VOA标准英语2009年-Fragile Four-Year Peace Prevails in Indone

August 15 marks the fourth anniversary of peace in Aceh province in Indonesia. The tsunami¹ that decimated the region in 2004, killing² nearly 170,000 people, and the immense international relief effort that followed helped end a 30-year separatist war. The former leaders the Free Aceh Movement renounced³ their fight for independence in exchange for leadership roles and a degree of autonomy in Aceh. While peace prevails, it is still fragile.

Aceh's economy
　
Sumatra elephant parade during Aceh culture festival in Banda Aceh, Aceh province, Indonesia, 02 Aug 2009

Music and dance performances helped bring out large crowds to the Aceh International Expo. This is in part a celebration of Aceh's growing economic power as an exporter of rice, coffee, oil and natural gas. It is also a testament⁴ to the peace that has prevailed in the four years since the Free Aceh Movement, or GAM, and the Indonesian government signed a peace settlement in Helsinki, Finland.

Chairul Nispa runs a Toyota dealership⁵. He says since the Helsinki agreement, business is getting better, especially in the automotive business.

Instead of outsiders brought in by the Jakarta government, former Acehnese rebels are now in charge of the local government and local police are now in charge of security.

General Amiruddin Usman, the Aceh security coordinator⁶ for the Indonesian government, says the military has for the most part moved to bases outside the region.

He says the key to the success of the peace agreement has been the military's restraint in not engaging the former insurgents⁷.

Under the peace deal, the local government gets 70 percent of the revenue from Aceh's huge gas and oil reserves. The Jakarta government gets the rest.

Lack of trust hinders peace

But analyst⁸ Teuku Kamaruzzaman says the peace remains⁹ fragile because neither side trusts the other.

He says it is not clear how the percentage of gas and oil revenue is determined¹⁰. The central and local governments are still arguing over who will be the independent arbiter¹¹.
　
Muslim women cast their ballots¹² at a polling station outside a mosque¹³ in Banda Aceh, Aceh province, Indonesia, 08 Jul 2009

Human rights activists¹⁴ also protest the failure to create the truth and reconciliation¹⁵ commission that the peace agreement calls for. Hendra Budian with the Aceh Judicial¹⁶ Monitoring Institute says while it may be uncomfortable to those in power, it is necessary to account for war crimes and abuses that occurred during the decades of conflict.

"We cannot forget that. This is also for history," said Budian. "Otherwise it can repeat again. Why? Because there is no instrument to cut the cycle of the violence."

Crime remains a problem in region, because many ex-insurgents have not received the training or support to lead peaceful, productive lives. At an open-air restaurant in the rural district of Pidie Jaya, some villagers say the economic benefits of peace have not filtered down to them.

Unemployment, a threat to peace

One villager says it is hard to find jobs, mainly because of the lack of capital.

Hendra Budian says in place of the struggle for independence, unemployment and poverty are now the greatest threats to peace.

"We finished the vertical¹⁷ conflict in between Aceh and Jakarta," continued Budian. "If we cannot solve this problem we will move to another conflict which is what we call a horizontal conflict, Aceh and Aceh."

A group called Building Bridges To The Future has funded projects to help conflict victims in Pidie Jaya.

It organized adult education classes.

A student says in the past during the conflict, she could not go to school. There was no school.

The organization also provided 30 goats and training to others. The group now has 80 goats and earns about $40 a day selling milk. Selling a goat can raise more than $150. The group's members are digging a new well to irrigate¹⁸ their farms and improve crop production.

To insure a lasting¹⁹ peace, Budian says the local government must take over and expand education and development opportunities for all the people of Aceh.

1 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。

2 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。

3 renounced   

v.声明放弃( renounce的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布放弃；宣布与…决裂；宣布摒弃

参考例句：

• We have renounced the use of force to settle our disputes. 我们已再次宣布放弃使用武力来解决争端。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Andrew renounced his claim to the property. 安德鲁放弃了财产的所有权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 testament   

n.遗嘱；证明

参考例句：

• This is his last will and testament.这是他的遗愿和遗嘱。
• It is a testament to the power of political mythology.这说明，编造政治神话可以产生多大的威力。

5 dealership   

n.商品特许经销处

参考例句：

• The car dealership has a large inventory of used cars. 这家汽车经销商拥有数量庞大的二手车。
• A key to this effort is the experience in the dealership. 达到这个成果的关键是销售的体验。

6 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

7 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

8 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

11 arbiter   

n.仲裁人，公断人

参考例句：

• Andrew was the arbiter of the disagreement.安德鲁是那场纠纷的仲裁人。
• Experiment is the final arbiter in science.实验是科学的最后仲裁者。

12 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

14 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》

15 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。

16 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

17 vertical   

adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置

参考例句：

• The northern side of the mountain is almost vertical.这座山的北坡几乎是垂直的。
• Vertical air motions are not measured by this system.垂直气流的运动不用这种系统来测量。

18 irrigate   

vt.灌溉，修水利，冲洗伤口，使潮湿

参考例句：

• The farmer dug several trenches to irrigate the rice fields.这个农民挖了好几条沟以灌溉稻田。
• They have built canals to irrigate the desert.他们建造成水渠以灌溉沙漠。

19 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。