2007年VOA标准英语-Baghdad Bombings Kill 40, Westerners Reported K

By Barry Newhouse
Irbil
29 May 2007

Two car bombs in the Iraqi capital have killed at least 40 people and wounded more than 100 others. The U.S. military also reported 10 American soldiers were killed Monday in bomb attacks and a helicopter crash. VOA's Barry Newhouse reports from Irbil that three Westerners were also reported kidnapped in Baghdad.

Iraqi women react at the entrance of a hospital in Sadr city, Baghdad, 29 May 2007

The first blast in Baghdad targeted Tayaran Square in the city's downtown, when a minibus carrying explosives detonated on a busy street, setting fire to cars and damaging nearby buildings.

The Associated Press reported that police tried to confiscate¹ the cameras of reporters who were photographing the aftermath.

Earlier this month, the Iraqi parliament passed a law prohibiting media coverage² of blast sites. Lawmakers had said that the media sensationalized and inaccurately³ reported on the attacks by using graphic⁴ blast scene footage.

About one hour after the first blast, a second truck bomb targeted a Shi'ite mosque⁵ in the city's southwest al-Amil neighborhood. One witnesses described the scene.

He says he saw a truck driving by him and heading toward a mosque. When he saw it, he shouted "a car bomb, a car bomb" as pedestrians⁶ scattered⁷.

In central Baghdad, in an office near the Finance Ministry⁸, witnesses said a group of gunmen kidnapped at least three Westerners who were working at the office. The identity and the number of foreigners abducted⁹ are unclear, but there are reports they may have been German or British.

The month of May, with 112 American troops killed, is the deadliest for U.S. forces since December, when the same number died. Since the 2003 invasion, nearly 3,500 U.S. troops have died in Iraq.

1 confiscate   

v.没收(私人财产)，把…充公

参考例句：

• The police have the right to confiscate any forbidden objects they find.如发现违禁货物，警方有权查扣。
• Did the teacher confiscate your toy?老师没收你的玩具了吗？

2 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

3 inaccurately   

不精密地，不准确地

参考例句：

• The money mechanism began to work stiffly and inaccurately. 贷币机构开始周转不灵和不准确了。
• Court records reveal every day how inaccurately "eyewitnesses'see. 法庭记录每天都显露出“见证人”看得多不准确。

4 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

5 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

6 pedestrians   

n.步行者( pedestrian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Several pedestrians had come to grief on the icy pavement. 几个行人在结冰的人行道上滑倒了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Pedestrians keep to the sidewalk [footpath]! 行人走便道。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

8 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。

9 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。