2007年VOA标准英语-Iraq Toll Rises Again as UN Says 35,000 Civilia

By Jim Fry
Washington, DC
17 January 2007
 
watch Iraq Bush Ban Ki Moon report

 
People walk past a pool of blood at Bab al-Sheik market in central Baghdad, Iraq, 16 Jan 2007
Another string of deadly attacks in Baghdad (Tuesday) killed scores of people and injured many others.  Bombs exploded just after release of a United Nations report estimating that such violence killed more than 34,000 Iraqi civilians¹ last year.  U.S. officials did not dispute the U.N. casualty report.  At the White House, President Bush met with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, seeking support for U.S. efforts for peace in Iraq. 

Iraqi civilians continued to die in their capital city yesterday.  In the bloodiest² attack, two minivans exploded near a university as students queued to board the vehicles.  Police say 65 people were killed in the Shi'ite neighborhood.

Earlier, two bombs were detonated five minutes apart in a used-motorcycle marketplace. Fifteen were killed and dozens injured.  This man saw it: "Many people died and the people who came to rescue them were killed in the second explosion," he said.

Tuesday's violence came on the heels of a U.N. report that said more than 34,000 Iraqis died in violent incidents last year.  The U.N. gathered the information from hospitals and from the Iraqi Ministry³ of Health.  The U.N. reported, almost 100 people died every day. 

White House Press Secretary Tony Snow did not dispute this report, although he has questioned other body counts. "I don't want to get into the position of trying to quibble with the methodology of a report that we really haven't had a chance to study.  It is clear that the level of violence in Baghdad and throughout Iraq is not acceptable."

 
President Bush, right, meets with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington
At the White House, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met with President Bush.  Mr. Ban says the deteriorating⁴ situation in Iraq is a grave concern.  Mr. Bush spoke⁵ of shared goals. "The United States wants to work with the United Nations to achieve a peace through the spread of freedom."

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was in the Middle East Tuesday, where she won cautious Saudi support for the latest U.S. plan to stabilize⁶ Iraq.  Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said he supports the objectives of the security plan, but he would not comment on tactical details.

U.S. military convoys⁷ have been heading north into Iraq from Kuwait, amid questions about the Iraqi government's cooperation on a troop surge into Baghdad.  Spokesman Tony Snow says Iraq's government is not dragging its feet.

"There's already movement among some Iraqi brigades that are making their way toward Baghdad.  So, we know those are going on, said Mr. Snow. “Rather than saying, 'Yes, you have to meet this benchmark.'  Yeah, we want to see progress and we want to see it soon.  We're starting to see signs of that."

General George Casey gave a clearer view of U.S. goals in Iraq. "I think you'll see a gradual evolution the next two to three months, and then you'll see things continue to get better out through the spring, out through the summer and fall.  It'll take some time."

For now, it appears the streets of Baghdad will remain a killing⁸ zone.

1 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

2 bloodiest   

adj.血污的( bloody的最高级 )；流血的；屠杀的；残忍的

参考例句：

• The Russians were going to suffer their bloodiest defeat of all before Berlin. 俄国人在柏林城下要遭到他们的最惨重的失败。 来自辞典例句
• It was perhaps the bloodiest hour in the history of warfare. 这也许是战争史上血腥味最浓的1个小时。 来自互联网

3 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

4 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。

5 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。

6 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

7 convoys   

n.（有护航的）船队( convoy的名词复数 )；车队；护航（队）；护送队

参考例句：

• Truck convoys often stop over for lunch here. 车队经常在这里停下来吃午饭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A UN official said aid programs will be suspended until there's adequate protection for relief convoys. 一名联合国官员说将会暂停援助项目，直到援助车队能够得到充分的保护为止。 来自辞典例句

8 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。