A shoe-throwing incident at an Iraqi news conference with George W. Bush has inspired a spate of Internet games where the players hurl footwear at moving targets of the U.S. president.
The games, which have mushroomed online and spread by email, range from animations to cut-up footage of the now-infamous news briefing on Sunday when an Iraqi
reporter threw his shoes at the president who ordered the 2003
invasion of Iraq.
Pelting someone with shoes is considered a grave insult in the Arab world.
One game, which appears on the site http://www.sockandawe.com gives players 30 seconds to try to hit Bush with a shoe as many times as possible, with the score appearing in a corner of the screen.
Players are greeted with the command: "OBJECTIVE: Hit President Bush in the face with your shoes! Do it!"
On-target shots are met with a "well done" message.
The television
reporter who threw the shoes, Muntazer al-Zaidi, has become an instant sensation in the Arab world.
Zaidi, who admitted his action in court on Tuesday, remains in
custodypending an investigation by the judge. He could be sent for trial under a
clause in Iraq's penal code that punishes anyone who tries to murder Iraqi or foreign presidents.
Another game at http://bushbash.flashgressive.de, includes a leader board on which players can post their best scores.
An
animatedversion -- "a shoe at Bush?" -- claims over 2.2 million direct hits since its December 15 start date.
Aother game called "Bush's Boot Camp" starts with an audio quote of Bush
saying "those weapons of mass destruction have got to be somewhere."
The White House, meanwhile, has said Bush has no hard feelings about the shoe-throwing incident.
"The president just thinks that, it was just a shoe, people express themselves in lots of different ways," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.
美国总统布什几天前在伊拉克的一个新闻发布会上遭到"飞鞋"袭击,受这一事件的启发,数款向布什扔鞋弹的网络游戏应运而生。
目前,几款通过电子邮件热传的"扔鞋砸布什"游戏风靡网络,其中包括动漫版的和根据发布会现场视频改编的。这场"狼狈"的新闻发布会于上周日举行,当时现场的一名伊拉克记者将自己的鞋砸向了五年前发动伊战的布什。
在阿拉伯国家,向别人扔鞋是一种极具侮辱性的行为。
在这几款游戏中,Sockandawe.com网站上的一款"扔鞋"游戏限时30秒,玩家要在30秒钟的时间内用鞋子尽可能多地砸中"布什",最终命中的次数会出现在屏幕上。
玩家在开始游戏时,会接到指令:"目标:往布什脸上扔鞋!开始吧!"
每次命中后系统都会跳出"干得漂亮!"这句提示信息。
向布什扔鞋的电视台记者穆塔达尔•扎伊迪一时间轰动阿拉伯世界。
本周二,扎伊迪在法庭上承认用鞋袭击布什,他至今仍被关押,等待接受审讯。根据伊拉克刑法,任何企图谋害本国或外国总统的人都要受到刑罚,因此扎伊迪可能将被判处监禁。
另一家网站http://bushbash.flashgressive.de的游戏则设有一个"得分排行榜",玩家可在此公布自己的最好成绩。
一款名为"鞋弹砸布什"的动漫版游戏自本月15日发布以来的直接命中目标数已超过220万。
还有一款游戏名叫"布什的臭鞋训练营(Bush's Boot Camp)"。游戏一开始,只听见布什说:"那些大规模杀伤性武器一定在什么地方。(Those weapons of mass destruction have got to be somewhere.)"
而白宫方面则表示布什总统并未因遭"鞋袭"而感到不悦。
白宫发言人达娜•佩里诺说:"总统先生觉得那只不过是一只鞋子,人们表达情感的方式有很多种。"
关键字:
双语新闻生词表:
- custody [´kʌstədi] n.保管;保护;拘留 六级词汇
- pending [´pendiŋ] a.迫近的;悬而未决的 六级词汇
- clause [klɔ:z] n.条(款);分句,从句 四级词汇
- animated [´ænimeitid] a.栩栩如生的;活跃的 六级词汇
- version [´və:ʃən, ´və:rʒən] n.翻译;说明;译本 四级词汇