VOA标准英语2009年-As War Nears End, Sri Lankans Weigh Peace Divid

With Sri Lanka's economy stifled¹ by 25 years of war, many here are weighing the benefits of a peace dividend², as the conflict nears an end - just in time for the global economic slump³.
　
Rebels examine their weapons in this handout⁴ picture released by The Liberation Tigers for Tamil Eeelam (LTTE) website Tamilnet (file photo)

Even here, at one of Colombo's five-star hotels on the white-sand beach of the Indian Ocean, it is hard to tell that the country is embroiled⁵ in a war - one of Asia's longest-running. Still, there are signs. For one, there is a noticeable lack of guests.

This hotel, like others in the capital, is seeing a steep drop-off in new tourist arrivals. That is not good news for Sri Lanka's $240-million-a-year tourism industry, among the economic sectors⁷ hardest hit by the recent fighting between government troops and ethnic⁸ Tamil rebels who have been fighting for a separate Tamil homeland.

But tourism is not the only sector⁶ to take a beating. The garment industry is laying off workers, as orders from abroad are postponed⁹ or canceled. Prices are falling for three of Sri Lanka's most lucrative¹⁰ exports: rubber, precious stones and tea. Remittances¹¹ from Sri Lankans living abroad, widely seen as a financial safety net for many Sri Lankan families, are dwindling¹².
　
Kishu Gomes is a business leader in Colombo, and former chairman of the American Chamber¹³ of Commerce in Sri Lanka

Not a good economic prognosis, says Kishu Gomes, one of Colombo's business leaders and former chairman for the American Chamber of Commerce in Sri Lanka.

"People, in general, have been suffering as a result of the ongoing¹⁴ conflict, where the government has had to spend a lot of money battling the situation. And, in that, it was obviously a big burden on the country's economy," said Gomes.

One of the biggest burdens on Sri Lanka's economy is its massive military spending, seen as necessary expense for defending itself against the Tamil Tiger rebels, classified by the United States and other countries as a terrorists. Military spending accounts for about five percent of Sri Lanka's $30-billion-a-year economy - nearly twice the percentage of its regional neighbors India and Pakistan.

Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu is the director for the nonpartisan Center for Policy Alternatives. He says that, with the war's end in sight, many Sri Lankans expect a situation similar to the 2002 cease-fire or the 2004 tsunami¹⁵, which brought peace - albeit¹⁶ briefly¹⁷ - and a huge increase in humanitarian¹⁸ and reconstruction¹⁹ aid.

"But what does not figure into that, of course, is that there is not a heck of a lot of money around in the rest of the world anymore. And, so, that is going to be a serious problem," said Saravanamuttu.
　
Basil Rajapaksa, brother and top advisor²⁰ to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, displays some of food aid handed out in camps for those displaced by war

Sri Lankan presidential advisor Basil Rajapaksa says he has already seen a peace dividend. He says some of the land reclaimed²¹ from the rebels has already been converted to farms, a trend that he expects will continue long after the war.

"We have cultivated a 132,000 acres of [rice] paddy land that had been abandoned more than five to 20 years. And, now they have started harvesting and it will increase the paddy production of the country and the growth rate itself will be increased by two to three percent. So, all this benefit will go to the people," said Rajapaksa.

He says with the war ended, some of the money spent on defense²² could go toward building new roads and other infrastructure²³ projects that support businesses and farmers.

Gomes says he, too, is hopeful that the country will recover. He says just about anything would be better than the status quo.

"I hope that, over the next 12 months' time - with being able to achieve total peace and the country becoming a more productive place - we will be able to probably find the right opportunities elsewhere in the world to keep the revenue ticking. And, then [we] hope the global economic crisis will end, and with that, we look at the five- to 10-year horizon and it can only be better than what it is today," said Gomes.

Still, analysts²⁴ and diplomats²⁵ here say the nation's leaders must address the root cause of the war - discrimination against the island's minority Tamil population at the hands of its Sinhala majority - if they hope to achieve a prosperous future for this nation of 21 million people.

1 stifled   

（使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 )； 镇压，遏制； 堵

参考例句：

• The gas stifled them. 煤气使他们窒息。
• The rebellion was stifled. 叛乱被镇压了。

2 dividend   

n.红利，股息；回报，效益

参考例句：

• The company was forced to pass its dividend.该公司被迫到期不分红。
• The first quarter dividend has been increased by nearly 4 per cent.第一季度的股息增长了近 4%。

3 slump   

n.暴跌，意气消沉，（土地）下沉；vi.猛然掉落，坍塌，大幅度下跌

参考例句：

• She is in a slump in her career.她处在事业的低谷。
• Economists are forecasting a slump.经济学家们预言将发生经济衰退。

4 handout   

n.散发的文字材料；救济品

参考例句：

• I read the handout carefully.我仔细看了这份分发的资料。
• His job was distributing handout at the street-corner.他的工作是在街头发传单。

5 embroiled   

adj.卷入的；纠缠不清的

参考例句：

• He became embroiled in a dispute with his neighbours. 他与邻居们发生了争执。
• John and Peter were quarrelling, but Mary refused to get embroiled. 约翰和彼得在争吵，但玛丽不愿卷入。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

7 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

9 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

10 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

11 remittances   

n.汇寄( remittance的名词复数 )；汇款，汇款额

参考例句：

• He sends regular remittances to his parents. 他定期汇款给他父母。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Remittances sometimes account for as much as 20% of GDP. 在这些国家中，此类汇款有时会占到GDP的20%之多。 来自互联网

12 dwindling   

adj.逐渐减少的v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The number of wild animals on the earth is dwindling. 地球上野生动物的数量正日渐减少。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is struggling to come to terms with his dwindling authority. 他正努力适应自己权力被削弱这一局面。 来自辞典例句

13 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

14 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

15 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

16 albeit   

conj.即使；纵使；虽然

参考例句：

• Albeit fictional,she seemed to have resolved the problem.虽然是虚构的，但是在她看来好象是解决了问题。
• Albeit he has failed twice,he is not discouraged.虽然失败了两次，但他并没有气馁。

17 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

18 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

19 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

20 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

21 reclaimed   

adj.再生的；翻造的；收复的；回收的v.开拓( reclaim的过去式和过去分词 )；要求收回；从废料中回收（有用的材料）；挽救

参考例句：

• Many sufferers have been reclaimed from a dependence on alcohol. 许多嗜酒成癖的受害者已经被挽救过来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They reclaimed him from his evil ways. 他们把他从邪恶中挽救出来。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

22 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。

23 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

24 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。

25 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》