VOA标准英语2011--Guinea's President Calls for Calm After

Guinea's President Calls for Calm After Assassination¹ Attempt

Guinea's president is calling for calm following an overnight attack on his home in a suburb of the capital, Conakry.
Soldiers are out in force in Guinea's capital following a nearly two-hour attack on the home of President Alpha Conde that ended just before dawn. The president later addressed the nation on state television and radio.
Conde called on everyone to remain calm following the attack, in which he says the presidential guard fought heroically and called for reinforcements. The president congratulated those troops and said nothing will stop the work of the people of Guinea.
It is not clear who was behind the attack, which included rockets and automatic weapons. There are no official reports of arrests.
Conde recalled the traditional belief that no matter what your enemies do against you, if God is with you, nothing will happen. He said no matter what his enemies do, the path of democracy in Guinea has begun and will continue.
Conde was elected president last November in Guinea's first truly-democratic election. Civilian² dictators ruled from independence to 2008 when soldiers took power in a coup³. The military eventually yielded to last year's vote that saw the 73-year-old opposition⁴ leader take office.
President Conde said Tuesday that the people of Guinea voted for change and got it. He then appealed for calm and national unity⁵, asking people to allow the army and security forces to do their jobs.
Conde said there is no room for hatred⁶ in Guinea, and said he knows he can count on the people to reject division because there is no development without unity.
Guinea is one of the world's poorest countries despite being the largest exporter of the aluminum⁷ ore bauxite⁸.
There was some violence following last year's vote, as riot police and members of Conde's party fought supporters of the second-place finisher, former prime minister Cellou Diallo. Security forces have since raided Diallo's home saying they are looking for weapons. Diallo says it is political intimidation⁹.
Diallo's party opposes President Conde's plans for an electoral census¹⁰ to revise voting lists before parliamentary elections by year's end. The opposition party says that census should be conducted by an independent electoral body, not the Conde government.

1 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

2 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

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 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。

5 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。

6 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

7 aluminum   

n.(aluminium)铝

参考例句：

• The aluminum sheets cannot be too much thicker than 0.04 inches.铝板厚度不能超过0.04英寸。
• During the launch phase,it would ride in a protective aluminum shell.在发射阶段，它盛在一只保护的铝壳里。

8 bauxite   

n.铝土矿

参考例句：

• Aluminum is made from bauxite.铝是从铝土矿中提炼出的。
• The United States was vulnerable to shortages of chrome,bauxite,and platinum.美国的弱点是缺少铬、矾土和铂。

9 intimidation   

n.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• The Opposition alleged voter intimidation by the army.反对党声称投票者受到军方的恐吓。
• The gang silenced witnesses by intimidation.恶帮用恐吓的手段使得证人不敢说话。

10 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。