VOA标准英语2009-Sri Lanka Claims Total Control of Island Nation

The quarter-century civil war in Sri Lanka has come to a dramatic end. The army has apparently¹ wiped out the entire leadership of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, including the leader who founded the rebel group. Ror the first time in 26 years, the government says all territory of the island nation is back under its control.
　
President Mahinda Rajapaksa shakes hands with Army Chief, Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka who officially informs him of total defeat of Tamil Tigers, 18 May 2009

The chiefs of all Sri Lanka's security forces came to the president's official residence to personally inform him of the LTTE's total defeat.

It is an ending all but unimaginable just a few years ago when the rebels ran a virtual Tamil state, controlling much of the north and east under their control.

Sri Lanka's state-controlled broadcasters switched to patriotic² programming and special reports to announce the victory and report the military had vanquished³ the entire leadership of the rebel organization.

"It has been revealed that the LTTE supremo, Velupillai Prabhakaran, has been killed owing to the attacks of the advancing troops today, in the morning," the announcer said.

Rebel leader, top commanders reportedly killed
　
Tamil Tiger rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran (File)

Media reports say the rebel leader, along with other top commanders, was killed trying to flee in an ambulance. An official announcement of Prabhakaran's death is expected Tuesday when President Mahinda Rajapaksa addresses parliament.

Sri Lanka says its military freed more than 70,000 civilians⁴ who had been held "hostage" by the LTTE.

The rebels last week claimed thousands of Tamil civilians were dying because of military shelling. Sri Lanka accused the rebels of deliberately⁵ killing⁶ civilians and trying to switch blame for the deaths to the military.

EU Calls for investigations⁸ of alleged⁹ rights abuses

The European Union has called for an independent investigation⁷ to determine if human rights laws were violated.
　
Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama at Presidential residence

Speaking to journalists at a ceremony at the presidential residence, Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama predicted the international community would come around to seeing the situation as the Sri Lankan government does.

"This is defeating terrorism so that our people in Sri Lanka can be free of the scourge¹⁰ of terrorism and look towards their own development, the empowerment of the people economically and politically by our government," he said.

International community wants access to northern coast

The international community is also putting pressure on Sri Lanka to allow access to the strip of northeastern coast where heavy fighting took place for days.

U.N. spokesman Gordon Weiss tells VOA News that is essential for treating any remaining wounded or ill civilians who may have been left behind.

"We need access to the area," Weiss said. "I imagine that the authorities are busy transporting wounded civilians to hospitals and so forth¹¹. But nevertheless the U.N. has consistently asked that the U.N. and other humanitarian¹² agencies have access to those areas. So far we have been restricted to the reception camps, the internment¹³ camps."

Sri Lanka's government says it can handle adequately what the international community terms a humanitarian crisis in which an estimated 300,000 Tamils have been displaced.

1 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

2 patriotic   

adj.爱国的，有爱国心的

参考例句：

• His speech was full of patriotic sentiments.他的演说充满了爱国之情。
• The old man is a patriotic overseas Chinese.这位老人是一位爱国华侨。

3 vanquished   

v.征服( vanquish的过去式和过去分词 )；战胜；克服；抑制

参考例句：

• She had fought many battles, vanquished many foes. 她身经百战，挫败过很多对手。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I vanquished her coldness with my assiduity. 我对她关心照顾从而消除了她的冷淡。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

5 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

6 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。

7 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

8 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

9 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

10 scourge   

n.灾难，祸害；v.蹂躏

参考例句：

• Smallpox was once the scourge of the world.天花曾是世界的大患。
• The new boss was the scourge of the inefficient.新老板来了以后，不称职的人就遭殃了。

11 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

12 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。

13 internment   

n.拘留

参考例句：

• Certainly the recent attacks against the internment camps are evidence enough. 很明显，最近营地遭受到的攻击就是一个足好的证明。 来自互联网
• The chapters on the internment are Both readaBle and well researched. 这些关于拘留的章节不仅具可读性而且研究得很透彻。 来自互联网