VOA标准英语2010年-Nepal Political Talks Fail to End Cris

Thousands of Maoist supporters rally in what is normally one of Kathmandu's busiest streets near the government center, 05 May 2020

An indefinite strike is to continue in Nepal with no agreement to end the Himalayan nation's political crisis. Lawmakers are supposed to formulate¹ a new constitution in little more than three weeks. That is also the deadline to place the former Maoist combatants into the Army or reintegrate them into civil society. However, there is no movement towards completing those tasks because of the political standoff.

Nepal's top three political parties resumed meeting after a hiatus of several days and again failed to reach an accord. In a brief encounter with reporters afterwards - at which no questions were taken - the representatives of the three key parties acknowledged that while there was no breakthrough they have agreed to continue dialog in order to forge a "national consensus²."

Former tourism minister Pradeep Gyawali is a central committee member of the prime minister's United Marxist Leninist Party. He tells VOA News Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal remains³ prepared to quit - as the Maoists demand - but not unconditionally⁴.

Fmr. Nepal Tourism Minister Pradeep Gyawali of the United Marxist-Leninist Party, 05 May 2010

"He's ready provided we can develop an agenda, a roadmap of the national consensus then he will definitely cooperate. He will not be the obstacle. He will resign," he said.

As promised, the Maoists increased the pressure on the streets of the capital, during the fourth day of an indefinite nationwide strike that has paralyzed commerce.

Thousands of cadres and their supporters surrounded the Singha Durbar, where the prime minister's office and most ministries⁵ are located. Riot police blocked key intersections⁶ to prevent protesters from getting too close to the key government complex.

So far, Nepal's Army remains out of sight. But they are making their presence known, subtle it may be.

Several hundred meters from the potential flash point between the riot police and demonstrators, the soldiers marched to the tune⁷ of bagpipers inside their walled camp on the grounds of the Singha Durbar.

Political analysts⁸ say deploying⁹ the Army would come only in the most desperate of circumstances. If they were to confront the demonstrators the Maoists are nearly certain to release the former guerillas from U.N.-supervised camps, plunging¹⁰ the country back into civil war.

Steve Herman's video report

 U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is urging the government and political parties to remove all impediments to agreement, noting that failure to meet the May 28 deadline for a new constitution would work in favor of those who oppose the aims of the 2006 peace agreement. In a report to the Security Council, Mr. Ban also calls for extending the mandate¹¹ of the U.N. Mission in Nepal beyond its May 15 deadline.

Meanwhile, UNICEF and the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner¹² for Human Rights in Nepal, in a joint¹³ statement, are expressing concern about the use of children in the Maoist's street demonstrations¹⁴. The organizations say this "places them at risk of violence and exposes them to potentially dangerous situations."

 

1 formulate   

v.用公式表示；规划；设计；系统地阐述

参考例句：

• He took care to formulate his reply very clearly.他字斟句酌，清楚地做了回答。
• I was impressed by the way he could formulate his ideas.他陈述观点的方式让我印象深刻。

2 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 unconditionally   

adv.无条件地

参考例句：

• All foreign troops must be withdrawn immediately and unconditionally. 所有外国军队必须立即无条件地撤出。
• It makes things very awkward to have your girls going back unconditionally just now! 你们现在是无条件上工，真糟糕！ 来自子夜部分

5 ministries   

（政府的）部( ministry的名词复数 )； 神职； 牧师职位； 神职任期

参考例句：

• Local authorities must refer everything to the central ministries. 地方管理机构应请示中央主管部门。
• The number of Ministries has been pared down by a third. 部委的数量已经减少了1/3。

6 intersections   

n.横断( intersection的名词复数 )；交叉；交叉点；交集

参考例句：

• Traffic lights have been placed at all major intersections. 所有重要的交叉路口都安装了交通信号灯。
• Intersections are of the greatest importance in highway design. 在道路设计中，交叉口占有最重要的地位。 来自辞典例句

7 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

8 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

9 deploying   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的现在分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Provides support for developing and deploying distributed, component-based applications. 为开发和部署基于组件的分布式应用程序提供支持。
• Advertisement, publishing, repair, and install-on-demand are all available when deploying your application. 在部署应用程序时提供公布、发布、修复和即需即装功能。

10 plunging   

adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• War broke out again, plunging the people into misery and suffering. 战祸复发，生灵涂炭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He is plunging into an abyss of despair. 他陷入了绝望的深渊。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

12 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

13 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

14 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。