2006年VOA标准英语-Vote Counting Starts in Congo Amid Tension

By Nico Colombant
Kinshasa
30 July 2006

Vote counting has started in the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo amid renewed tension over the outcome in the country's first open election in over 40 years. There was some rioting in a mining town, causing voting to be postponed¹ there, but no widespread violence.

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Election officials vote count in Congo with the light of candles 
  
Using candles they bought themselves to see what they were doing, election officials in the Kinshasa neighborhood of Lingwala began a night of counting ballots³ from Sunday's election.

One party observer says it could be problematic to count ballots without much light, and he did not know what would happen when all the candles would go out.

Meanwhile, in nearby streets also without electricity, militants⁴ tore down posters of president and leading candidate, Joseph Kabila. The son of former slain⁵ leader, Laurent Desire Kabila, faces more than 30 challengers, including former Uganda-backed rebel leader and vice-president, Jean-Pierre Bemba.

A main opposition⁶ leader Etienne Tshisekedi boycotted⁷ the process, saying preparations were unfair.

Both his and Bemba's supporters have threatened to kill foreigners if Mr. Kabila is declared the winner in the first round with over 50 percent of the vote. They say the international community wants Mr. Kabila to win to protect European and American interests in the mineral rich country.

U.S. Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer, who was one of the observers, says this is untrue. "We the United States do not have any interests in usurping⁸ the role of the Congolese people in choosing their destiny. There is no fix," he said.

Results of the presidential election are not expected for three weeks, and if a second round is needed, it would probably not be before October.

Some 9,000 candidates also vied for 500 seats in the country's new parliament.

There were no reports of major violence on election day, and turnout was moderate to high, according to election officials. But in the central mining town of Mbuji-Mayi and the surrounding area, militants burned down several polling centers.

Election workers pack up voting sheets following the closing of the polls   
  
United Nations deputy head, Ross Mountain, said overall he was pleased with how the vote went. Other U.N. officials called it a historic day, and said millions of Congolese voters had displayed great courage by overcoming all sorts of obstacles to take part.

Election observers are expected to release their assessments⁹ in the coming days. Foreign donors¹⁰ paid nearly $460 million to help organize the ballot², in an effort to help Congo end years of war, corruption¹¹ and poverty in one of Africa's biggest and most populous¹² countries.

1 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

2 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

3 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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。

5 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。

6 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

7 boycotted   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Athletes from several countries boycotted the Olympic Games. 有好几国的运动员抵制奥林匹克运动会。
• The opposition party earlier boycotted the Diet agenda, demanding Miyaji's resignation. 反对党曾杯葛国会议程，要宫路下台。

8 usurping   

篡夺，霸占( usurp的现在分词 )； 盗用； 篡夺，篡权

参考例句：

• Earlier the Ukrainian President dissolved Parliament because it claimed it was usurping power. 之前乌克兰总统解散国会因为国会声称要夺权。

9 assessments   

n.评估( assessment的名词复数 )；评价；（应偿付金额的）估定；（为征税对财产所作的）估价

参考例句：

• He was shrewd in his personal assessments. 他总能对人作出精明的评价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Surveys show about two-thirds use such assessments, while half employ personality tests. 调查表明，约有三分之二的公司采用了这种测评；而一半的公司则采用工作人员个人品质测试。 来自百科语句

10 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

12 populous   

adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的

参考例句：

• London is the most populous area of Britain.伦敦是英国人口最稠密的地区。
• China is the most populous developing country in the world.中国是世界上人口最多的发展中国家。