叙总统与英女博士800封情书曝光
A key aide of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad is to be awarded a prestigious degree by one of Britain’s top universities. Lamis Omar has been studying for a doctorate at Durham, and is likely to receive her PhD in September.
叙利亚总统巴沙尔•阿萨德的一位重要的女助手拉米斯•奥马尔将获得英国一所顶尖大学颁发的声望很高的博士学位。拉米斯•奥马尔正在杜伦大学攻读博士，可能于今年9月份获得学位。
Emails obtained by the Wikileaks website suggest that Ms Omar enjoys a close friendship with Assad. Fellow students say she had a large picture of the dictator on the wall of her home in the university grounds.
维基解密网站所截获的电子邮件显示，奥马尔与阿萨德关系非常亲密。她的同学反映说，她在杜伦大学住所的墙上挂着一张阿萨德的大幅照片。
Officials at Durham University refused to say whether the institution has accepted money from the Assad regime in tuition fees.
杜伦大学方面拒绝透露学校是否收取了来自阿萨德政权的学费。
The emails appear to show that for the past four years, Ms Omar, who is believed to be in her mid-30s, has been working in Assad’s own department, known as the Ministry of Presidential Affairs.
邮件显示，大约35岁的奥马尔过去四年里一直在阿萨德的个人机构---总统事务部工作。
In more than 800 email exchanges between the pair, a picture emerges of a world of poetry and jokes.
维基解密网站公布了所截获的800多封电子邮件，这些电邮充满了诗歌和笑话。
They appear to have a close friendship, in which he buys her gifts and she repeatedly says that she ‘loves’ him. In the emails she refers to Assad, who has been married to British-born Asma, 37, for 12 years, as the ‘sponsor’ of her course.
他们看起来关系很亲密。阿萨德为她买礼物，而她一再表示她“爱”他。她还在电邮中把他称作自己学费的“赞助商”。阿萨德与现年37岁的妻子——出生于英国的阿斯玛结婚已有12年。
Tory MP Robert Halfon said: ‘Ethical questions need to be asked as to why Durham University is providing an education to a member of the Assad regime. Given the murder of thousands of Syrians by the Assad regime, Durham should reconsider whether it awards this PhD.’
英国保守党国会议员罗伯特•阿尔丰说：“杜伦大学为什么招收了一名来自阿萨德政权的成员，这牵涉到道德问题。鉴于阿萨德政权害死了成千上万的叙利亚人，杜伦大学应该重新考虑是否颁发这个博士学位。”
At Durham, her PhD thesis was on Shakespeare. Last night Durham University said: ‘We do not comment on the financial circumstances of individual students. Durham University does not have any formal or active links with the Syrian Government.’
奥马尔在杜伦大学所写的博士论文是有关莎士比亚的。杜伦大学昨晚表示，“我们不会评价某个学生的经济状况。学校与叙利亚政府没有任何正式或主动的联系。”
A member of the House of Lords charged thousands of pounds to redesign the summer palace of Bashar al-Assad, emails obtained by Wikileaks reveal.
维基百科解密的邮件还显示，英国上议院一位议员收取了数千英镑为阿萨德重新设计夏宫。
Lord Kenilworth was hired to create a luxuriant new garden, including a spectacular water feature, at the Syrian dictator’s country residence near the coastal city of Latakia, the site of fierce fighting between government forces and rebels.
上议院议员凯尼尔沃思受雇设计一座奢华的新花园，其中要设有壮观的水景。这处夏宫位于阿萨德的乡间宅邸，距离海滨城市拉塔基亚很近，这里也是政府军和反叛者激战的现场。
The firm was commissioned by Assad in 2010. Initial stages of the work were priced at £176,500, with more bills to follow. Last night Lord Kenilworth said only: ‘We stopped working there 18 months ago. I can’t comment any further.’
阿萨德于2010年下令重修夏宫。工程初期的花费就高达17.65万英镑，后期费用更高。凯尼尔沃思昨晚只是说：“我们18个月前就停工了。我没法做进一步的评论。”
【关键词】
1. prestigious
[pre'stidʒəs, -'sti:-] adj. 有名望的;享有声望的
adj.有名望的;享有声望的
词根：prestige
n. prestige 威望，声望;声誉
——短语
Prestigious Schools精英学校
prestigious duty荣耀的责任
Prestigious Universities海外名校
be prestigious有威严
prestigious liquor知名白酒
Prestigious Enterprise优势的明星企业
——例句
Students are...struggling as to how they find that in the most prestigious employers. 学生们正在……苦苦探寻，如何能从最有声望的雇主那里获得这些。
2. dictator
[dik'teitə, 'dikteitə] n. 独裁者;命令者
词根：dictate
adj. dictatorial 独裁的，专政的;专横傲慢的
adv. dictatorially 自大地;独裁地
n. dictation 听写;口述;命令
dictate 命令;指示
dictatorship 专政;独裁权;独裁者职位
vi. dictate 口述;听写
vt. dictate 命令;口述;使听写
——短语
Dictator Defence自由保卫战
corporate dictator企业独裁者
Russian Dictator苏联独裁者
——例句
Finally, they threw down the dictator. 他们最终推翻了独裁者。
【万能短语】
3. be likely to
——短语
is likely to有可能
sb is likely to do有可能做
He is likely to come他可能要来
It is likely to rain好象就要下雨了
——例句
However, any move is likely to be some months off. 但是，采取任何行动可能都会在几个月之后。
The answer to some or all of these questions is likely to be further deals. 这些问题的部分或全部答案，或许就是更多的交易。
【扩展知识】
4. wikileaks.website 中文名：维基泄密
维基泄密(wikileaks.website )是一个专为揭露政府、企业腐败行为而成立的网站。该网站声称：在这里，检举人，新闻记者和博客可以揭发各种腐败行为，而不用担心雇主和政府的报复。
“wikileaks.website ”虽然致力于揭露机密，但它自己却“深藏不露”：该网站没有公布自己的办公地址和电话号码，也没列举该网站的主要运营者的姓名，甚至连办公邮箱都没留。外界既不知道它的总部在哪，更不知雇员是哪些人。
“wikileaks.website ”没有总部或传统的基础设施，该网站依靠服务器和数十个国家的支持者，做了很多事情。它的创始者说，那些上传材料的人也都是匿名。由于它本身具有秘密特征，“维基泄密”相对而言很少受到审查者、律师或地方政府的压力。
