VOA标准英语2014--Boko Haram Claims Responsibility for Abuja Bombing 博科圣地宣称对阿布贾轰炸事件负责

 

Boko Haram Claims Responsibility for Abuja Bombing 博科圣地宣称对阿布贾轰炸事件负责

ABUJA — The Nigerian militant¹ group known as Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for a bombing in the capital Abuja on April 14 that killed 75 people.  In the video message, Abubakar Shekau, the man who says he ordered the bombing, says nothing about the mass abduction of more than 100 teenage girls, most of whom are still missing.  

At a hospital in Abuja, survivors² fill rooms and the hallways.  Some are unconscious, others slowly sip³ Ovaltine and milk.

“I was about to enter the bus when I heard the bomb sound, boom!  Then I fell down and my face was shattered," said Sahadu, a civil servant who was on his way to work when the bomb went off.

The attack on the bus station, Nyanya, was the first attack in the capital since 2012.  Hours after the bombing, blood still stained the ground and stunned⁴ crowds quietly stared at the bomb site.

Boko Haram, an insurgent⁵ group that has killed thousands of people in the past few years, usually launches attacks in the northeast.  The government has deployed⁶ thousands of troops in efforts to crush the insurgency⁷.

But analysts⁸ say violence is still increasing, and 1,500 people have been killed in the first three months of this year alone.

“It raises questions about the use of resources because never in the history of this country has so much money been devoted⁹ to defense," said Clement¹⁰ Nwankwo, who is with the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre in Abuja.  "And yet there’s very little evidence of the impact of the spending on the effectiveness of the spending in the fight against terrorism."

Northern security forces were also on high alert last week after more than 100 girls were abducted¹¹ from a school.  Boko Haram has not claimed responsibility but the group, which is believed to have many factions¹², is widely blamed.

Pastor¹³ Ayo Oritsejafor, president of the Christian¹⁴ Association of Nigeria, says despite the increase in violence and the increase in spending, the Nigerian military is doing the best it can with the resources it has.

“We must commend our military men.  If you pull them out, for example, that part of the country would be lost completely," he said. "So they are doing well, but they have challenges."

Unpredictable guerilla warfare¹⁵, not enough soldiers and small pockets of support for Boko Haram among civilians¹⁶ and officials are among those challenges, he says.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan called an emergency security meeting last week, but decision-making was postponed¹⁷ because opposition¹⁸ leaders, including the governors of the states under emergency rule, did not attend.

At another hospital across town, men wait for the body of their friend and brother to be released for burial.

Mutula Ibrahim lost three brothers in the Abuja bombing.

“There’s no place in Nigeria that doesn’t know pain.  Armed robbers, accidents, bombings can happen anywhere," he said.

 

Mutula says the government cannot, or maybe will not, stop the attacks, so the only thing left for them to do is to pray for peace.

1 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

2 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

3 sip   

v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量

参考例句：

• She took a sip of the cocktail.她啜饮一口鸡尾酒。
• Elizabeth took a sip of the hot coffee.伊丽莎白呷了一口热咖啡。

4 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

5 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

6 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

7 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

8 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

9 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

10 clement   

adj.仁慈的；温和的

参考例句：

• A clement judge reduced his sentence.一位仁慈的法官为他减了刑。
• The planet's history contains many less stable and clement eras than the holocene.地球的历史包含着许多不如全新世稳定与温和的地质时期。

11 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。

12 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

13 pastor   

n.牧师，牧人

参考例句：

• He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
• We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师：教会的事是由五位执事管理的。

14 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

15 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

16 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。

17 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

18 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。