2017届高考英语二轮复习阅读理解素材：16

　　伊拉克大选竞选活动已经开始

　　Campaigning has begun for next month's general election in Iraq, with Prime Minister Nouri Maliki seeking a third consecutive term in office.

　　将于下月举行的伊拉克大选前期竞选活动已经开始展开，总理努里·马利基正寻求第三次连任。

　　No single bloc is expected to win a majority of the 328 seats in the Council of Representatives on 30 April.

　　However, Mr Maliki's Shia-dominated State of Law alliance is widely seen as the front-runner.

　　The poll comes with violence in Iraq at its highest level since the peak of the sectarian（宗派的） insurgency from 2006 to 2008.

　　On Tuesday, the UN mission in Iraq reported that a total of 592 Iraqis, including 484 civilians, had been killed in violent attacks in March.

　　The figures do not include casualties from the unrest in the western province of Anbar, where security forces are battling Sunni militants allied to the jihadist Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) who have controlled parts of the cities of Falluja and Ramadi since late December.

　　The stand-off was triggered by the Shia-led central government's decision to break up a Sunni Arab protest camp near Ramadi. 

　　"With election day getting nearer, I once again stress the need for unity and a holistic approach to violence and terrorist threat in Iraq," said the UN envoy to Iraq, Nikolay Mladenov.

　　"The political, social and religious leaders of Iraq have an urgent responsibility to set up a mechanism for dialogue and conflict resolution between various stakeholders."

　　Although the government has not discussed postponing the election, it is unclear whether it is possible for voting to take place throughout Anbar.