VOA慢速英语20117 特朗普赴梵蒂冈会见教皇方济各

 

U.S. President Donald Trump¹ and Pope Francis held a 30-minute meeting at the Vatican on Wednesday. 

周三，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普（Donald Trump）在梵蒂冈与教皇弗朗西斯进行了30多分钟的会晤。

The two men shook hands at the start of their face-to-face meeting. The pope appeared serious. The president smiled.

两人在私人会谈开始前握手示意。教皇的神情严肃。而总统笑容满面。

“It’s a very great honor,” Trump said to the leader of the Roman Catholic Church after they were seated in the pope’s private study.

在教皇弗朗西斯的私人书房落座后，特朗普向这位罗马天主教会领导人表示：“我感到万分荣幸。”

After the private meeting between the two men, they were joined briefly² by Trump’s wife Melania and members of the U.S. delegation³. That encounter included an exchange of gifts.

二人的私人会议结束后，他们还与特朗普夫人梅拉尼娅和美国代表团进行短暂会面。会面过程中他们互赠了礼物。

A Vatican statement said the pope had a “cordial” discussion with the U.S. president. The Vatican also said it hopes the two sides can work together on "health care, education and assistance to immigrants."

梵蒂冈的一份声明称，教皇与总统特朗普进行了一番“诚挚的”交谈。梵蒂冈方面还表示，希望双方能在“医疗保健、教育和移民援助”领域加强合作。

Earlier, reporters asked Pope Francis about his expectations for the meeting with Trump. The pope reacted by saying he “never, ever wanted to make a judgment⁴ without hearing the person.”

早前，教皇弗朗西斯被记者问及是否期待与特朗普总统的会面。教皇弗朗西斯对此回应：“对于素未谋面的人，我从不会妄下判断。”

The two men had a clash of words last year when Trump, as a presidential candidate, spoke⁵ about his plan to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.

去年，作为总统候选人的特朗普宣称要在美墨边境筑隔离墙，当时两位曾隔空互撕。

The pope said anyone who thinks of building walls instead of bridges “is not Christian,” a comment that Trump called “disgraceful.”

教皇表示，任何只想筑墙而不是修桥的人“都不是虔诚的基督徒”，特朗普反击：教皇的言论是“可耻的。”

The night before the meeting, a top Vatican official took to social media. Cardinal⁶ Peter Turkson of Ghana noted⁷ that both the president and the pope are reaching out to the Islamic world to stop religious violence.

会议开始的前一晚，一位梵蒂冈高级官员曾在社交媒体上发文。加纳共和国的彼得·图尔克森（Peter Turkson）主教指出，特朗普总统和教皇弗朗西斯正在把手伸向伊斯兰国家，阻止宗教冲突。

“One offers peace of dialogue, the other security of arms,” he said on Twitter. He appeared to be talking about the $110 billion weapons deal the U.S. president signed with Saudi Arabia days ago.

他在推特上表示：“一人展开和平对话，另一人提供维护和平的武器”。他意指几天前美国总统承诺为沙特阿拉伯提供价值约1100亿美元的武器。

Later, the Trump administration described the discussion between the leaders in a statement. It said they both shared fundamental values “to promote human rights, combat human suffering and protect religious freedom.”

随后，特朗普政府针对两位领导人的会面发表声明。声明称，双方分享了基本的价值观，即“促进人权、与人类灾难斗争和保护宗教自由。”

Opinions about the U.S. president’s visit on Wednesday were mixed on the streets of Rome. An American Catholic named Eva was happy that the meeting between Trump and the pope had even taken place.

对于美国总统周三的访问，罗马人褒贬不一。美国天主教徒伊娃（Eva）表示，很高兴特朗普和教皇能够会面。

“I think it's fabulous⁸ that the pope decided⁹ to meet with Trump.”

“教皇决定与特朗普会面，真是难以置信。”

She also said she hoped the meeting gave the men the chance to make peace.

她还称，希望这次会面能够让两人摒弃前嫌。

Near the official home of Italy’s president, a 19-year-old Canadian man named Daniel and his girlfriend talked about the bombing in Manchester, England. They also expressed fears of terrorism in Europe.

而在意大利总统办公室附近，一位名叫丹尼尔的19岁加拿大小伙和女友谈到曼彻斯特刚发生的爆炸。他们也表达了对于欧洲恐怖主义的担心。

Daniel said he hoped Trump’s visit would help make Europe stronger.

丹尼尔表示，希望特朗普此行能够壮大欧洲力量。

“We hope he can bring some more stability because Europe has been quite unstable¹⁰ for the past year or so and even more than that. So we can hope he can bring more stability while also keeping things peaceful and not escalating¹¹ things too much.”

“我们希望总统带来更多稳定因素，过去的一年里，欧洲的局势动荡不安、矛盾重重。我们希望他带来稳定的同时能够维护和平，避免当今的局势恶化。”

Words in This Story

encounter – adj. officially confirmed as real or true

cordial –adj. polite, pleasant, friendly

disgraceful – adj. dishonorable

dialogue – n. a discussion or exchange between people or two sides

fabulous – adj. very or extremely good

escalate¹² – v. to increase in number, amount of intensity

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

3 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

4 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 cardinal   

n.(天主教的)红衣主教；adj.首要的，基本的

参考例句：

• This is a matter of cardinal significance.这是非常重要的事。
• The Cardinal coloured with vexation. 红衣主教感到恼火，脸涨得通红。

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

8 fabulous   

adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的

参考例句：

• We had a fabulous time at the party.我们在晚会上玩得很痛快。
• This is a fabulous sum of money.这是一笔巨款。

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

10 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。

11 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

12 escalate   

v.(使)逐步增长(或发展)，(使)逐步升级

参考例句：

• It would tempt Israel's neighbors to escalate their demands.它将诱使以色列的邻国不断把他们的要求升级。
• Defeat could cause one side or other to escalate the conflict.失败可能会导致其中一方将冲突升级。