VOA标准英语2008年-Palestinian Bulldozer Driver Goes on Deadly Jer

At least four people were killed and about 40 others injured when a Palestinian bulldozer driver went on a deadly rampage in downtown Jerusalem. The man was killed by an off-duty soldier and police say the incident was a terrorist attack. VOA's Jim Teeple reports from Jerusalem.
　
A bulldozer drives past an overturned bus after an attack in Jerusalem, 02 Jul 2008

Witnesses reported a scene of chaos¹ and panic as the bulldozer plowed² over cars, knocked over a city bus and damaged buildings on busy Jaffa Road near the city's main bus station.

The driver was shot by an off-duty soldier, one of several people who climbed onto the bulldozer in an effort to stop the rampage. Police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld told VOA the incident was clearly a terrorist attack and the bulldozer driver was heading for Jerusalem's main food market.

"Police officers arrived on the scene and attempted to stop the killings," he said. "We clearly understood that it was a terrorist attack by the way that he continued to try and make his way to the market, and therefore it was critical to stop him from continuing in the direction of the market."

Rosenfeld says the man driving the bulldozer was a Palestinian with an East Jerusalem identity card. The area where the incident took place is a construction site with a new light rail system and road widening projects under way. Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem have access to Jewish West Jerusalem and carry out nearly all construction work in the city.

This was the second terrorist attack this year. In March, an East Jerusalem man attacked a Jewish seminary killing³ eight students. Rosenfeld says just like that attack there was no prior warning.

"There were no specific warnings that an attack was going to take place, but immediately after this incident the security level was heightened, both in Jerusalem and in other cities," he said.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants⁴ who have carried out many terrorist attacks inside Israel said they were not responsible for the bulldozer incident and police say they are trying to determine if the man acted by himself."

The attack took place as a truce⁵ between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip enters its second week.

On Wednesday Israel reopened cargo⁶ crossing points into Gaza.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Palestinians tried, but failed, to break through the Gaza crossing point between Egypt and Gaza. The crowd surged past Hamas guards at the border, but was beaten back by Egyptian troops who used water cannons⁷ to disperse⁸ the Palestinians.

Egypt says it will open the crossing once Hamas and other Palestinian militants agree to go along with an Egyptian mediated⁹ prisoner swap¹⁰ between Israel and Hamas that would free an Israeli soldier in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian militants.

 

1 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

2 plowed   

v.耕( plow的过去式和过去分词 )；犁耕；费力穿过

参考例句：

• They plowed nearly 100,000 acres of virgin moorland. 他们犁了将近10万英亩未开垦的高沼地。 来自辞典例句
• He plowed the land and then sowed the seeds. 他先翻土，然后播种。 来自辞典例句

3 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。

4 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。

5 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

6 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

7 cannons   

n.加农炮，大炮，火炮( cannon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Cannons bombarded enemy lines. 大炮轰击了敌军阵地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• One company had been furnished with six cannons. 某连队装备了六门大炮。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 disperse   

vi.使分散；使消失；vt.分散；驱散

参考例句：

• The cattle were swinging their tails to disperse the flies.那些牛甩动着尾巴驱赶苍蝇。
• The children disperse for the holidays.孩子们放假了。

9 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。

10 swap   

n.交换；vt.交换，用...作交易

参考例句：

• I will swap you my bicycle for your radio.我想拿我的自行车换你的收音机。
• This comic was a swap that I got from Nick.这本漫画书是我从尼克那里换来的。