VOA标准英语2013--埃及自由主义者的孤独之路

The Lonely Path of an Egyptian Liberal 埃及自由主义者的孤独之路

CAIRO — The unity¹ that marked Egypt's 2011 uprising against Hosni Mubarak has fractured, leaving the country polarized, mostly between Islamists aligned² with the  Muslim Brotherhood³ and supporters of the military-backed government. Caught in the middle is a small and increasingly isolated⁴ group whose main interest is democracy.  A leading voice in this liberal and largely secular⁵ movement is Alaa al-Aswany, one of the region's best-known writers. 

It is not easy being a liberal in Egypt. Alaa al-Aswany, the nation's leading novelist and champion of the 2011 revolution, despairs at what he sees as a flight from  democratic values.

“You don’t have a political conflict in the democratic sense, you have a kind of war between terrorist groups and the state,” said Aswany.

Aswany was one of the few intellectuals to defend the Muslim Brotherhood's right to run in post-revolution elections. Yet he was happy to see Islamist president  Mohamed Morsi deposed⁶, ending what Aswany saw as his absolutist vision. However, he now says democracy is still a distant prospect⁷.

 “The struggle is not done.  It has just begun, you see, because getting rid of these people which were a real barrier against democracy, you still have the real  struggle between the revolution and the old regime,” said Aswany.

Aswany's struggle against the authoritarian⁸ state has been a long one. He rose to fame with his 2002 novel and subsequent film The Yacoubian Building, one of the first  to expose police brutality⁹ and state corruption¹⁰. He was one of the few famous faces to appear on Tahrir Square each day of the 2011 revolution. A month later, his  blunt, televised exchange with then prime-minister Ahmed Shafik electrified¹¹ the nation. Shafik resigned the next day.

“I will never expect the old regime or the military to give us, you see, democracy as a present. We must work and we must make pressure until we get to achieve what  the revolution wanted,” said Aswany.

Aswany's stand has sparked anger on both sides of the political divide. He has received various threats; a bullet was fired into his home.  At a recent appearance in  Paris, he was besieged¹² by Morsi supporters.

"If you see how those people attacked me in Paris, how they looked, and how they looked at me.  These people thought at that time that I am against the religion and  that was very evident to me, very inspiring; I will write about it," said Aswany.

The author answers his critics the way he knows best - with words. His columns appear widely in Egypt and he has recently found an international audience as a  commentator for The New York Times.

However, there is a catch: nearly one-third of Egyptians cannot read. Aswany believes one of the greatest barriers to liberal thought is illiteracy¹³ - something neither  the military nor the Islamists have tried to erase¹⁴. 

1 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

2 aligned   

adj.对齐的，均衡的

参考例句：

• Make sure the shelf is aligned with the top of the cupboard.务必使搁架与橱柜顶端对齐。

3 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

4 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

5 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

6 deposed   

v.罢免( depose的过去式和过去分词 )；（在法庭上）宣誓作证

参考例句：

• The president was deposed in a military coup. 总统在军事政变中被废黜。
• The head of state was deposed by the army. 国家元首被军队罢免了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

8 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

9 brutality   

n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• a general who was infamous for his brutality 因残忍而恶名昭彰的将军

10 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

11 electrified   

v.使电气化( electrify的过去式和过去分词 )；使兴奋

参考例句：

• The railway line was electrified in the 1950s. 这条铁路线在20世纪50年代就实现了电气化。
• The national railway system has nearly all been electrified. 全国的铁路系统几乎全部实现了电气化。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 besieged   

包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Paris was besieged for four months and forced to surrender. 巴黎被围困了四个月后被迫投降。
• The community besieged the newspaper with letters about its recent editorial. 公众纷纷来信对报社新近发表的社论提出诘问，弄得报社应接不暇。

13 illiteracy   

n.文盲

参考例句：

• It is encouraging to read that illiteracy is declining.从读报中了解文盲情况正在好转，这是令人鼓舞的。
• We must do away with illiteracy.我们必须扫除文盲。

14 erase   

v.擦掉；消除某事物的痕迹

参考例句：

• He tried to erase the idea from his mind.他试图从头脑中抹掉这个想法。
• Please erase my name from the list.请把我的名字从名单上擦去。