VOA标准英语2014--Armed Groups Target Students, Teachers 武装分子袭击目标瞄准学生和老师

 

Armed Groups Target Students, Teachers 武装分子袭击目标瞄准学生和老师

A new report says attacking schools and universities has become a weapon of war. It says in the last five years hundreds of students and teachers have been killed and many more injured. The report – Education Under Attack – identifies 30 countries where “there was a pattern of deliberate attacks between 2009 and 2013.”

The Global Coalition¹ to Protect Education from Attack published the 250 page study. Diya Nijhowne, the group’s director, said, “Attacks on schools, teachers, students, professors, academics [are] much more widespread than previously² documented. Schools are being burned, bombed, torched. Teachers are being extorted³, abducted⁴. Students are being recruited into armed forces in schools and universities in conflicts across the world.”

But why attack schools?

“Schools and teachers often represent the states and so they’re soft targets. They’re easy to bomb. They’re easy to injure – much easier than the hard targets like military posts, for example,” she said.

The report says students and teachers in Africa are most at risk. Nine sub-Saharan countries are among the list of 30 nations cited in the report.

Veronique Aubert is conflict and humanitarian⁵ adviser⁶ at Save the Children – a member of the coalition. She said, “Central African Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Somalia and Zimbabwe have been affected⁷.”

She said students and educators are not just caught in the cross fire, but targeted.

“They’re shot, threatened, even abducted because of their connection to education. They’re easy targets and they need to be protected.”

In many cases, schools were used as military barracks, firing positions, weapons depots⁸, and detention⁹ and torture centers.

The report said in late 2012 and 2013, more than 100 schools were looted or vandalized in Central African Republic. In the 2010-2011 post-election conflict in Ivory Coast, “more than 500 schools and universities were destroyed, damaged, looted or used by armed groups and national military forces.”

The non sub-Saharan countries listed in the report include Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, Egypt, Afghanistan, Libya, Iran, Iraq, Russia and India.

 

The Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack is urging the adoption¹⁰ of the Lucens Guidelines. They call on warring parties not to use schools and universities for any military purpose. It also says even schools abandoned during conflict should not be taken over by armed groups. The coalition added that students’ safety helps ensure a better future for a country once the fighting stops.

1 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。

2 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

3 extorted   

v.敲诈( extort的过去式和过去分词 )；曲解

参考例句：

• The gang extorted money from over 30 local businesses. 这帮歹徒向当地30多户商家勒索过钱财。
• He extorted a promise from me. 他硬要我答应。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

5 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。

6 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

7 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

8 depots   

仓库( depot的名词复数 )； 火车站； 车库； 军需库

参考例句：

• Public transportation termini and depots are important infrastructures for a city. 公交场站设施是城市重要的基础设施。
• In the coastal cities are equipped with after-sales service and depots. 在各沿海城市均设有服务部及售后维修站。

9 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

10 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。