VOA常速英语2007年-French President Calls Rioting 'Unacceptable'

By Lisa Bryant
Paris
28 November 2007

French President Nicolas Sarkozy vowed¹ to crack down Wednesday on rioters after two nights violence outside Paris. The rioting is reminiscent of the violence that swept the country in 2005, when youths staged violent protests against unemployment, living conditions, and what the rioters called discrimination against young Muslims and those of African descent. For VOA, Lisa Bryant has more from the French capital.

President Sarkozy vowed Wednesday a zero tolerance² policy against the rioters after two nights of clashes between youths and police in the suburb of Villiers-le-Bel north of Paris.

Referring to angry youths who clashed with French police Sunday and Monday night, the French president described their actions as completely unacceptable, and said those who who fired at them were guilty of attempted assassination³. He said authorities would track them down and bring them to justice.

More than 120 police officers were injured during the two nights of unrest. Mr. Sarkozy visited one of them at a hospital north of Paris Wednesday morning. He also met with the families of two teenagers killed in an accident with a police car Sunday night, whose deaths touched off the riots.

The violence died down Tuesday night in Villiers where 1,000 police had been deployed⁴ to keep matters calm. So far, more than 20 people have been detained for their role in clashes.

But it remains⁵ unclear whether the police crackdown will succeed in keeping a lid on the simmering youth anger in the Paris suburbs, and keep it from spreading to other parts of the country. Youths blamed police for Sunday's killing⁶ of the two teenagers in Villiers, although preliminary findings suggest the police were not responsible.

Mr. Sarkozy announced Wednesday that a judicial⁷ investigation⁸ would be opened to clarify the events around their deaths.

The violence recalls similar rioting in 2005 that spread across France. Critics say the same ingredients exist for a fresh bout⁹ of violence, notably¹⁰ unemployed¹¹ youths living in low-income suburbs who feel marginalized. But this time police say the youths are better armed and more violent.

1 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

2 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

3 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

4 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

5 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。

6 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。

7 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

8 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

9 bout   

n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛

参考例句：

• I was suffering with a bout of nerves.我感到一阵紧张。
• That bout of pneumonia enfeebled her.那次肺炎的发作使她虚弱了。

10 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

11 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。