VOA标准英语2013--埃及人抨击卡塔尔的“干预”

 

Egyptians Lash¹ Out at Qatari 'Meddling²' 埃及人抨击卡塔尔的“干预”

CAIRO  After years of growing influence, Qatar's apparent ambitions as a regional powerhouse have faltered³ in Tunisia and Syria and with what some experts say is its latest stumble in Egypt. 

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood⁴ may be on the run but fury against them, and their supporters abroad, has yet to abate⁵.

A court in recent days ordered the closing of Al Jazeera's Egyptian channel, widely seen as backing the former Islamist-led government.

On the street, it's not just the channel, but the funder that has come under attack.

Driver Gamal Abu Seif is angry at both Al Jazeera and Qatar, saying Egypt should severe relations with them both. He says they've turned the whole world against his country. 

Coverage⁶ by Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based satellite powerhouse, fanned the spirit of revolution from Tunisia to Syria.  It reveled in the election last year of Egypt's first Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi.

Now, Tunisia and Libya are riven by strife⁷. Syria has descended⁸ into a brutal⁹ civil war. And in Egypt, what is known as the "The Islamic Project" - a Brotherhood favorite - has come to a crashing halt.

"Al Jazeera was instrumental in the Arab Spring. It was taking the side of the people against autocratic regimes.  Today it is taking the side of autocratic organizations against the people," said political sociologist¹⁰ Said Sadek.

The station and the nation are so closely entwined in many minds that Sadek calls Qatar a satellite network with a country attached.

Al Jazeera denies any bias¹¹ in its reporting, saying it "carries no torch for any political party."

But Qatar's reach extends beyond the news. From plane loads of cash to help rebels in Libya, to providing weapons for Syria's rebels, Qatar's immense wealth from natural gas revenues has played a key role in uprisings across the region.

Security analyst¹² Sameh Seif al-Yazal says Qatar is trying to upstage traditional regional financier Saudi Arabia.

"I don't think the Saudis are happy about that and the Egyptians are not happy about that, [because] by doing that they [Qatar] want to put themselves in a place which is much bigger than what they are," he said.

Yet as rich as Qatar is, Saudi Arabia can still outspend it - giving Egypt $5 billion after Morsi was ousted¹³.

Qatar is also going up against years of Saudi-Egyptian cooperation, says Sadek.

"There is always cooperation diplomatically on many fields between the two countries. On Syrian situation, on Palestinian situation, on the Sudanese situation. So this is very normal it is not a new policy from Saudi Arabia  and Egypt. Qatar is an aberration¹⁴ in the system," he said.

Not that Qatar has given up. in a deal arranged with Morsi's government, much-needed natural gas is still on its way.

1 lash   

v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛

参考例句：

• He received a lash of her hand on his cheek.他突然被她打了一记耳光。
• With a lash of its tail the tiger leaped at her.老虎把尾巴一甩朝她扑过来。

2 meddling   

v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He denounced all "meddling" attempts to promote a negotiation. 他斥责了一切“干预”促成谈判的企图。 来自辞典例句
• They liked this field because it was never visited by meddling strangers. 她们喜欢这块田野，因为好事的陌生人从来不到那里去。 来自辞典例句

3 faltered   

（嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃

参考例句：

• He faltered out a few words. 他支吾地说出了几句。
• "Er - but he has such a longhead!" the man faltered. 他不好意思似的嚅嗫着：“这孩子脑袋真长。”

4 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

5 abate   

vi.(风势，疼痛等)减弱，减轻，减退

参考例句：

• We must abate the noise pollution in our city.我们必须消除我们城里的噪音污染。
• The doctor gave him some medicine to abate the powerful pain.医生给了他一些药，以减弱那剧烈的疼痛。

6 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

7 strife   

n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争

参考例句：

• We do not intend to be drawn into the internal strife.我们不想卷入内乱之中。
• Money is a major cause of strife in many marriages.金钱是造成很多婚姻不和的一个主要原因。

8 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

9 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

10 sociologist   

n.研究社会学的人，社会学家

参考例句：

• His mother was a sociologist,researching socialism.他的母亲是个社会学家，研究社会主义。
• Max Weber is a great and outstanding sociologist.马克斯·韦伯是一位伟大的、杰出的社会学家。

11 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

12 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

13 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

14 aberration   

n.离开正路，脱离常规，色差

参考例句：

• The removal of the chromatic aberration is then of primary importance.这时消除色差具有头等重要性。
• Owing to a strange mental aberration he forgot his own name.由于一种莫名的精神错乱，他把自己的名字忘了。