VOA常速英语2014--尼日利亚州长发誓对抗博科圣地激进组织

 

Nigerian Governor Vows¹ to Fight 'Madmen' 尼日利亚州长发誓对抗博科圣地激进组织

Violent Islamic sect² Boko Haram continues on its deadly path in northern Nigeria, holding more than 200 schoolgirls hostage and staging deadly attacks on cities and villages.  The governor of the northeastern Nigerian state of Borno says the toll³ on his state is high in terms of human lives and economic development.  But he says he is determined⁴ to fight what he calls "madmen" terrifying the region.

Protests are held daily in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, where activists⁵ say they want more government action to free the girls from the clutches of Boko Haram.

尼日利亚首都阿布贾每天都在进行抗议活动,而激进分子表示他们希望政府采取更多行动尽快从博科圣地的魔爪中救出那些女孩。

"I think of the girls and I think it could have been me. It could be.It could be my daughter. It could be my niece, you know. It could be, it could be anybody and it's just think of, I think of the mothers and I think, you know what, we have to do this. We have to. Someone has to do it."

“我想念那些女孩们,我想他们也可能绑架我。真有可能发生在我身上。可能是我的女儿。你知道,也可能是我的侄女。可能是任何人,想想看,身为人母我是这样想的,你知道,我们必须这样做。我们必须。一定要有人这样做。”

Borno governor Kashim Shettima describes Boko Haram's leader, Abubakar Shekau, as insane.

博尔诺州州长卡希姆·史提玛称博科圣地的领袖阿布巴卡尔·谢卡乌是个疯子。

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"I see him as a madman, don't take him as somebody with any sanity⁶, any mental sanity.In this age and time, somebody is talking of selling the girls into slavery? Can a reasonable, sensible person talk along that line? For me, he is a madman.

“我觉得他就是个疯子,别把他当有理智,心智健全的人看待。在这样的年代,有人会贩卖女孩为奴?合理的,有理智的人会这样做吗?对我来说,他就是个疯子。

Shettima says he is determined to stop the terror caused by the marauding militants⁸ over the past five years. In the latest attack Sunday, a bomb believed to be planted by Boko Haram killed about 40 football fans in neighboring Adamawa state. Shettima says the group of about 1,500 fanatics⁹ is holding communities in the entire region ransom¹⁰.

史提玛表示他决心停止过去5年间抢劫武装分子造成的恐怖。最近周日的攻击中,一枚被认为是博科圣地设置的炸弹造成邻国阿达马瓦约40球迷死亡。史提玛称大约1500狂热分子占领了整个地区索要赎金。

"But I can assure you that they are not as many people as were made out to believe. But because they are setting the pace of the war, they create a lot of havoc¹¹ and that is precisely¹² what they are doing, and they are not adhering to any international convention. They are just a bunch of raving¹³ lunatics, and they are hell-bent on a suicidal path.

“但我可以向你保证他们不是很多人所推崇的。而是因为他们正在准备战争,造成了大量的破坏,这就他们的所作所为,而且不遵守任何国际公约。他们只是一群疯狂的疯子,这是自寻死路。

The Borno governor says terror and violence has had a devastating¹⁴ impact on the state's economy. He says his state, which borders Niger, Chad and Cameroon, is uniquely positioned for trade and investment. But the fighting has all but halted the development of the necessary infrastructure¹⁵, especially the roads. He says the borders are closing and it will take time to repair Borno's image abroad.

博尔诺州州长表示恐怖和暴力已经对这个国家的经济造成了灾难性的后果。他表示尼日尔的邻国乍得和喀麦隆具有贸易和投资的独特优势。但争斗几乎使得尤其是道路的必要基础设施发展停滞。他表示边境关闭,因此需要时间来修复博尔诺州在海外的形象。

"It's very painful because Borno has been in the news for the wrong reasons for the past five years.Borno is the cradle of Islamic civilization in the West African region. We have 1,200 years of recorded history. It's an insult to the integrity and the history of the people of Borno.

“这非常痛苦,因为博尔诺州在过去的5年已经因为错误的原因而被世人所熟知。博尔诺州是西非地区伊斯兰文明的摇篮。我们有1200年的历史记录。这是对博尔诺州人民完整性和历史的侮辱。

The United States has sent military experts to help track more than 200 Nigerian girls still held by the Boko Haram militant⁷ group.

美国已经派出军事专家帮助找寻仍然被博科圣地激进组织挟持超过200名尼日利亚女孩的蛛丝马迹。

1 vows   

誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿

参考例句：

• Matrimonial vows are to show the faithfulness of the new couple. 婚誓体现了新婚夫妇对婚姻的忠诚。
• The nun took strait vows. 那位修女立下严格的誓愿。

2 sect   

n.派别，宗教，学派，派系

参考例句：

• When he was sixteen he joined a religious sect.他16岁的时候加入了一个宗教教派。
• Each religious sect in the town had its own church.该城每一个宗教教派都有自己的教堂。

3 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

4 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

5 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 sanity   

n.心智健全，神智正常，判断正确

参考例句：

• I doubt the sanity of such a plan.我怀疑这个计划是否明智。
• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。

7 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。

8 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。

9 fanatics   

狂热者，入迷者( fanatic的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The heathen temple was torn down by a crowd of religions fanatics. 异教徒的神殿被一群宗教狂热分子拆除了。
• Placing nukes in the hands of baby-faced fanatics? 把核弹交给一些宗教狂热者手里？

10 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

11 havoc   

n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱

参考例句：

• The earthquake wreaked havoc on the city.地震对这个城市造成了大破坏。
• This concentration of airborne firepower wrought havoc with the enemy forces.这次机载火力的集中攻击给敌军造成很大破坏。

12 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

13 raving   

adj.说胡话的；疯狂的，怒吼的；非常漂亮的；令人醉心[痴心]的v.胡言乱语(rave的现在分词)n.胡话；疯话adv.胡言乱语地；疯狂地

参考例句：

• The man's a raving lunatic. 那个男子是个语无伦次的疯子。
• When I told her I'd crashed her car, she went stark raving bonkers. 我告诉她我把她的车撞坏了时，她暴跳如雷。

14 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

15 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。