VOA标准英语2009-Obama: US Must Lead In Reducing Nuclear Weapons

President Barack Obama says the United States must lead the effort to reduce the spread of nuclear weapons. The president commented Tuesday after meeting with former secretaries of State and Defense¹.
　
President Barack Obama at the White House, 19 May 2009

President Obama says the United States must take leadership in limiting the spread of nuclear weapons, especially when North Korea and Iran are developing their nuclear weapons capacity.

"It is absolutely imperative² that America takes leadership, working with not just our Russian counterparts but countries all around the world, to reduce and ultimately eliminate the dangers that are posed by nuclear weapons," said President Obama.

Mr. Obama discussed nuclear non-proliferation in the Oval Office Tuesday with former secretaries of state George Shultz and Henry Kissinger, as well as former Defense Secretary William Perry and Sam Nunn, former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The president outlined several areas in which the U.S. can advance the issue.

"We can revitalize our Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty," said Mr. Obama. "We can work with the Russians, as the two countries with by far the largest nuclear stockpiles, to continue to reduce our dependence³ on nuclear weapons."

Mr. Obama is scheduled to meet with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow this July. They are expected to discuss reducing their countries' nuclear stockpiles.

The president said he and other leaders can take some specific steps to ease nuclear tensions.

"We can move forward on a Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty, " he said. "It is going to require more work, but I think that we can get something accomplished⁴ there and we can lock down loose nuclear weapons that could fall into the hands of terrorists."

Shultz said he and the other visiting former national security officials support the Obama administration's agenda on limiting nuclear weapons.

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 imperative   

n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的

参考例句：

• He always speaks in an imperative tone of voice.他老是用命令的口吻讲话。
• The events of the past few days make it imperative for her to act.过去这几天发生的事迫使她不得不立即行动。

3 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

4 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。