voa标准英语2008年-Mexico Plane Crash Deals Blow to Anti-Crime Fig

A plane carrying two of Mexico's top crime fighters crashed Tuesday on a busy street in the heart of Mexico City, killing¹ all eight people on board and a number of people on the ground. As VOA's Greg Flakus reports from Houston, Texas, experts see this tragedy as a setback², if not a crippling blow, to Mexico's effort to fight powerful drug cartels.
　

An official for the U.S.'s National Transportation Safety Board inspects debris3 from a plane crash in Mexico City, 05 Nov 2008

The crash produced a horrific scene on one of Mexico City's busiest intersections⁴. Dozens of automobiles⁵ burned in the fire caused by the crash and police evacuated⁶ nearly 2,000 people from the site.

The most prominent victim of the crash was Mexico's Interior Minister, Juan Camilo Maurino, a major figure on President Felipe Calderon's anti-crime team. Also killed was former chief prosecutor⁷ for drug crimes Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos.

Peter Zeihan is Vice⁸ President of Analysis for the Austin, Texas-based private intelligence and analysis company Stratfor. He says there is reason to suspect Mexico's powerful drug trafficking organizations were behind the plane crash.

"We cannot rule out that it was a mechanical failure," said Zeihan. "But considering the identity of the people on board, I think it is pretty obvious that the cartels are in some way responsible for this."

Ziehan says sources Stratfor has contacted within Mr. Calderon's government say officials there believe the crash was caused by the drug traffickers.

"The information that we are getting out of the Mexican government is absolute fury," he said. "We are seeing the elites⁹ of Mexico in a state of anger that we have never seen before."

Mexico expert George Grayson, who teaches at the College of William and Mary in Virginia, says if the drug gangs did bring down the plane carrying Juan Camilo Maurino and other officials, the implications are enormous.

"One has to only pray that the death of Juan Camilo was truly an accident and was not a move by the drug cartels to send a message to the Calderon administration to back off from their aggressive activities," he said.
　

Mexican President Felipe Calderon (file photo)

Since taking office in December, 2006, President Calderon has waged a major war against the drug cartels, kidnapping gangs and organized crime in general. While Maurino was a major player in that effort, analyst¹⁰ George Grayson says the chief strategists are Mexico's Secretary of Defense¹¹ and Attorney General, who will continue to prosecute¹² the war on criminal gangs.

"It is a setback for Calderon," he said. "But it is not a fatal blow to his anti-cartel activities."

Peter Zeihan is less optimistic about Mr. Calderon's chances of successfully continuing his war on organized crime groups. Although Mexico has traditionally shunned¹³ direct U.S. involvement in its affairs, he says President Calderon may have to consider U.S. help on a level similar to America's involvement in Colombia, where the government has made major progress in defeating drug trafficking groups.

"Mexico is moving in one of two directions: One, this is going to break the back of the war on the cartels and Mexico is going to devolve into a failed state, which will force the United States to take much more direct action," said Zeihan. "Option Two, this is going to break the back of the Mexican resistance to getting the Americans involved, in which case we will be involved in a more direct way. Either way, the level of American involvement in the war against cartels in Mexico is about to skyrocket."

George Grayson says another approach would be to concentrate on the market for most of the drugs and the source of money that allows criminal gangs to thrive.

"The responsibility lies principally in the United States," he said. "We, after all, are the major consumer of the drugs produced in Mexico and the drugs that pass through Mexico."

Grayson says U.S. decriminalization of some drug use, better treatment and education programs, and perhaps even legalization of some drugs would shrink the size of the illicit¹⁴ drug market and undermine drug traffickers. He says that might allow Mexico to gain ground against the powerful criminal gangs who profit from the current situation.

1 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。

2 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

3 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

4 intersections   

n.横断( intersection的名词复数 )；交叉；交叉点；交集

参考例句：

• Traffic lights have been placed at all major intersections. 所有重要的交叉路口都安装了交通信号灯。
• Intersections are of the greatest importance in highway design. 在道路设计中，交叉口占有最重要的地位。 来自辞典例句

5 automobiles   

n.汽车( automobile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• When automobiles become popular,the use of the horse and buggy passed away. 汽车普及后，就不再使用马和马车了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Automobiles speed in an endless stream along the boulevard. 宽阔的林荫道上，汽车川流不息。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

7 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

8 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

9 elites   

精华( elite的名词复数 )； 精锐； 上层集团； （统称）掌权人物

参考例句：

• The elites are by their nature a factor contributing to underdevelopment. 这些上层人物天生是助长欠发达的因素。
• Elites always detest gifted and nimble outsiders. 社会名流对天赋聪明、多才多艺的局外人一向嫌恶。

10 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

11 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

12 prosecute   

vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官

参考例句：

• I am trying my best to prosecute my duties.我正在尽力履行我的职责。
• Is there enough evidence to prosecute?有没有起诉的足够证据？

13 shunned   

v.避开，回避，避免( shun的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She was shunned by her family when she remarried. 她再婚后家里人都躲着她。
• He was a shy man who shunned all publicity. 他是个怕羞的人，总是避开一切引人注目的活动。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 illicit   

adj.非法的，禁止的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He had an illicit association with Jane.他和简曾有过不正当关系。
• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year.今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。