2006年VOA标准英语-World Bank, IMF Annual Meetings to Deal With Co

By Daniel Schearf
Singapore
18 September 2006
 
The World Bank and the International Monetary¹ Fund open their annual meetings in Singapore Tuesday. At the top of the agenda for two days of talks among the world's finance ministers are debt relief and corruption² in the aid process.

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Finance officials attending preliminary meetings Monday backed a World Bank plan to tackle corruption. But they decided³ that any moves to withhold⁴ aid because of corruption in the recipient⁵ nation would require oversight⁶ of the bank's executive board, in order to ensure that such decisions are broadly based.

		Paul Wolfowitz

World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz had earlier been criticized for blocking hundreds of millions of dollars in loans to African and Asian nations last year because of allegations of corruption.

Wolfowitz said Monday the bank's moves to crack down on corruption in countries receiving World Bank aid was necessary for poverty reduction.

"It's about making certain that the money goes to schools and textbooks for children, medicine for mothers and creating job opportunities for the poor, not to line the pockets of the rich and powerful," he said.

The move to fight corruption in the aid process is being backed by the Bush administration, and has considerable international support. But some countries and activist⁷ organizations have expressed concern that the fight against corruption is slowing loans to the poor.

Finance ministers also expressed concern Monday that debt relief was not reaching poor countries fast enough, and that new debts were beginning to pile up, even in countries whose debts had been cancelled by donors⁸.

A small group of debt-relief activists⁹ demonstrated near the entrance of the meeting venue¹⁰ Monday, demanding that international financial institutions remove what they say are excessive conditions attached to debt relief.

Activist organizations say bank demands for privatizing and restructuring certain industries and liberalizing trade are obstructing¹¹ poor countries' escape from poverty.

Finance ministers representing the world's poorest countries also said the World Bank and IMF should be more flexible with conditions they attach to debt relief.

But bank officials and finance ministers have expressed concern at commercial lenders moving in to provide new loans to countries that are unable to meet World Bank conditions, or have recently had their debts forgiven.

U.S. Treasury¹² Secretary Henry Paulson said Monday that there are already signs that excessive lending to countries struggling to get out of debt is trapping them in new debt, prolonging the cycle of poverty.

Wolfowitz said World Bank loans reached a record high in the last year. The International Financial Corporation, the private sector¹³ arm of the World Bank, says investments and loans to high-risk and low-income countries were up 20 percent, with a record $9.5 billion committed for investment in private-sector social projects in developing countries.

1 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

2 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

3 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。

4 withhold   

v.拒绝，不给；使停止，阻挡

参考例句：

• It was unscrupulous of their lawyer to withhold evidence.他们的律师隐瞒证据是不道德的。
• I couldn't withhold giving some loose to my indignation.我忍不住要发泄一点我的愤怒。

5 recipient   

a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器

参考例句：

• Please check that you have a valid email certificate for each recipient. 请检查是否对每个接收者都有有效的电子邮件证书。
• Colombia is the biggest U . S aid recipient in Latin America. 哥伦比亚是美国在拉丁美洲最大的援助对象。

6 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

7 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

8 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

11 obstructing   

阻塞( obstruct的现在分词 )； 堵塞； 阻碍； 阻止

参考例句：

• You can't park here, you're obstructing my driveway. 你不能在这里停车，你挡住了我家的车道。
• He was charged for obstructing the highway. 他因阻碍交通而受控告。

12 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

13 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。