VOA常速英语2008年-Zimbabwe Still Waiting For Election Results

By Peta Thornycroft
Harare
04 April 2008

The politburo of Zimbabwe's ZANU PF party is gathered at party headquarters in Harare Friday, for an unscheduled meeting where leaders are expected to discuss last Saturday's election. Peta Thornycroft reports for VOA from Harare that ZANU PF is expected to endorse¹ President Robert Mugabe's attempt to win presidential elections in a second round of voting which must take place within 21 days of the results of the presidential poll.

Opposition² leader Morgan Tsvangirai Friday told foreign diplomats⁴ that verification of the counting of the presidential vote from Saturday's election has not yet begun. He said officials of his Movement for Democratic Change party would be carefully checking each of more than two million votes cast. He said this would take at least three days indicating he did not expect results from the presidential poll before Tuesday.

Tsvangirai also told diplomats he still believes he won the presidential election with more than 50 percent of the vote but he said Mr. Mugabe would be more likely to seek a run-off election than concede defeat.

Returns from the senate elections were still trickling⁵ showing ZANU PF and the MDC with an equal number of seats.

ZANU PF narrowly lost its majority in the national assembly when results of the parliamentary elections were announced Wednesday by the Zimbabwe Election Commission.

Harare seems quiet, subdued⁶ even, although groups of ZANU PF militants⁷ marched quietly through the city center Friday.

Independent analysts⁸ and opposition parties say there does not appear to be any concerted political crackdown underway but Tsvangirai Friday said he regretted the delay in announcing the election results because it was causing tension and hindering the process of political reconciliation⁹ and economic recovery.

South African President Thabo Mbeki, who mediated¹⁰ talks between the governing and opposition parties, urged patience.

"We would hope that again everybody would accept those results in a way that those results have been accepted up until now," he said. "And then the legal constitutional processes of Zimbabwe would then proceed. If indeed Morgan Tsvangirai has been elected in terms of the electoral law and so on, that's fine. If there is to be a run-off, that's fine. So it's a matter that we must await."

Two foreign journalists, one from the New York Times and the other from the London's Sunday Telegraph were arrested late Thursday on charges of working in Zimbabwe without accreditation¹¹.

In addition, three pro-democracy activists¹² from the United States were reportedly being detained. A western diplomat³ said Friday that the whereabouts of one of them, a staff member of the National Democratic Institute arrested at Harare airport, are not known.

The signs of Zimbabwe's economic collapse¹³ are everywhere. Stocks of groceries are low and the staple¹⁴, corn meal, is not available in the shops.

The central bank said Friday it had released a new 50 million Zimbabwe dollar note, worth about  $1 on the parallel market. And the central statistical¹⁵ office announced that inflation had reached 165,000 percent.

Several diplomats said Friday they wondered whether Zimbabwe would be able to fund and organize the expected presidential run-off election.

1 endorse   

vt.(支票、汇票等)背书，背署；批注；同意

参考例句：

• No one is foolish enough to endorse it.没有哪个人会傻得赞成它。
• I fully endorse your opinions on this subject.我完全拥护你对此课题的主张。

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 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

4 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 trickling   

n.油画底色含油太多而成泡沫状突起v.滴( trickle的现在分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动

参考例句：

• Tears were trickling down her cheeks. 眼泪顺着她的面颊流了下来。
• The engine was trickling oil. 发动机在滴油。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 subdued   

adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He seemed a bit subdued to me. 我觉得他当时有点闷闷不乐。
• I felt strangely subdued when it was all over. 一切都结束的时候，我却有一种奇怪的压抑感。

7 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

8 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

9 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

10 mediated   

调停，调解，斡旋( mediate的过去式和过去分词 )； 居间促成； 影响…的发生； 使…可能发生

参考例句：

• He mediated in the quarrel between the two boys. 他调解两个孩子之间的争吵。
• The government mediated between the workers and the employers. 政府在工人与雇主间搞调和。

11 accreditation   

n.委派，信赖，鉴定合格

参考例句：

• a letter of accreditation 一份合格证明书
• This paper gives an overview of the Verification, Validation and Accreditation (VV&A) in High Level Architecture(HLA). 对基于高层体系结构(High Level Architecture,简称HLA)的仿真系统的校核、验证与确认(Verification, Validation and Accreditation,简称VV&A)问题进行了详细的介绍及分析。 来自互联网

12 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

14 staple   

n.主要产物，常用品，主要要素，原料，订书钉，钩环；adj.主要的，重要的；vt.分类

参考例句：

• Tea is the staple crop here.本地产品以茶叶为大宗。
• Potatoes are the staple of their diet.土豆是他们的主要食品。

15 statistical   

adj.统计的，统计学的

参考例句：

• He showed the price fluctuations in a statistical table.他用统计表显示价格的波动。
• They're making detailed statistical analysis.他们正在做具体的统计分析。