VOA标准英语2010-Bashir Victory Expected; Rivals Weigh Imp

A Sudanese election official displays a ballot¹ for observers to view, during the counting process at polling station in Khartoum, Sudan, 16 April 2010

As soon as the National Congress Party (NCP) is declared winner of this month’s Sudanese elections, attention is expected to revert² to conventional friction³ points like Darfur, Abyei, and Southern Sudan, where elements of a fragile 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) remain at risk.

Sudanese-born Mohamed Suleiman is president of the San Francisco, California Bay Area Darfur Coalition⁴, which holds rallies to raise American public awareness⁵ about Sudan atrocities⁶ and prompts U.S. policymakers to tighten⁷ sanctions against incumbent⁸ President Omar Hasan al-Bashir.

Suleiman says that the Bashir government is likely to try and use its newly won legitimacy⁹ to deter¹⁰ secession by the south in next year’s planned referendum, to thwart¹¹ southern claims to lucrative¹² oil revenues near the disputed border town of Abyei, and to discourage pressures to bring President Bashir before the International Criminal Court (ICC) to face war crimes charges.

Two refugee girls carry their mothers child at the south Darfur refugee camp of Kalma April 10, 2007.The Darfur conflict has become the world's worst humanitarian¹³ crisis, and rape¹⁴ is its regular byproduct, U.N. and other human rights activists¹⁵ say. Sudan's government denies arming and unleashing¹⁶ the janjaweed, and bristles¹⁷ at the charges of rape, saying its conservative Islamic society would never tolerate it. (AP Photo/Alfred de Montesquiou)
“If the south elects to secede¹⁸, this means that the oil wells will go to the south, and the north will not make that easy. So many, many observers think that war might be inevitable¹⁹ if there is any problem with the referendum,” he said.

Suleiman says he thinks that the almost certain victory this year by the ruling Nation Congress Party will embolden²⁰ Sudanese government leaders to act aggressively on all fronts as long as they believe the international community views the outcome of the vote as legitimate²² and is reluctant to tighten resistance to the policies being pursued by the newly elected government.

“They will feel empowered because what Bashir’s government and the NCP are shooting for in these elections is to have some kind of international legitimacy because the west thinks that to avert²³ war is to be nice to the NCP, and they’re hoping that the NCP will be nice to the southerners in 2011 for the referendum, and that will make the secession easy,” he observed.

Instead, says Suleiman, Khartoum will be prepared to go to war if necessary to prevent the south from seceding²⁴ and it will justify²⁵ its actions by touting²⁶ its commitment to preserving the unity²¹ of the nation.

The major leverage²⁷ the international community has on the Sudanese leader is the case of international war crimes charges and possibly additional charges of genocide being considered by the I.C.C.  Suleiman says President Bashir’s legal problems are the main tool that governments trying to safeguard southern Sudan’s bid for a referendum can hold over President Bashir to make him carry out terms of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir could face trial at the International Criminal Court at the Hague for war crimes and crimes against humanity he is accused of committing for having fueled a government war against hundreds of thousands of civilians²⁸ in Sudan's western Darfur region.
“Bashir hoped to attain²⁹ elections that by gaining legitimacy that he can drive some kind of deal to abolish or put the I.C.C. arrest warrant on the back burner.  But al-Bashir is willing to sacrifice the country to save the regime.  So if he sees that the I.C.C is seriously pursuing him, he may resort to some desperate actions, like reigniting Darfur and definitely on the border of the south and north, also there will be insecurity or violence there between those areas,” he warned.

Suleiman says fighting over the weekend between the south Sudan army and various Arab tribes from Darfur near the border of the southern state of western Bahr al-Ghazal in which at least 55 deaths were reported could be the first sign of Khartoum’s determination to push the international community to make a deal with him.

Listen to Mohamed Suleiman's interview with VOA's Howard Lesser

 

1 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

2 revert   

v.恢复，复归，回到

参考例句：

• Let us revert to the earlier part of the chapter.让我们回到本章的前面部分。
• Shall we revert to the matter we talked about yesterday?我们接着昨天谈过的问题谈，好吗？

3 friction   

n.摩擦，摩擦力

参考例句：

• When Joan returned to work,the friction between them increased.琼回来工作后，他们之间的摩擦加剧了。
• Friction acts on moving bodies and brings them to a stop.摩擦力作用于运动着的物体，并使其停止。

4 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

5 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

6 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 tighten   

v.(使)变紧；(使)绷紧

参考例句：

• Turn the screw to the right to tighten it.向右转动螺钉把它拧紧。
• Some countries tighten monetary policy to avoid inflation.一些国家实行紧缩银根的货币政策，以避免通货膨胀。

8 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

9 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

10 deter   

vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住

参考例句：

• Failure did not deter us from trying it again.失败并没有能阻挡我们再次进行试验。
• Dogs can deter unwelcome intruders.狗能够阻拦不受欢迎的闯入者。

11 thwart   

v.阻挠，妨碍，反对；adj.横(断的)

参考例句：

• We must thwart his malevolent schemes.我们决不能让他的恶毒阴谋得逞。
• I don't think that will thwart our purposes.我认为那不会使我们的目的受到挫折。

12 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。

13 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。

14 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

15 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》

16 unleashing   

v.把（感情、力量等）释放出来，发泄( unleash的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Company logos: making people's life better by unleashing Cummins power. 公司理念：以康明斯动力建设更美好的生活！ 来自互联网
• Sooner or later the dam will burst, unleashing catastrophic destruction. 否则堤坝将崩溃，酿成灾难。 来自互联网

17 bristles   

短而硬的毛发，刷子毛( bristle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the bristles on his chin 他下巴上的胡楂子
• This job bristles with difficulties. 这项工作困难重重。

18 secede   

v.退出，脱离

参考例句：

• They plotted to make the whole Mississippi Valley secede from the United States.他们阴谋策划使整个密西西比流域脱离美国。
• We won't allow Tibet to secede from China and become an independent nation.我们决不允许西藏脱离中国独立。

19 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

20 embolden   

v.给…壮胆，鼓励

参考例句：

• Emboldened by the wine,he went over to introduce himself to her.他借酒壮胆，走上前去向她作自我介绍。
• The Prime Minister was steadily emboldened by the discovery that he faced no opposition.发现自己并未遭到反对，首相渐渐有了信心。

21 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。

22 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

23 avert   

v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等)

参考例句：

• He managed to avert suspicion.他设法避嫌。
• I would do what I could to avert it.我会尽力去避免发生这种情况。

24 seceding   

v.脱离，退出( secede的现在分词 )

参考例句：

25 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

26 touting   

v.兜售( tout的现在分词 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报

参考例句：

• He's been touting his novel around publishers for years. 他几年来一直到处找出版商兜售自己的小说。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Technology industry leaders are touting cars as a hot area for growth. 科技产业领袖吹捧为增长热点地区的汽车。 来自互联网

27 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。

28 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。

29 attain   

vt.达到，获得，完成

参考例句：

• I used the scientific method to attain this end. 我用科学的方法来达到这一目的。
• His painstaking to attain his goal in life is praiseworthy. 他为实现人生目标所下的苦功是值得称赞的。