2007年VOA标准英语-Putin Praises Russia's Economy; Deflects Democr

By Lisa McAdams
Moscow
01 February 2007

Russian President Vladimir Putin held his annual news conference Thursday, the sixth of his presidency¹. In a nationally televised broadcast that lasted nearly four hours, he discussed the state of Russian democracy, the growth of the economy, press freedom and presidential elections scheduled for next year. VOA's Lisa McAdams has more from Moscow on Mr. Putin's meeting with reporters.

Many of the questions focused on the growing concern over who will be leading Russia once President Putin's second term ends next year.

Vladimir Putin speaks at a news conference at the Kremlin, 1 Feb 2007

Russia has not had a normal transfer of power by popular vote in its post-Soviet history. But President Putin told reporters the people's will would prevail in 2008. As he put it, there will be candidates, rather than a, "chosen successor."

President Putin said his only task is to ensure that the authorities provide free and fair elections so the vote will yield the Russian people's choice.

The Kremlin is widely believed to be grooming² two people as possible successors - First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Defense³ Minister Sergei Ivanov. But Mr. Putin did not endorse⁴ either man.

Among the most sensitive topics President Putin was asked to address was the high-profile murders of two strong Kremlin critics in 2006 - investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya and fugitive⁵ former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko.

Politkovskaya had been working on an expose about alleged⁶ Russian military abuses in Chechnya when she was gunned down outside her Moscow apartment. She is the 13th journalist believed to have been murdered for her work since Putin came to power.

The Russian president, who aroused the anger of human rights advocates by failing to comment promptly⁷ on Politkovskaya's death, said that persecution⁸ of journalists is one of Russia's most serious problems.

Mr. Putin also promised to do everything in his power to defend the press. But he was not as conciliatory in his comments on Litvinenko, who blamed Putin for his radiation poisoning in a deathbed statement.

The president belittled⁹ the former agent's importance, saying he was a minor¹⁰ player with no access to state secrets. He also branded him a criminal and said he was fired from Russia's security services. But he rejected the views of some Russian officials who say that there is a conspiracy¹¹ aimed at discrediting¹² Russia's image abroad.

Putin praised the stability of Russia's government, pointing in particular to the economic gains of the past year. He said the country's gross domestic product had grown by nearly seven percent and inflation had been brought below double digits¹³.

But he acknowledged his government's failure to close the gap between Russia's rich and poor. He said closing that is one of his remaining tasks.

1 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

2 grooming   

n. 修饰, 美容，（动物）梳理毛发

参考例句：

• You should always pay attention to personal grooming. 你应随时注意个人仪容。
• We watched two apes grooming each other. 我们看两只猩猩在互相理毛。

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 endorse   

vt.(支票、汇票等)背书，背署；批注；同意

参考例句：

• No one is foolish enough to endorse it.没有哪个人会傻得赞成它。
• I fully endorse your opinions on this subject.我完全拥护你对此课题的主张。

5 fugitive   

adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者

参考例句：

• The police were able to deduce where the fugitive was hiding.警方成功地推断出那逃亡者躲藏的地方。
• The fugitive is believed to be headed for the border.逃犯被认为在向国境线逃窜。

6 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

7 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

8 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

9 belittled   

使显得微小，轻视，贬低( belittle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She felt her husband constantly belittled her achievements. 她觉得她的丈夫时常贬低她的成就。
• A poor but honest man is not to be belittled. 穷而诚实的人是不该让人小看的。

10 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

11 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

12 discrediting   

使不相信( discredit的现在分词 )； 使怀疑； 败坏…的名声； 拒绝相信

参考例句：

• It has also led to the discrediting of mainstream macroeconomics. 它还使得人们对主流宏观经济学产生了怀疑。

13 digits   

n.数字( digit的名词复数 )；手指，足趾

参考例句：

• The number 1000 contains four digits. 1000是四位数。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The number 410 contains three digits. 数字 410 中包括三个数目字。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》