VOA标准英语2010年-Guinea Unions Threaten Year-Long Strik

Labor¹ leaders in Guinea are threatening to stage a year-long strike if the military government does not resolve the country's political crisis. There is still no official word on the health of Guinea's military leader, more than one month after he was shot in the head.

The National Confederation of Guinean Workers says the army is not being truthful² with the Guinean people about the health of military ruler Captain Moussa Dadis Camara.

Captain Camara has been in a Moroccan military hospital since he was shot in the head by the former chief of the presidential guard over one month ago.

Acting³ ruler General Sekouba Konate has returned to Guinea after meeting with Captain Camara in Morocco.  During that visit, Konate met with U.S. and French diplomats⁴ to discuss the country's political crisis and its impact on regional stability since Guinea's military took power in a coup⁵ one year ago.

The United States and France both support a civilian-led transitional government to organize free elections and both say that is more likely if Captain Camara does not return to Guinea.

Trade unions say the country's future can not be held hostage to the health of one man.  National Confederation Secretary General Hadja Rabiatou Sérah Diallo says Guinea's ruling military council and state-run television have mislead the nation with inconsistent statements about Captain Camara's health and possible return.

Diallo says Guinea's civil society movement will organize a so-called dead country or dead city or will go on strike for one whole year if the military government does not truthfully disclose Captain Camara's condition and move forward to resolve the political crisis.

Diallo says any action will take into consideration that most Guineans are already living day-to-day, and the labor movement does not want poor people to suffer more.  She says any protest will be peaceful to avoid the destruction of property or killing⁶ of demonstrators.

The secretary-general of Guinea's Workers' Trade Union, Ibrahima Fofana, says everything depends on the ruling military council responding concretely to opposition⁷ demands within the ongoing⁸ regional mediation⁹.

Guinea's main teachers' unions already say they are planning to strike next week.  Fofana says other trade unions will join that strike if they are not satisfied with the military's response. 

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 truthful   

adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的

参考例句：

• You can count on him for a truthful report of the accident.你放心，他会对事故作出如实的报告的。
• I don't think you are being entirely truthful.我认为你并没全讲真话。

3 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

4 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》

5 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。

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 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

8 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。

9 mediation   

n.调解

参考例句：

• The dispute was settled by mediation of the third country. 这场争端通过第三国的斡旋而得以解决。
• The dispute was settled by mediation. 经调解使争端得以解决。