2007年VOA标准英语-New UN Chief Backs Proposal to Ban Capital Puni

By Teri Schultz
Brussels
24 January 2007

The United Nations new secretary general, Ban Ki-Moon, is on his first foreign trip since taking the post. Speaking in Brussels after meeting European Union officials, he showed support for a campaign to ban the death penalty worldwide.  For VOA, Teri Schultz reports from Brussels.

Ban Ki-moon

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday backed an initiative by Italy to push for a worldwide moratorium¹ on the death penalty.

The new U.N. chief appealed to the international community to "respect and comply with all ... international humanitarian² laws," notably³ in putting an end to capital punishment.

"There is some growing tendency to see some phase out of the death penalty and I encourage that trend," he said.

Ban, a South Korean on his first trip outside North America since taking office on January first at the United Nations, created a stir on his second day in the job by saying capital punishment was up to individual nations.

The statement triggered criticism from human rights groups, prompting his spokeswoman to add later that Ban believed in the need to work to abolish the death penalty, although he was aware nations differed on the issue.

The 27-nation European Union is also likely to back Italy's call, which is to be discussed at the United Nations in the coming months.

The move is expected to face opposition⁴ from the United States and China, however, which still allow capital punishment.

Ban said he aims to work closely with the European Union in many areas, notably to resolve the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region and other African crises as well as fighting climate change.

"We have learned a great lesson from our history, from Rwandan genocide, and [the] international community must do whatever possible to prevent a recurrence⁵ of this kind of situation," he added.  "There are still many areas where people are suffering from this violence and civilian⁶ killing⁷ and that is why I'm very much committed to work on these matters."

The rest of Ban's travel schedule illustrates⁸ his point.  His next stop is Paris, for a Lebanon donors⁹' conference; next week he goes to Addis Ababa for a summit of African Union leaders where he says he will press for progress on Darfur, Somalia, Chad and Ivory Coast.

1 moratorium   

n.(行动、活动的)暂停(期)，延期偿付

参考例句：

• The government has called for a moratorium on weapons testing.政府已要求暂停武器试验。
• We recommended a moratorium on two particular kinds of experiments.我们建议暂禁两种特殊的实验。

2 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

3 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

4 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

5 recurrence   

n.复发，反复，重现

参考例句：

• More care in the future will prevent recurrence of the mistake.将来的小心可防止错误的重现。
• He was aware of the possibility of a recurrence of his illness.他知道他的病有可能复发。

6 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

7 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

8 illustrates   

给…加插图( illustrate的第三人称单数 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明

参考例句：

• This historical novel illustrates the breaking up of feudal society in microcosm. 这部历史小说是走向崩溃的封建社会的缩影。
• Alfred Adler, a famous doctor, had an experience which illustrates this. 阿尔弗莱德 - 阿德勒是一位著名的医生，他有过可以说明这点的经历。 来自中级百科部分

9 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》