voa标准英语2008年-India's Home Minister Resigns Following Mumbai

The political fallout from the Mumbai terror attack is beginning to take its toll¹ on the administration of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. As Mr. Singh convened² an all-party meeting to discuss security, his home minister submitted his resignation. VOA Correspondent Steve Herman reports from New Delhi.
　

Indian Home Minister Shivraj Patil, left, and Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, right, look on during a Congress Working Committee meeting on the Mumbai terrorist attack, in New Delhi, 29 Nov 2008

India's home minister has resigned. The unpopular Shivraj Patil is the first political casualty in the wake of the unprecedented³ terror attack on the country's commercial capital.

Even before Mumbai was struck, Patil had been a target of opposition⁴ parties for his allegedly poor performance as the cabinet member tasked with domestic security. He is to be replaced by the respected finance minister, Palaniappan Chidambaram.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was previously⁵ finance minister for five years, is taking over that portfolio⁶.

The resignation of the home minister came as Prime Minister Singh convened an all-party meeting Sunday evening to obtain a consensus⁷ on comprehensive action against terrorism.

"In the face of this national threat and the aftermath of this national tragedy all of us from different political parties must rise above narrow political considerations and stand united," Mr. Singh said.

The prime minister has also announced the formation of a new federal investigative agency, stepped-up air and maritime⁸ security and is boosting the primary counter-terrorism unit, the National Security Guard.

A senior leader of the opposition BJP party, Arun Jaitley, says the resignation of the home minister does not adequately address the government's security failures.

"This government has no moral right to survive now," Jaitley said. "It is this weak policy of this government where the entire intelligence network had collapsed⁹, the security responses were poor, the legal framework dealing¹⁰ with terrorism is non-existent. I think the prime minister must address the right questions, he'll find the right answers."

With a series of state elections concluding, both the government and the opposition now have their eye on parliamentary elections to be held in eight to 12 weeks.

Some of India's major media outlets¹¹ are blasting the entire political establishment. The Times of India published a front page comment in its Sunday edition titled "Our politicians fiddle¹² as innocents die." A Hindustan Times columnist¹³ blasted what he called incompetent¹⁴ politicians for using "terrorism as an excuse to win votes."

Television news channels criticized politicians for showing up at the scene of the terror attacks to make public comments while commandos were still battling the gunmen.

The terrorist siege of Mumbai left more than 170 people dead, including at least 18 foreigners, at ten locations. The well armed gunmen, estimated to number ten to 15, kept at bay one thousand commandos and elite¹⁵ combat troops for two and a half days. Mumbai police are pinning responsibility on Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based militant¹⁶ group.

1 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

2 convened   

召开( convene的过去式 )； 召集； （为正式会议而）聚集； 集合

参考例句：

• The chairman convened the committee to put the issue to a vote. 主席召集委员们开会对这个问题进行表决。
• The governor convened his troops to put down the revolt. 总督召集他的部队去镇压叛乱。

3 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

4 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。

5 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

6 portfolio   

n.公事包；文件夹；大臣及部长职位

参考例句：

• He remembered her because she was carrying a large portfolio.他因为她带着一个大公文包而记住了她。
• He resigned his portfolio.他辞去了大臣职务。

7 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

8 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

9 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

10 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

11 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 fiddle   

n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动

参考例句：

• She plays the fiddle well.她小提琴拉得好。
• Don't fiddle with the typewriter.不要摆弄那架打字机了。

13 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。

14 incompetent   

adj.无能力的，不能胜任的

参考例句：

• He is utterly incompetent at his job.他完全不能胜任他的工作。
• He is incompetent at working with his hands.他动手能力不行。

15 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

16 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。