VOA标准英语2009-Sri Lanka Readies for Major National Celebration

（单词翻译）

Sri Lanka is preparing for a major celebration following the battlefield defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, ending a quarter-century civil war. Joyous¹ outbursts that are mixed with some lingering anxiety, especially among the minority Tamils who wonder what the new era will bring for them.
　
A news vendor² selling Sunday papers as Colombo began celebrations of military victory over LTTE

President Mahinda Rajapaksa stepped off his aircraft, on his return from Jordan, to the cheers of supporters who hailed him as a national hero.

On the streets of Colombo, some people hoisted³ the Sri Lankan flag and set off firecrackers in celebration.

After word came that the rebels had announced their guns would finally gone silent in the northeast, young people celebrated⁴ in the backs of slowly moving vehicles along the famous Galle Face seaside boulevard.

But there are no signs, yet, of any mass celebration. A national victory speech by the president is anticipated Monday with a declaration of a national holiday.
　
Several youths on a motorcycle rejoice at news of the LTTE's defeat

The capital, the sight of many suicide bombings and political assassinations⁵ over the years by the Tamil Tigers, still has its typically heavy security presence with numerous roadblocks in some sensitive areas. There motorists and pedestrians⁶ are asked to produce ID cards by armed soldiers. Those who are ethnic⁷ Tamils can be expected to come under further scrutiny⁸ in high security zones.

It is symbolic⁹ of the ethnic and linguistic¹⁰ divide affecting the Tamil minority, treatment they say over the decades and even centuries, that led to the violent uprising.

Many here express hope the defeat of the armed rebels will usher¹¹ in a new era. But for that to happen civil activists¹² say the government must make good on promises to rehabilitate¹³ Tamil society and foster equal rights. Others say the burden also lies with Tamil politicians and activists to pursue a peaceful path for addressing their long-standing grievances¹⁴.