VOA标准英语2010年-Attacks in Iraq Kill More Than 100

An Iraqi man walks through rubble¹ at the site of a bombing that targeted police in Fallujah, west of Baghdad, Iraq, 10 May 2010

A wave of attacks across Iraq killed more than people Monday, and wounded about 300 others.

The violence began before dawn, with gunmen in speeding cars killing² soldiers and police at checkpoints across Baghdad.   The assailants used silencers, a new gangland-style twist to their attacks.

 In the hours that followed, two bombs, also targeting police, exploded in the capital.  Other blasts occurred outside the homes of policemen in Fallujah, west of Baghdad. A Fallujah resident said one of the houses destroyed belonged to a policeman killed two years ago and that the victims were family members.  "What did they do?" he asked.

In the northern city Mosul, a suicide bomber³ exploded a car near a checkpoint guarded by national and Kurdish forces.  Two blasts also rocked Suwayra, southeast of Baghdad.   In the deadliest attack, two car bombs struck workers in Hilla, in central Iraq.

While there was no immediate⁴ claim of responsibility, suspicion quickly fell on al-Qaida in Iraq as well as Sunni militants⁵.  In recent weeks, Iraqi and U.S. officials had announced several arrests and killings⁶ of top al-Qaida leaders.   Authorities predicted the actions would weaken the local off-shoot of the terror network, arguing that support for the group had waned⁷ and replacing the leadership would be difficult.

Peter Harling, an Iraq specialist at the International Crisis Group in Damascus, countered that al-Qaida has shown a remarkable⁸ ability to replace its leaders.   "It is a very decentralized movement," he said.  "It is not hierarchic⁹, so I do not think the arrests or the killings of its senior officials have ever had any impact, any significant impact on the movement."

Even as officials had tried to downplay the future al-Qaida threat, some had warned of a possible increase in Sunni-led violence.  More than two months after inconclusive national elections, Sunnis are once again watching their chances of major representation in parliament appear to slip away.

The secular¹⁰, Shi'ite-Sunni bloc¹¹ led by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi took the most seats, but two more overtly¹² Shi'ite groups are said to be close to forming a ruling coalition¹³.  Much of the horrific sectarian violence across Iraq in 2006 and 2007 was tied to Sunnis boycotting¹⁴ the last national elections and then being shut out of government.

Peter Harling said that, even two months after the vote, politicians are just at another phase of protracted¹⁵ negotiations¹⁶.   "Right now, there is a possibility indeed of a Shi'ite coalition, probably reaching out to the Kurds and to some Sunni elements as token representatives within the government." he said.   "Another possible scenario¹⁷ is that this fragile Shi'ite alliance will simply fall apart over the difficulties of nominating a consensus¹⁸ prime minister."

The power vacuum is likely to continue for some time.  Election results must be finalized¹⁹ before a government can be formed, the vote is being recounted.
 

1 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

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 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。

4 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

5 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

6 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

7 waned   

v.衰落( wane的过去式和过去分词 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡

参考例句：

• However,my enthusiasm waned.The time I spent at exercises gradually diminished. 然而，我的热情减退了。我在做操上花的时间逐渐减少了。 来自《用法词典》
• The bicycle craze has waned. 自行车热已冷下去了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

9 hierarchic   

等级制的，按等级划分的

参考例句：

• Many schemes have been devised to present the hierarchic nature of ecologic units. 我们已经设计了许多计划来表示生态单位的体系性质。
• The degree of subordination of an item in an hierarchic arrangement. 分层结构中，一个项的从属级别。

10 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

11 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

12 overtly   

ad.公开地

参考例句：

• There were some overtly erotic scenes in the film. 影片中有一些公开色情场面。
• Nietzsche rejected God's law and wrote some overtly blasphemous things. 尼采拒绝上帝的律法，并且写了一些渎神的作品。

13 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。

14 boycotting   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• They're boycotting the shop because the people there are on strike. 他们抵制那家商店，因为那里的店员在罢工。
• The main opposition parties are boycotting the elections. 主要反对党都抵制此次选举。

15 protracted   

adj.拖延的；延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The war was protracted for four years. 战争拖延了四年。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We won victory through protracted struggle. 经过长期的斗争，我们取得了胜利。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

17 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

18 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

19 finalized   

vt.完成（finalize的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The draft of this article has been finalized [done]. 这篇文章已经定稿。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The draft was revised several times before it was finalized. 稿子几经删改才定下来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》