Replacement of the first Vice President of the South Sudan

南苏丹第一副总统换人

来源：刘立军

TRANSCRIPT

The President of the South Sudan Salva Kiir has sacked his long-standing rival the opposition leader Riek Machar and replaced him as first vice president with General Taban Gai, the former Mining Minister. Earlier this month fighting between government troops and forces loyal to Mr. Machar left hundreds died. Alastair Leithead reports.

Riek Machar left the city two weeks ago. He refused to come back until a neutral peace keeping force has been deployed to guarantee his safety. His supporters say his replacement is illegal as it was not decided by a majority of the senior party leadership who was scattered by the fighting. But that didn’t stop a presidential decree declaring him officially replaced. The furious Mr. Machar’s supporters will now say that the peace deal has been broken. And again pledge the country back into civil war unless of course a majority of opposition politicians decide to back this new appointment. At this stage, it is not clear where loyalties lie.

Adapted from 南非第一副总统换人

VOCABULARY

1. sack v. 解雇; 开除; 炒鱿鱼。If your employers sack you, they tell you that you can no longer work for them because you have done something that they did not like or because your work was not good enough. 例句：Earlier today the Prime Minister sacked 18 government officials for corruption. 今天早些时候，首相解除了 18 名涉嫌贪污腐败的政府官员的职务。Science teacher James Wood was sacked for slapping a schoolboy. 理科教师詹姆斯·伍德因为掌掴一名男生而被开除。

2. scatter v. (使) (人群) 分散; (使) 散布在各处; (使) 散开。If a group of people scatter or if you scatter them, they suddenly separate and move in different directions. 例句：After dinner, everyone scattered. 用餐后，大家各奔东西。The cavalry scattered them and chased them off the field. 骑兵驱散了他们并把他们逐出了战场。

3. decree n. 法令; 政令。A decree is an official order or decision, especially one made by the ruler of a country. 例句：In July he issued a decree ordering all unofficial armed groups in the country to disband. 他于 7 月份下令解散国内所有的非正式武装组织。He is prepared to use his recently-acquired powers to introduce reform by presidential decree. 他准备行使其新近获得的权力，发布总统政令以推行改革。

QUESTIONS

Question 1: What’s the news mainly about?

A. Replacement of the first vice President of the South Sudan.

B. The fighting between government troops and forces loyal to Mr. Machar.

C. The story of Riek Machar’s leaving the city two weeks ago.

D. A majority of opposition politicians’ decision to back this new appointment.

Question 2: Which of the following statements related to Riek Machar is FALSE?

A. He left the city two weeks ago and refused to come back until a neutral peace keeping force has been deployed to guarantee his safety.

B. His supporters argue that his replacement is illegal as it was not decided by a majority of the senior party leadership.

C. The furious supporters of Mr. Machar point out that the peace deal has been broken.

D. He used to be the former Mining Minister of the South Sudan.

SUGGESTED ANSWERS

1. A 主旨题。根据新闻的导语：The President of the South Sudan Salva Kiir has sacked his long-standing rival the opposition leader Riek Machar and replaced him as first vice president with General Taban Gai, the former Mining Minister. 可知，该新闻讲的是南苏丹第一副总统换人的问题。所以，选A。

2. D 推断题。根据新闻导语：The President of the South Sudan Salva Kiir has sacked his long-standing rival the opposition leader Riek Machar and replaced him as first vice president with General Taban Gai, the former Mining Minister. 可知，新的副总统General Taban Gai是担当过前任Mining Minister，而非Riek Machar。A, B, C项均是根据本新闻主体部分句子的同义改写，均为正确的陈述，所以，本题选D。