VOA标准英语10月-US Nuclear Envoy Says Talks in North Korean Capit

The chief U.S envoy¹ in talks to get North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons says his discussions with officials in Pyongyang covered a lot of ground. He says he has great concern about moves to restart North Korea's main facility for producing material useable in nuclear weapons. VOA's Kurt Achin reports from Seoul.
　

Christopher Hill, right, is surrounded by reporters upon arrival at Foreign Ministry2 in Seoul, 03 Oct 2008

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill returned to South Korea Friday from three days and two nights in North Korea, where he says he discussed the issue of nuclear verification with leaders there.

North Korea submitted a declaration of its nuclear activities earlier this year as part of a broader six-nation deal aimed at ending its nuclear weapons capabilities³ altogether. Hill says he spent much of his visit discussing the North's refusal to agree to a set of steps for confirming the accuracy of that document.

"The discussions in Pyongyang were quite substantive⁴, we went into great detail on things," he said. "They were quite lengthy⁵... needless to say, there's been a lot of problems in the six-party process, so indeed we did quite a substantial review of activities in the last couple months."

In August, President Bush decided⁶ not to remove North Korea from a State Department list of nations suspected of sponsoring terrorism. Washington promised that step as a reward for submitting the nuclear declaration, but says keeping that promise will not be possible unless the declaration is verified using internationally accepted methods, possibly including random⁷ inspections⁸ of nuclear sites.

North Korea responded by reversing earlier steps it took to disable its primary nuclear facility at Yongbyon. Last week it ejected international inspectors⁹ and their surveillance equipment from the site. Pyongyang warned it would resume reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel into material useable for weapons by the end of this week.

Hill says he cannot confirm whether that is actually happening. "I don't have any update of what is going on in Yongbyon, obviously the issue in Yongbyon is an issue that has been of great concern to us and obviously that is one of the points that I conveyed," he said.

Hill was unwilling¹⁰ to provide details Friday about what sort of compromise verification measures he may have proposed to North Korea. He says he needs to brief other leaders in the six-nation process before fully¹¹ disclosing the content of his discussions. After briefing his Japanese counterpart Friday night, Hill is scheduled to travel to Beijing on Saturday, then return to Washington to confer with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

1 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

2 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

3 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

4 substantive   

adj.表示实在的；本质的、实质性的；独立的；n.实词，实名词；独立存在的实体

参考例句：

• They plan to meet again in Rome very soon to begin substantive negotiations.他们计划不久在罗马再次会晤以开始实质性的谈判。
• A president needs substantive advice,but he also requires emotional succor. 一个总统需要实质性的建议，但也需要感情上的支持。

5 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

6 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。

7 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

8 inspections   

n.检查( inspection的名词复数 )；检验；视察；检阅

参考例句：

• Regular inspections are carried out at the prison. 经常有人来视察这座监狱。
• Government inspections ensure a high degree of uniformity in the standard of service. 政府检查确保了在服务标准方面的高度一致。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

11 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。