2006年VOA标准英语-Protesters in Beirut Set Fire to Danish Co

By Edward Yeranian
Beirut
05 February 2006

Protestors wave black and green Islamic flags in front of the burning building housing the Danish mission during a protest against publication of caricatures of Islam's revered¹ prophet in European newspapers, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Feb. 5, 2006  
  
Demonstrators set fire to a building housing the Danish Consulate² in the Lebanese capital, destroying much of the building, amid protests over the publication in a number of European countries of cartoons depicting³ the Prophet Mohammed.  

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Hundreds of angry young demonstrators, armed with pipes, sticks and metal rods, torched the building housing the Danish consulate in Beirut's normally quiet, Christian⁴ suburb of Ashrafiyah.

Billowing clouds of smoke poured into the air, as fire leaped out of the building, housing the Danish consulate, as well as the Austrian Embassy, while harried⁵ firefighters worked to douse⁶ the flames.

Police and Lebanese Army troops also fired tear gas into the air to try to disperse⁷ the rioters, while some Islamic religious leaders attempted to calm the crowd.

Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohamed Rashid Kabbani, the country's top Islamic-law expert, appealed for calm. 

"We call on our citizens to calm down." He said, "Some are using this opportunity to destroy Lebanon again."

Lebanese member of parliament Samir Frangieh, who is close to Prime Minister Fouad Sinioura, accused Syria of fomenting⁸ the disorder⁹, to bring chaos¹⁰ to Lebanon and compromise the country's independence.

Dozens of buses lined Beirut's city center, after reportedly shuttling thousands of demonstrators to Beirut from across Lebanon.

Ambulance sirens could be heard into the early afternoon, ferrying a number of casualties to local hospitals.

A church near the building housing the Danish Consulate also suffered damage. A number of residents of the area reportedly fled, as well, after mistaken reports that residential¹¹ buildings were also being attacked.

Saturday, unruly crowds in neighboring Syria, set fire to the Danish and Norwegian consulates¹².

Demonstrators across the Arab and Islamic world have been engaged in daily protests over a series of cartoons caricaturing the Prophet Mohammed, which have been published in a number of European newspapers.

1 revered   

v.崇敬，尊崇，敬畏( revere的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A number of institutions revered and respected in earlier times have become Aunt Sally for the present generation. 一些早年受到尊崇的惯例，现在已经成了这代人嘲弄的对象了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Chinese revered corn as a gift from heaven. 中国人将谷物奉为上天的恩赐。 来自辞典例句

2 consulate   

n.领事馆

参考例句：

• The Spanish consulate is the large white building opposite the bank.西班牙领事馆是银行对面的那栋高大的白色建筑物。
• The American consulate was a magnificent edifice in the centre of Bordeaux.美国领事馆是位于波尔多市中心的一座宏伟的大厦。

3 depicting   

描绘，描画( depict的现在分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• a painting depicting the Virgin and Child 一幅描绘童贞马利亚和圣子耶稣的画
• The movie depicting the battles and bloodshed is bound to strike home. 这部描写战斗和流血牺牲的影片一定会取得预期效果。

4 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

5 harried   

v.使苦恼( harry的过去式和过去分词 )；不断烦扰；一再袭击；侵扰

参考例句：

• She has been harried by the press all week. 整个星期她都受到新闻界的不断烦扰。
• The soldiers harried the enemy out of the country. 士兵们不断作骚扰性的攻击直至把敌人赶出国境为止。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 douse   

v.把…浸入水中，用水泼；n.泼洒

参考例句：

• Men came with buckets of water and began to douse the flames.人们提来一桶桶水灭火。
• He doused the flames with a fire extinguisher.他用灭火器把火焰扑灭。

7 disperse   

vi.使分散；使消失；vt.分散；驱散

参考例句：

• The cattle were swinging their tails to disperse the flies.那些牛甩动着尾巴驱赶苍蝇。
• The children disperse for the holidays.孩子们放假了。

8 fomenting   

v.激起，煽动（麻烦等）( foment的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• They accused him of fomenting political unrest. 他们指控他煽动政治动乱。
• Three sailors were fomenting a mutiny on the ship. 三个水手正在船上煽动叛变。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

9 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

10 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

11 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

12 consulates   

n.领事馆( consulate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Consulates General of The People's Republic at Los Angeles. 中华人民共和国驻洛杉矶总领事馆。 来自互联网
• The country's embassies, consulates and other diplomatic missions stationed in other countries. （七）家驻外使馆、馆和其他外交代表机构。 来自互联网