VOA标准英语2009年-Libya's Gadhafi To Take UN Stage

By Elizabeth Arrott
Cairo, Egypt
18 September 2009

 
Mural of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi 
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi will make his debut¹ at the United Nations General Assembly later this month, after many years in the diplomatic wilderness². 

Mr. Gadhafi is everywhere in Tripoli. It's something most Libyans seem used to.

The Colonel has been celebrating 40 years of his revolution, in tribute ... after tribute .... to himself.

There is the young army officer who seized power in a coup³, and backed revolutionary and terrorist groups worldwide.

There is Gadhafi the philosopher, author of the Islamo-socialist "Third Universal Theory."

At the many concerts celebrating his time in power, there are references to his efforts to foster Arab Unity⁴ ...attempts that failed.

And references to his call for a United Africa ..... And to the backing he has received by no less a moral authority than Nobel Laureate Nelson Mandela

But despite Libya's reformed approach to world affairs, and the lure⁵ of its massive oil wealth, not everyone is ready to have Mr. Gadhafi take center stage.

For one thing, he is an autocrat⁶.... whose claim of running a direct democracy is as empty as this building devoted⁷ to human rights.

He has questionable⁸ taste in friends, among them Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, wanted on charges of war crimes.

And the past is by no means forgotten. The welcome home of convicted Lockerbie bomber⁹ Abdel Baset Ali al Megrahi outraged¹⁰ many in the west. People flocked to his home to pay their respects, for as many in Libya are quick to point out, they have always considered Megrahi innocent of the crime.

All the same it's a sensitive issue ...as his brother-in-law, Mohamed al-Mogdamy, makes clear. "Okay, they didn't like to make a [interview] ... this is the security instructions unfortunately," he said.

But according to the head of the government's Foreign Media Corporation, Abdul Majeed el-Dursi, Megrahi is a hero in a different way. "He volunteered to go and to save his country the bitterness of sanctions, which the Libyan people paid a very, very high price for," he said.

The sanctions did take a toll¹¹.

But in recent years, Tripoli paid reparations, renounced¹² terror and weapons of mass destruction -- acts that led to sanctions being lifted, and the beginning of Libya's return to the fold.

State media tries to keep things as they have been for 40 years. But the rest of the world is proving impossible to keep out.

And at long last, some of the nation's oil wealth is beginning to be seen by at least some Libyans, like this shopowner.

"To get better, you have to get along with the others," a shopowner says, "To be better, you have to understand the others. And to understand the others you have to express yourself and solve problems in a better way. And I think our country did a lot of good things in the past few years."

Those good things are becoming more apparent inside Libya. Mr. Gadhafi's UN reception will give a better idea about any improvement on the world stage.

 

1 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

2 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

3 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

4 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

5 lure   

n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引

参考例句：

• Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。
• He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。

6 autocrat   

n.独裁者；专横的人

参考例句：

• He was an accomplished politician and a crafty autocrat.他是个有造诣的政治家，也是个狡黠的独裁者。
• The nobles tried to limit the powers of the autocrat without success.贵族企图限制专制君主的权力,但没有成功。

7 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

8 questionable   

adj.可疑的，有问题的

参考例句：

• There are still a few questionable points in the case.这个案件还有几个疑点。
• Your argument is based on a set of questionable assumptions.你的论证建立在一套有问题的假设上。

9 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

10 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。

11 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

12 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》