2006年VOA标准英语-French Police Pursue Murder Suspect in Ivo

By Lisa Bryant
Paris
21 February 2006
 
Two French police officers have been dispatched to Ivory Coast to hunt down a man suspected of participating in the torture and killing¹ of a Jewish man in France. The French government suspects anti-Semitic motives³ behind the man's death, which has shocked the country.

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At the annual dinner of France's Representative Jewish Council late Monday, French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said he had ordered his government to shed all light possible on the death of 23-year-old mobile-telephone salesman Ilan Halimi.

The dead man, who was Jewish, was held captive for three weeks by a gang in a Paris suburb. He was brutally⁴ tortured before being killed by members of the gang, who called themselves The Barbarians⁵.

This undated photo released by French police shows the suspected  ringleader, Youssouf F., who remains⁶ at large  
  
According to reports, the gang cited anti-Semitic slurs⁷ and recited Koranic verses in telephone calls and e-mails to  Halimi's family and to a local rabbi, in which they also demanded ransom⁸.

Seven suspects are being questioned in relation to the killing. French police are also trying to track down the alleged⁹ gang leader, identified as Youssouf F. in Ivory Coast, where he reportedly fled.

Roger Cukierman, president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France, is calling for the full truth behind the Halimi killing.

Cukierman told French radio that it was hard to understand such a deluge¹⁰ of hatred¹¹ if there was not some kind of racist¹² or anti-Semitic or Satanic motive². It was important that full reality was shed on the killing, he said, and not an explanation aimed to avoid conflicts between communities.

French Jews also staged a protest last weekend, criticizing the government for allegedly minimizing Halimi's death. It has only been this week that authorities have suggested the killing may have a racist motive.

Anti-Semitism has long been a sensitive subject in France, home to Western Europe's largest Jewish community. The number of anti-Semitic attacks soared a few years ago, prompting a senior Israeli official to accuse France of being the most anti-Semitic country in the West.

But France's center-right government has made great efforts to crack down on anti-Semitism, and the registered number of anti-Jewish attacks has since declined. The drop has also earned praise from Israel.

1 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。

2 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

3 motives   

n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• to impeach sb's motives 怀疑某人的动机
• His motives are unclear. 他的用意不明。

4 brutally   

adv.残忍地，野蛮地，冷酷无情地

参考例句：

• The uprising was brutally put down.起义被残酷地镇压下去了。
• A pro-democracy uprising was brutally suppressed.一场争取民主的起义被残酷镇压了。

5 barbarians   

n.野蛮人( barbarian的名词复数 )；外国人；粗野的人；无教养的人

参考例句：

• The ancient city of Rome fell under the iron hooves of the barbarians. 古罗马城在蛮族的铁蹄下沦陷了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It conquered its conquerors, the barbarians. 它战胜了征服者——蛮族。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 slurs   

含糊的发音( slur的名词复数 )； 玷污； 连奏线； 连唱线

参考例句：

• One should keep one's reputation free from all slurs. 人应该保持名誉不受责备。
• Racial slurs, racial jokes, all having to do with being Asian. 种族主义辱骂，种族笑话，都是跟亚裔有关的。

8 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。

9 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

10 deluge   

n./vt.洪水，暴雨，使泛滥

参考例句：

• This little stream can become a deluge when it rains heavily.雨大的时候，这条小溪能变作洪流。
• I got caught in the deluge on the way home.我在回家的路上遇到倾盆大雨。

11 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

12 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。