93 北爱尔兰面临政治动荡

93 北爱尔兰面临政治动荡

Northern Ireland Moves Closer to Political Turmoil
Laurie Kassman
London
1 Jul 2001 12:13 UTC

Northern Ireland is moving closer to political 1)turmoil. Protestant First Minister David Trimble has resigned as head of the power-sharing government.
David Trimble's resignation became effective at the 2)stroke of midnight. He had resigned as head of the power-sharing government over a dispute concerning the speed of the IRA's Irish Republican Army) 3)disarmament. "Because I can no longer have any confidence in the promises, unfulfilled promises, made by republicans," he said. "Because I wanted to 4)ensure that there would be no suggestion of the process moving beyond this without the issue being properly settled, that I have now ceased to be First Minister in Northern Ireland."
A few hours later, Mr. Trimble said he was ready to 5)resume his position. But, once again he conditioned it on the IRA disarming². Ulster Unionist leader Trimble complains the IRA has not fulfilled its commitment to disarm¹ as required by the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement.
The IRA says it let special monitors inspect their 6)stockpiles to 7)verify their weapons have been locked up and put beyond use.
Gerry Adams, who heads the IRA's political 8)wing, Sinn Fein, calls Mr. Trimble's resignation political 9)brinkmanship. "I don't want to see the institutions slipping," he said, "but it isn't within my reach to prevent them, if 10)kamikaze politics is what is dominating the Unionists' approach to all of this." Mr. Adams says republican ministers have not resigned from the power-sharing assembly even though the promised police reforms and British troop reductions have not been fully⁴ 11)implemented, either. For the time being, Northern Ireland's government is on the brink³ of 12)collapse⁵. The peace process calls for a six-week period after the First Minister's resignation to find a 13)permanent replacement⁶ or organize new elections.
Britain's top minister for Northern Ireland, John Reid, says efforts are under way to try to prevent the Belfast institutions from total collapse. "We should recommit ourselves and redouble our efforts to make sure that the peace process is fully implemented," he said.
Last year, London temporarily 14)suspended home rule to avert⁷ a collapse of Northern Ireland's institutions. Britain is 15)reluctant to do it again amid fears the whole peace process would collapse.
The 1998 peace agreement that now appears in jeopardy⁸ had been credited with ending three decades of bloodshed between Catholic republicans who fought for independence from British rule and Protestant Unionists who fought to stay a part of Britain.

(1) turmoil[5t:mCIl]n.骚动, 混乱
(2) stroke[strEJk]n.击, 敲, 报时的钟声, 打击vt.抚摸
(3) disarmament[dIs5B:mEmEnt]n.裁军
(4) ensure[In5FJE(r); (?@) In5FJEr]vt.保证,使安全v.确保, 保证
(5) resume[rI5zju:m; (?@) -5zu:m]vt.再继续, 重新开始,再用, 恢复
(6) stockpilen.积蓄, 库存vt.储蓄, 贮存
(7) verify[5verIfaI]vt.检验, 校验, 查证, 核实
(8) wing[wIN]n.翅,翼,派别
(9) brinkmanship[5brINkmEnFIp]n.边缘政策
(10) kamikaze[kAmI5kB:zI]n.<日> (第二次世界大战期间日本空军敢死队)神风对队员, 此种战术之飞机或驾驶员
(11) implement[5ImplImEnt]n.工具, 器具vt.贯彻, 实现v.执行
(12) collapse[kE5lAps]n. vi.倒塌, 崩溃, 失败
(13) permanent[5p:mEnEnt]adj.永久的, 持久的
(14) suspend[sE5spend]vt.吊, 悬挂v.延缓
(15) reluctant[rI5lQktEnt]adj.不顾的, 勉强的, 难得到的, 难处理的

 

1 disarm   

v.解除武装，回复平常的编制，缓和

参考例句：

• The world has waited 12 years for Iraq to disarm. 全世界等待伊拉克解除武装已有12年之久。
• He has rejected every peaceful opportunity offered to him to disarm.他已经拒绝了所有能和平缴械的机会。

2 disarming   

adj.消除敌意的，使人消气的v.裁军( disarm的现在分词 )；使息怒

参考例句：

• He flashed her a disarming smile. 他朝她笑了一下，让她消消气。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We will agree to disarming troops and leaving their weapons at military positions. 我们将同意解除军队的武装并把武器留在军事阵地。 来自辞典例句

3 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

4 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

5 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

6 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

7 avert   

v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等)

参考例句：

• He managed to avert suspicion.他设法避嫌。
• I would do what I could to avert it.我会尽力去避免发生这种情况。

8 jeopardy   

n.危险；危难

参考例句：

• His foolish behaviour may put his whole future in jeopardy.他愚蠢的行为可能毁了他一生的前程。
• It is precisely at this juncture that the boss finds himself in double jeopardy.恰恰在这个关键时刻，上司发现自己处于进退两难的境地。