VOA常速英语2007年-US Defense Secretary Visits Afghanistan

By Al Pessin
Pentagon
03 December 2007

U.S. Defense¹ Secretary Robert Gates is in Afghanistan to discuss efforts to stem continuing violence caused by an apparently² resurgent Taliban. VOA's Al Pessin is monitoring the trip from the Pentagon.

Secretary Gates flew into Kabul for meetings on Tuesday with U.S. and NATO commanders and senior Afghan officials. The secretary says the allies need to find a way to maintain gains made in recent years and stop the violence.

"I am not worried about a backslide [of violence] as much as I am how we continue the momentum³ going forward," Gates said. " I think that one of the clear concerns that we all have is that the last two or three years there has been a continuing increase in the overall level of violence."

Secretary Gates spoke⁴ to reporters during a stop in Africa.

The NATO alliance has taken over responsibility for security in Afghanistan, but the United States is the largest troop contributor to the NATO force. And other U.S. forces continue to conduct counter-insurgency operations outside the NATO command in some parts of the country.

In addition to issues related to the Taliban, U.S. officials are concerned about indications that al-Qaida may be trying to resume its activities in Afghanistan. But Secretary Gates says he has "not heard much" about any increase in foreign fighters in the country. Officials have also expressed concern about insurgents⁵' ability to operate in Pakistan near the Afghan border, and whether that situation might get worse, rather than better, because of Pakistan's political instability.

1 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。

2 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

3 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

4 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。

5 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网