2006年VOA标准英语-Congo Soldiers Mutiny, Loot UN Camp, Delay

By David Lewis
Kinshasa
02 March 2006

U.N. officials say a group of Congolese soldiers conducting a massive joint¹ operation with U.N. peacekeepers mutinied Wednesday in the lawless east, forcing a halt to the mission. The mutineers then returned to a U.N. base where they threatened their superiors, began looting and are believed to have shot at a U.N. helicopter on Thursday.

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Congo's new national army is supposed to draw from the tens of thousands of gunmen who fought in various factions² during the country's five-year war.

The force remains³ chaotic⁴, untrained, and poorly paid. But in an attempt to improve the army and pacify⁵ the lawless east, U.N. peacekeepers are providing food, water and transport as the forces conduct joint operations.

But a mutiny by a group of government soldiers, who fled the front line and returned to their bases mid-battle, underlines the fragility of the military just months before historic elections are due to be held.

U.N. officials say the troops, who had been fighting alongside the peacekeepers, threatened their superiors at their headquarters and looted part of the U.N. base they were operating from.

The situation later appeared to have calmed down but when U.N. and Congolese generals tried to land by helicopter at the base in Ituri, in Congo's wild northeast, the aircraft apparently⁶ came under fire by the mutineers. 

A U.N. spokesman later said it could not be confirmed the mutineers were responsible. But the joint operation against militia⁷ fighters has been suspended until discipline is restored to the ranks of the Congolese fighters.

Numerous armed groups continue to operate in Congo's lawless east, where the war officially ended three years ago.

The fighters make vast tracts⁸ of the mineral rich land ungovernable and too dangerous for aid workers to access, leaving hundreds of thousands without access to the most basic healthcare.

Congo's last war is believed to have killed four million people, mostly from hunger and disease, leading many to dub⁹ it the worst humanitarian¹⁰ crisis since the World War II.

1 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

2 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

3 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。

4 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

5 pacify   

vt.使(某人)平静(或息怒)；抚慰

参考例句：

• He tried to pacify the protesters with promises of reform.他试图以改革的承诺安抚抗议者。
• He tried to pacify his creditors by repaying part of the money.他为安抚债权人偿还了部分借款。

6 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

7 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

8 tracts   

大片土地( tract的名词复数 )； 地带； （体内的）道； （尤指宣扬宗教、伦理或政治的）短文

参考例句：

• vast tracts of forest 大片大片的森林
• There are tracts of desert in Australia. 澳大利亚有大片沙漠。

9 dub   

vt.（以某种称号）授予，给...起绰号，复制

参考例句：

• I intend to use simultaneous recording to dub this film.我打算采用同期录音的方法为这部影片配音。
• It was dubbed into Spanish for Mexican audiences.它被译制成西班牙语以方便墨西哥观众观看。

10 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。