VOA常速英语2016--伊拉克系列爆炸事故系与美方撤军有关

伊拉克系列爆炸事故系与美方撤军有关

Firefighters doused¹ the smoldering² wreckage³ of vehicles destroyed by several explosions in theShi'ite holy city of Najaf Monday. The explosions were part of a series of attacks across Iraq.Iraqi army General Othman al Ghanami, who commands the central Euphrates military district,said that Monday's attacks did not come as a surprise: He says that our intelligence led us tobelieve, after security briefings, that there would be widespread violence, especially sincewe're expecting a pilgrimage at the Imam Ali shrine⁴ which was no doubt a pretext⁵ for theexplosions. He adds that the developments can probably be attributed to al-Qaida elementspresent in the area. Iraqi officials say back-to-back explosions in the southern town of Kut alsoleft more than 30 dead and dozens wounded. A crowd of onlookers⁶, along with rescue workerswho arrived at the scene of the first explosion, were hit by the second, according to a localpolice commander: He says that there was a double explosion, the first resulting fromexplosives placed in a vehicle near the scene, attracting a large crowd to see what happened,and those onlookers became victims of the second explosion. Workers cleared the rubble⁷ fromanother explosion that damaged vehicles, homes and businesses in the Baghdad district ofZafaraniya. Several people were killed and more than several dozen were wounded. In the north,police say multiple bombings in Diyala province killed at least eight people, while two separateblasts in Kirkuk killed one person and wounded 12 others. Khattar Abou Diab, who teachespolitical science at the University of Paris, argues that the violence is a sign of tensions in thelead-up to the planned, U.S. withdrawal⁸ from Iraq at the end of this year: He said that theperpetrators of these attacks appear to be trying to send a message that if U.S. troopswithdraw at the end of this year, they will try to make strategic gains against thegovernment. He argues that if al-Qaida is involved in these attacks, the next question would bewhich regional country is manipulating the group. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani condemnedMonday's attacks, claiming that they were the result of "political paralysis⁹" and the"unwillingness of political leaders to sit down together to resolve their differences."

周一，什叶派圣城纳贾夫发生几起爆炸事故，造成很多车辆烧毁，消防人员扑灭了焖燃的残骸。这几起爆炸事故只是伊拉克一系列袭击中的一部分。伊拉克军队将军奥斯曼负责幼发拉底河军区，他表示，周一的一系列袭击时间是意料之中。据他称，伊拉克情报人员已告知军方，在安全吹风会后，会有大范围暴力事件发生，尤其是伊玛目阿里清真寺即将到来的朝圣，更是引发爆炸事故的契机。他还补充道，袭击事件愈演愈烈很可能是该地区基地组织所为。

伊拉克多位官员表示，南部小镇库特随后发生的一系列爆炸事故也造成30人死亡，多人受伤。据当地一名警察称，现场围观的人群以及救援人员都受到了第二波爆炸的袭击。他表示，还有第二场爆炸。第一场爆炸是由放置在某辆车内部的炸药引起的，第一场爆炸吸引大量人群围观，而这些人也成为第二场爆炸事故的的受害者。在巴格达的第二场爆炸事故损毁多个车辆、房屋和商业场所后，工作人员清理了现场的碎石。造成几人死亡，多人受伤。而北部警方称，迪亚拉省的多起爆炸事故造成至少8人死亡。此外，基尔库克的另外2起爆炸事故造成1人死亡，12人受伤。巴黎大学政治学教师哈塔尔认为，暴力事件是由于今年年底美国从伊拉克撤军引发紧张的一种标志。他认为，这些袭击事件的幕后黑手似乎试图传递一个信号，即，如果美国军队于今年年底从伊拉克撤军，他们就会对伊拉克政府采取战略性行动。他表示，如果基地组织参与到这些袭击中，那么下一个需要知道的问题就是，是哪个国家在操纵这个组织。伊拉克总统贾拉勒对周一的一系列袭击事件表示谴责，称他们表现出“政治瘫痪”以及政治领导人不愿意一起坐下解决分歧。

1 doused   

v.浇水在…上( douse的过去式和过去分词 )；熄灯[火]

参考例句：

• The car was doused in petrol and set alight. 这辆汽车被浇上汽油点燃了。
• He doused the lamp,and we made our way back to the house. 他把灯熄掉，我们就回到屋子里去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 smoldering   

v.用文火焖烧，熏烧，慢燃( smolder的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The mat was smoldering where the burning log had fallen. 燃烧的木棒落下的地方垫子慢慢燃烧起来。 来自辞典例句
• The wood was smoldering in the fireplace. 木柴在壁炉中闷烧。 来自辞典例句

3 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

4 shrine   

n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣

参考例句：

• The shrine was an object of pilgrimage.这处圣地是人们朝圣的目的地。
• They bowed down before the shrine.他们在神龛前鞠躬示敬。

5 pretext   

n.借口，托词

参考例句：

• He used his headache as a pretext for not going to school.他借口头疼而不去上学。
• He didn't attend that meeting under the pretext of sickness.他以生病为借口，没参加那个会议。

6 onlookers   

n.旁观者，观看者( onlooker的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A crowd of onlookers gathered at the scene of the crash. 在撞车地点聚集了一大群围观者。
• The onlookers stood at a respectful distance. 旁观者站在一定的距离之外，以示尊敬。

7 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

8 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

9 paralysis   

n.麻痹(症)；瘫痪(症)

参考例句：

• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。
• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。