2006年VOA标准英语-New Iraqi Government Has Reached Turning P

By Paula Wolfson
White House
01 May 2006

President Bush says Iraq's new leaders are more determined¹ than ever to succeed, and the United States stands with them. He spoke² at the White House after top U.S. officials briefed him on their recent surprise visit to Baghdad.

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George W. Bush  
  

President Bush says he sent Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense³ Donald Rumsfeld to Iraq to assess the situation there and pass on a message to the Iraqi leadership.

"It's very important for these two senior officials to sit down with these new folks and say, you have our support and we want you to succeed," he said.

The president says Rice and Rumsfeld brought back what he called "some interesting impressions." He says they found the new Iraqi leaders to be optimistic people who are full of energy and eager to succeed.

Speaking with the secretary of state on one side and the secretary of defense on the other, Mr. Bush told reporters this government represents a new start for the Iraqi people.

"We believe this is a turning point for the Iraqi citizens, and it's a new chapter in our partnership," the president said.

But the president stressed that despite all the political progress of recent days, challenges remain. He said the report he got from Rice and Rumsfeld was not sugar-coated but represented a realistic assessment⁴ of the situation in Iraq.

"There are some difficult days ahead because there are still terrorists there who are willing to take innocent life in order to stop the progress of democracy," he said.

Several times in his statement, Mr. Bush spoke of the need for unity⁵ in Iraq and the creation of a government that represents all the people.

His comments came as a prominent member of the U.S. Senate suggested that perhaps Iraq should be split into three separate regions - Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni - with a central government in Baghdad. Senator Joseph Biden, the top Democrat⁶ on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, wrote in the New York Times newspaper that the idea would be to maintain a unified⁷ Iraq by letting each region run its own affairs while the central government takes care of common interests.

The White House called it a plan for "partition" and rejected the notion outright⁸. Spokesman Scott McClellan said partition is an idea no Iraqi leader has proposed and the Iraqi people do not support.

1 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

2 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。

3 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

4 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

5 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

6 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

7 unified   

(unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的

参考例句：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。

8 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。