VOA常速英语2007年-Bhutto's Son, Husband to Co-Lead Her Party; Wil

By Nancy-Amelia Collins
Islamabad
30 December 2007

Slain¹ Pakistani opposition² leader Benazir Bhutto's son and husband will co-chair her party, which has decided³ it will participate in coming elections. VOA's Nancy-Amelia Collins reports from Islamabad.

The Pakistan People's Party named Ms. Bhutto's 19-year-old son as her successor, and announced he would co-chair the party with his father.

At a news conference following a closed-door meeting, the party also announced it would contest the elections. In response, the party of another prominent opposition leader, Nawaz Sharif, said it would not boycott⁴ the election as it had originally threatened to do.

Ms. Bhutto's son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, along with his two sisters, has officially added his mother's name to his own.

A student at Britain's Oxford⁵ University, Bilawal will share the party leadership with his father, Asif Ali Zardari.

Ms. Bhutto's son says he will return to Oxford to finish his studies, leaving his father to effectively chair the country's oldest political party. But, an emotional Bilawal stressed, he would return to Pakistan to run the party after graduation.

"My mother always said, democracy is the best revenge," said Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

Ms. Bhutto's husband Zardari said his wife wanted the party to contest the elections, even if she were killed. He also said the party would ask the UN to conduct an international probe into Ms. Bhutto's assassination⁶ on Thursday.

Zardari cited a letter Ms. Bhutto wrote in which she said that, if she were killed, she would hold Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf partially⁷ responsible for failing to provide her adequate security.

"Benazir Bhutto talks from her grave. She has already left a document, which my lawyers and our party lawyers have confirmed [is] a dying declaration," he said. "Party doesn't need, I don't need, nobody needs to point any fingers - she's pointing."

The Pakistan People's Party's participation⁸ is seen as crucial to the legitimacy⁹ of the January 8 election, which government officials say may be postponed¹⁰ for several weeks.

Sherry Rehman, a spokeswoman for Ms. Bhutto's party, told VOA these elections are crucial to the future of Pakistan.

"Pakistan is burning today, and is in collective mourning at this colossal¹¹ loss," said Sherry Rehman. "It will have a huge impact on the future of the country, the future of politics, the way people organize, the way people collectively articulate their wishes, how elections are held and what hold extremists

may further gain in the country. So, this is a battle now for the life and death and survival of Pakistan."

Ms. Bhutto was assassinated¹² in a gun and bomb attack Thursday as she left an election rally in the garrison¹³ town of Rawalpindi.

Ms. Bhutto's assassination has thrown the country into political turmoil¹⁴ and sparked violence across the nation that has claimed the lives of more than 40 people.

Ms. Bhutto's supporters have dismissed the government's account of her death, saying the government is covering up its failure to protect her.

1 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。

2 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。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

5 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

6 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。

7 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

8 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

9 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

10 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。

11 colossal   

adj.异常的，庞大的

参考例句：

• There has been a colossal waste of public money.一直存在巨大的公款浪费。
• Some of the tall buildings in that city are colossal.那座城市里的一些高层建筑很庞大。

12 assassinated   

v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏

参考例句：

• The prime minister was assassinated by extremists. 首相遭极端分子暗杀。
• Then, just two days later, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. 跟着在两天以后，肯尼迪总统在达拉斯被人暗杀。 来自辞典例句

13 garrison   

n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防

参考例句：

• The troops came to the relief of the besieged garrison.军队来援救被围的守备军。
• The German was moving to stiffen up the garrison in Sicily.德军正在加强西西里守军之力量。

14 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。