中牺牲了的战士。
• His boy was dead, slain by the hand of the false Amulius. 他的儿子被奸诈的阿缪利乌斯杀死了。

2 coffin   

n.棺材，灵柩

参考例句：

• When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
• The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。

3 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

4 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。

5 grandeur   

n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华

参考例句：

• The grandeur of the Great Wall is unmatched.长城的壮观是独一无二的。
• These ruins sufficiently attest the former grandeur of the place.这些遗迹充分证明此处昔日的宏伟。

6 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

7 manifesto   

n.宣言，声明

参考例句：

• I was involved in the preparation of Labour's manifesto.我参与了工党宣言的起草工作。
• His manifesto promised measures to protect them.他在宣言里保证要为他们采取保护措施。

8 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

9 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

10 justification   

n.正当的理由；辩解的理由

参考例句：

• There's no justification for dividing the company into smaller units. 没有理由把公司划分成小单位。
• In the young there is a justification for this feeling. 在年轻人中有这种感觉是有理由的。

11 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。

12 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。